4 Black Women On What It Was Like To Lose All Their Hair During Cancer Treatment - By Kayla Greaves
Bustle article, by Kayla Greaves
Oct. 23, 2018
Breast cancer is a disease that can strike at any time, or any age. And while those who have been diagnosed are first and foremost focused on their health, it's also perfectly normal for them wonder how cancer treatment will change their bodies.
Having concerns about losing your hair to chemotherapy or being scared to say goodbye to your natural breasts prior to undergoing a mastectomy are all very legitimate fears. And for black people in particular, when it comes to their skin, these concerns can be even more pressing. This group not only tends to develop more prominent scars post-surgery, but they are also more prone to developing keloids and hypertrophic scarring following any trauma to the skin.
Of course, anyone undergoing chemotherapy is likely going to lose their hair, but for black people — who already tend to have a much more complicated relationship with their natural locks than most other races — hair loss associated with cancer can be sometimes be even more devastating.
Breast cancer survivors Monique Bryan, Kelly DeVose, Leanne Pero, and Tiffany Edmondson were all forced to say goodbye to all their hair during treatment. And now they're sharing how it impacted their journeys, even after beating the disease.
Monique Bryan, Diagnosed At 36
