Can hair thickness increase?

[Kimberly]

I have had 5 surgeries and never noticed a difference. I didn't know hair could fall out from surgery. Was it the anasthesia?

My doctor warned me that the surgery could make my hair fall out, just from the strain on my body. She said it wouldn't happen right away (how long until it was supposed to happen I don't recall clearly, but it was something like six months or a year). At the time she was pretty sure I was going to die soon anyway, so she didn't bother talking about it in detail. I was already deathly ill and the surgery was major. Due to it, I had instant menopause, and I was never given an adequate amount of hormones to reduce my symptoms. About two years after surgery I noticed half of my hair was gone. In retrospect, I guess it did take something like a year to start falling out, but I was in such bad shape after my surgery that I wasn't paying much attention.

I was pretty sure my hair loss was due to the menopause and I expected it would keep falling out. At its worst I had a receding hairline and some patches that were thinned bad enough I was afraid they'd be bare soon, with bald spots like my mom has. After a couple of years I stopped taking the hormones. I was afraid that not taking the pills would make more fall out, but it didn't. And now, about three and a half years out from the surgery, I have just recently noticed there are all these crazy little curls sticking out -- new hair! It took a very long time for it to start growing back, but I was so, so sick and the recovery from the surgery still isn't complete. Guess I'm finally getting healthy again. I wonder now how much of my hair will come back! Pretty darn exciting.

ALenee, maybe those five surgeries did thin your hair a little bit, but you didn't notice, and now it's just growing back in?