My worst fear when I got diagnosed with breast cancer was losing my long hair. I know that seems odd, but for some reason it was important to me not to lose my hair. I think it was because I knew that if I was bald people would immediately know I had cancer. I just couldn't face broadcasting my health condition to the world and especially my four year old son. I kept hoping and hoping that I wouldn't have to get chemo and it would not matter, but the more I read about my situation and talked to the doctors I thought "how can I NOT do chemo".
I then did research and came across a thread on the
http://www.breastcancer.org/ website about using Penguin Cold Caps to keep your hair during chemo. I started reading as much as I could about the cold caps and talked to my medical oncologist. She supported my use of them but warned me that there was only a 50% success rate. I had talked to the Penguin Cold Cap representative and knew that was misinformation and was not accurate. In fact, the cold caps have a very good success rate especially with the chemo I was on (taxotere and cytoxan). I decided to do the Penguin Cold Caps.
I have talked about this for months on my blog, but now I wanted to share my journey with my hair. I hope this helps other women out there facing chemo. I hope people realize they have a choice in keeping their hair....I am proof. See for yourself that it worked for me.
Here are some photos of me before chemo. My hair is long, colored and about medium thickness.
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| August 2010 - 4 months before diagnosis |
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| October 2010 - 2 months before diagnosis |
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| October 2010 - 2 months before diagnosis |
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| March 2011 - right before starting chemo |
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46 days after first chemo
(air dried, frizzy hair - no blow drying allowed) |
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| April 23rd 2011 (a week after 3rd chemo) |
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| April 24th 2011 - 1 week after 3rd chemo |
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| April 24th - 1 week after 3rd chemo |
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Weekend after finishing last chemo
(I have one small set of hair extensions in today) |
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August 2011 - 3 months after completing chemo
(hair is air dried and a bit frizzy...still not able to use blow dryer) |
Is my hair the same as before chemo? No. It is definitely much thinner. It does not help that I can't style it much. I have gotten use to air drying my hair which now happens faster since it is thinner (I am looking for the positives in this). I am still only washing my hair twice a week but it has adjusted and quite honestly doesn't even get greasy anymore. I guess it somehow got use to not getting washed and adjusted which is a bonus! My hair still sheds more than it did before chemo but I still have a full head of hair. Now I tend to wear one small set of hair extensions that easily clip in/out and with those in, it pretty much looks like my pre-chemo hair. Today I actually used a cooler flat iron on the length of my hair and styled it slightly like I use to wear it (straight) and I could not believe it - I looked like the old me! It is the first time in months that I looked like myself. It made me feel really good.
I hope that if you are considering using Penguin Cold Caps you can get an idea of what the results may be. I am glad I did it. I feel good having my hair and feel like it is easier for me to move on with my life. I am sick of the shedding but when I go out, no one knows I had cancer. There are people that have not gone through chemo that have less hair than I do. I am thankful for Penguin Cold Caps!
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