English Community

Hello, I was diagnosed with HGSCC In July of 2022. After a successful surgery and a Stage 1C diagnosed I receive 6 cycles of Carbo and Taxel and was under control for 6 month.s. 

The cancer metastasized in my pelvis and lungs, so I started another 6 rounds of Carbo and Dux. The tumors reduced well so we started another 6 cycles of Gem and Bev only to find out that the tumors are increasing again.
I with start another 6 cycles of Taxol and am not looking forward to loosing my hair again🥲Has anyone tried the cold cap to prevent hair loss?

Kindly,

Hi I just finished 6 cycles of carbo and taxol. I used penguin cold caps right through . I had amazing results. I'd say I kept about 95% of my hair. My son is getting married and was hoping to keep my hair for that special day. 

Thank you Taralee, that is very helpful information. Sending healing thoughts of support.
Lauren
Sent from my iPhone
Lauren Persson

 Hi @florence2022 if you go to the Categories on the mainbar at the top of this page, and under Treatements & Side effects you should see a post thread from one of our Teal Sisters @Elgin55 who shared some great information on this topic. You could also type in the following in the search bar above and the thread should appear. @Elgin55 is in Ottawa who has a lot of information on this topic and did some amazing work to get funding for this type of support during chemo. I hope this helps.

#scalpcoolinginottawa

Scalp Cooling in Ottawa

Thank you so much!🙏🩵
Sent from my iPhone
Lauren Persson

Sounds good

Hi @florence2022,

I had Carboplatin - paclitaxel from July to Oct 2024. I tried cold caps from Cold Crowns. They are an absolutely wonderful company to work with. About two weeks after cycle 2, I experienced what they call "the great shed". It looked like a cat was curled up in the corner of my shower. I think this happens whether or not you cold cap. At that point my hair was very thin and limp. I used to struggle to find pony tail holders large enough, after the loss I could have used those tiny ones meant for braids. I decided that what was left wasn't worth saving, especially when weighed against the effort and discomfort of using the caps. I would have needed someone to attend every appointment to help with the timing and application. It is quite possible that continuing would have saved what remained of my hair. I had noticed changes to my hair texture, growth rate etc in the months leading up to diagnosis, maybe that has something to do with why I didn't respond as well? I think it is worth a try since it seems to work extremely well for some women, I hope you are one of them.

@florence2022   Checking in to see how you made out with the Cold Cap and hair loss.  Did it help at all? You still have some hair to contend with or did you unfortunately lose it like the rest of us did?  It truly is one of those things that one never knows if you will be the one that keeps your hair or not. Wishing you the best either way.  It is shocking when you lose it but I found I quickly got used to not having it either.  People stared no matter what and I started not caring if they looked or not. The worst was getting used to the breeze and why I would wear a cap versus not.  It gets chilly when you don't have any hair to cover your head.  Let us know how you made out when you get the chance.