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Hair-loss changed my idea of beauty

If life is a journey, a breast cancer diagnosis is one of its darkest alleys.

02 February 2018

Anyone who has to walk this road will be fearful of what lies ahead, of what awaits. “Will I survive? Will I make it through?” are just some of the heart-rending questions that will cross her mind almost daily.

Compounding these thoughts is the sudden reality of the physical impact breast cancer treatment has – it hits at the very essence of femininity, with most losing their hair and having life-altering breast surgery almost simultaneously.

In South Africa, one in 31 women is likely to be affected, according to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA). For most women, losing their hair hits them equally as hard as the initial diagnosis.

“Hair makes women feel beautiful as it is deeply connected to self-esteem. Although it pains me to tell the truth about hair loss, it’s important to understand that with certain types of chemo, hair loss is inevitable,” explains Krupa Parekh-Padia, an oncology nurse and patient navigator, from Milpark Breast Cancer Clinic.

Here three women share their breast cancer stories, and what  losing their hair taught them.

1. Petro Botha
Corporate lawyer, Pretoria

Despite a strong family history of cancer, I never expected to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease, at the age of 38. On 7 November 2016 my life changed forever, and nothing evidences this more than my hair – or rather the lack thereof. Cancer has forever changed me. I not only feel different … I look different too. At the end of August 2017 I will have celebrated the end of my treatments and will look to the future with hope and expectation, but my long hair I loved so much won’t catch up to that feeling for years to come.

My oncologist predicted my hair would fall out two weeks after my first dose of chemotherapy. When my long brown hair started falling out 12 days after the first treatment, I asked my mother to shave it all off. I cried beforehand, but once my head was smooth I felt relieved and strangely liberated! I had purchased a wonderfully realistic wig that closely matched my own hair a few days before, and I wore this to work to keep from standing out. But the wig was itchy and uncomfortable and many days all I wanted to do was rip it off. At home I went bald and started to get used to it.

When confronted with my own mortality, fighting through gruelling treatments and praying I would live, the length of my hair didn’t seem so important anymore. The wig started to feel fake and I found I could look beautiful with large hoop earrings and red lipstick, despite being bald. 
I stopped covering up in front of family and friends. But my bald head continued to brand me as a cancer patient and made me unable to hide or pretend that everything was fine. A few weeks after my last chemotherapy, I underwent a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. I started six weeks of radiation treatments on 18 July 2017. Looking different no longer bothers me – rather, it signifies the birth of a new, stronger me, a me who beat cancer!

2. Kassabaine Petersen
Clicks ClubCard magazine editor, Cape Town

In April 2014, I’d just completed my eighth Two Oceans half-marathon and had recently joined a thriving publishing firm as an editor. My baby was 16 months old, a little sister to Alex, who was four. Life couldn’t be better!

As I was still breastfeeding, I detected a painless lump. A routine mammogram and immediate biopsy confirmed HER2 positive breast cancer. With the words “You have cancer”, my world fell apart. My first question was: “What about my kids; who will take care of them?” The second was “Will I lose my hair?” My chemo commenced shortly after diagnosis and within 10 days my hair started thinning. It was as traumatic as can be expected; my hair was crucial to feeling good – I clung to it and, yes, it was my security. Yet now my curly mane was falling out haplessly; a constant reminder of how ill I was. Which was strange because besides being emotionally wrecked, I felt completely normal at that stage – I’d just run 21km!

That’s when I decided to take control and have my head shaved. A friend accompanied me; she joked and talked nonstop about nothing in particular while I sat quietly, tears rolling down my face. When the stylist was done, I opened my eyes and felt… lighter, empowered. I had taken the first positive, practical step towards reclaiming some control during a confusing, scary time. It never occurred to me to get a wig. After six months of chemo I had a bilateral mastectomy, with reconstruction happening a few months later.

Being bald, dealing with chemo side-effects and simply being thankful for each new day made me realise how entirely misplaced my lifelong emphasis on my hair was. Now I focused instead on what would make me genuinely happy. On the days I was able to, I would go for a short walk, which was a highlight. To me, beauty is a kind heart, laughing often, and honouring and appreciating your good health.

3. Tato Sepotokele
Policewoman, Johannesburg

When I was diagnosed in February this year after going for a mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy just a week before due to agonising pain in my right breast, I was in complete disbelief. As my GP, whom I’d known since high school, delivered the news, I became numb. I remember her saying: “I know you are a strong woman … you will handle this well.” I don’t remember what she said next; I only know I had tears rolling down my face. She immediately made an appointment for me to see breast surgeon Carol-Ann Benn at Milpark Hospital.

First, I had a mastectomy, after which chemotherapy commenced. It was only then that the reality of how my life – and my appearance – would be impacted really kicked in.  The oncology nurses and my patient navigator (see below) took me through the process and explained the hair loss and skin discolouration, while also preparing me on how to treat some of the side-effects such as nausea, constipation, dizzy spells, and on what to eat and what to avoid.


My hair started falling out after the second chemo session and even though I was prepared, I was not spiritually and emotionally ready. I don’t think you ever are. When a handful of hair came out as my son straightened my bandana, I immediately decided to have my head shaved the next day. My partner came to collect me from the salon and his first words were: “Wow! Beautiful.”


My family and friends have all been incredibly supportive and my faith has pulled me through the difficult times thus far. My focus has shifted to my faith and on being a testament that cancer is not the end of the world, and that the effects of chemotherapy are not permanent. This belief has helped get me through painful days with perseverance and positivity.

What is a patient navigator?

The breast cancer pathway differs for every patient, depending on age, type of cancer, the stage at which it is diagnosed, the size of the tumour, as well as other factors. Many women who begin a breast cancer journey are completely overwhelmed. They are stressed and worried, which may make it difficult to fully comprehend all the information at the initial consultations post-diagnosis. “Simply put,” says Krupa Parekh-Padia, a patient navigator at Netcare Milpark Breast Care Centre of Excellence, “navigators walk the patients from cancer diagnosis all the way to recovery.

The goal of the navigator is to decrease as much stress as possible during treatment.” She does this by coordinating services and liaising with the multi-disciplinary team (radiologists, surgeons, oncologists and other therapists), which is vital to decrease fragmentation of care for the patient. “Regardless of which course of treatment will be followed depending on the patient’s unique circumstances, it is my duty to ensure the patient is well-informed and ready for treatment. This may include re-explaining surgery procedures, counselling on the side-effects of chemotherapy, or simply assisting if they’re experiencing any form of distress,” she says. For patients, having a navigator offers security when everything else seems unsteady.

How Clicks Clinics can help you with cancer detection

At Clicks Clinics we offer cancer screening methods to detect early signs of cancer, including both Pap smears and breast examinations for women, and the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Test for men.

To make an appointment at a Clicks Clinic, call 0860 254 257 or visit Clicks Clinics online.

Read More: Cancer Super Section