Surgery is scheduled! Hair loss and blood clot questions

Hi all. My surgery is scheduled for January 19, 2016. I am excited, but nervous too. I am finally at my 100 pre-surgery goal (goal I set for myself) and am ready to do this! 

Here is my question.  I have long hair and I am very scared about my hair falling out. Is it inevitable that my hair will fall out? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? 

I do not want to tell my co-workers about my surgery, so if my hair starts to fall out, they might question that. Also my hair is sort of like my security blanket. My husband loves it, and I need it to feel like a girl. I know, its weird. Its just my weirdness, but I cannot imagine having short hair. 

Now on to the blood clot question. I work in a courtroom, and do not usually get many breaks during the day. If I am lucky I get one every 3-4 hours. Will stretching and moving my feet around be enough or do you think I should let my Judge know that I need more breaks? Is that weird? 

Thanks everyone, you guys always help me with my crazy. 

 Is it inevitable that my hair will fall out?

No. Is it likely that some of your hair will fall out? Yes.

Is there anything I can do to prevent it? 

No (IMO and that of my surgeon anyway).

I do not want to tell my co-workers about my surgery, so if my hair starts to fall out, they might question that. Also my hair is sort of like my security blanket. My husband loves it, and I need it to feel like a girl. I know, its weird. Its just my weirdness, but I cannot imagine having short hair. 

Most people find that even if they do lose some hair, they are the only ones who notice it. You can work with a hairdresser for styling and cosmetic tricks to hide any hair loss you do experience. And it will grow back!

Now on to the blood clot question. I work in a courtroom, and do not usually get many breaks during the day. If I am lucky I get one every 3-4 hours. Will stretching and moving my feet around be enough or do you think I should let my Judge know that I need more breaks? Is that weird? 

I think this is something you should discuss with your surgeon . . . I feel very unqualified to opine on this sort of thing! Maybe a medical professional here can shed some light.

Good luck to you!

A lot of people lose hair, but not all.  I lost a lot of hair between 3 and 7months post op.  But I was pretty much back to normal by 1 year post op.  So its annoying but temporary, and well worth it.

At my worst, I had to use a body gel and blow dry my hair to give it some fullness.  I was ready to buy a wig, but fortunately, didn't need to.

At around 9 months, I had a healthy crop of recruits sticking straight up on the top of my head.  I was so happy to see them, that I didn't even mind that they made me look scruffy! 

Best to ask your doctor about the need for breaks post surgery. 

Best of luck,

Carol

I hear you so hard on the hair thing. I just posted this on another thread- please forgive the copy/paste. 

So, for what it's worth, it seems like the vast majority of people lose a significant amount of hair regardless of vitamin intake. I am 2.5 months out and am trying everything that might possibly help mitigate it because I am plain old vain about my hair. I don't know if it will help, but at the bare minimum I'll know I tried everything. I do my very very very best to meet or surpass my protein goals every day from complete protein sources. I plan out my food intake to make sure those goals are consistently met. I also add in a supplemental collagen protein powder but do not count that toward my protein goal because it is not a complete protein. I use this one: Great Lakes Collagen. I also take biotin, and have been doing so since way before my surgery. I'm religious about my vitamins, calcium, and water. Fingers crossed. 

Another copy and paste from the previous post:

Google Telogen Effluvium.  The hair loss is caused by the trauma to the body from surgery and the effects of the anesthesia they use.  

You can keep your protein levels up and take extra biotin or other vitamins to help your hair grow back stronger, but you can't do anything to stop the hair loss.  Not everyone loses hair, but most of us do.  

The hair loss starts at about 3 months out from surgery and stops at around the 9 month mark.  I lost about half my hair.  The only one *****ally noticed was me.  I just went out and got a new, sassy, short hair cut to help me through that rough patch.

My hair grew back just as thick as it always was.

As several others have already mentioned, google Telogen Effluvium.  

I experienced hair loss starting at 3-1/2 months for six months.  My hair eventually grew back and is back to normal.

For me it was a small price to pay for the changes due to my rapid and significant weight loss.  At two years post op, short term hair loss is a small sacrifice compared to how much better I feel.