Cold Cap with 12 week taxol/herceptin

jssprung

HI - I am Stage 1 Her2/neu and estrogen and progesterone positive.  My oncologist recommended the 12 weeks taxol and herceptin.  Has anyone had experience with the Penguin Cold Cap for this regimen? I would like to hear about your experience with your hair and if you think it was worth the effort.  I currently have shoulder length thick wavy/straight hair.

Thank you!!!

JS 

Moderators

Hello JS, and welcome to BCO.

There's a very active thread in called Cold Cap Users Past and Present, to Save Hair that's part of the Chemotherapy - Before, During and After forum. Just click the link to go there to connect with many other women who are exactly where you are. 

The Mods

jdkdfw

Hi - absolutely!!!!   Totally worth the effort - and my hair was the same length and style as yours.    Keeping my hair during treatment was the best thing mentally in fighting this battle.    No one, including my children, could tell I was going through treatment - so, I was able to continue to live my life as normal as possible & keeping my hair allowed me to do it.   Plus, having my hair after the chemo ended, really allowed me to mentally (and physically) move on.    Since my treatment, I have had many others do them & feel the same way.    I would HIGHLY recommend the caps.  (Stage 2, Her2+, ER-, PR-, Brac-)     

Becka3

Hi JS,   Yes, it was worth it for me!! When I was diagnosed, my oncologist told me in advance that both my chemo drugs would result in hair loss. I used the Penguin Cold Caps and although I did loose all of my body hair, I kept my shoulder length curly hair on my head. No one knew I was going through chemo unless I told them and I even received complements on my hair during treatment  

As it has turned out, keeping my hair for me was much more than just about "keeping my hair". I unfortunately had a difficult time with chemo (not all people share this experience and instead breeze through it). Keeping my hair really provided some much needed normalcy during a difficult time and using the caps on my "chemo days" gave me something positive to focus on and keeping a positive attitude really helped in the recovery process. 

Using the caps not only helped me with maintaining normalcy during treatment, now that I am several months post chemo it has been much easier to transition from cancer patient and move on.....  My oncologist was the first one to be surprised by my "hair results" and agrees the positive outlook helped in my recovery and he is now a supporter of the Penguin Caps!  

Wishing you good health and all the best in your treatment ~ Becka 

KCD

I just finished 12 weeks of taxol/herceptin with all of my hair thanks to cold caps

Djhallam55

where do u find the caps?

coolmom42kds

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum, as my mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with stage 2 IDC and high grade DCIS (1.2cm) (HER2+, 2/3 lymph nodes positive). Her PET scan is scheduled for the upcoming week, and her treatment plan currently outlines: Taxotere + carbo + Herceptin and Perjeta. She will be undergoing chemotherapy every three weeks for six months, with Herceptin for 12 months. This being said, we are searching for the elasto-gel hypothermia caps (model #610) or similar styles for hair retention through chemo therapy. We looked into renting various caps (Penguin cold caps, etc.), however we found them to be out of our price range at $500 per month with no help from insurance. We are willing to buy them and pay for the cost of shipping (we live in Northern California), or perhaps even rent them from someone willing to share. Any and all leads would be greatly appreciated as we are finding that they are out of stock through many retailers. Also, any tips or advice surrounding these caps would be greatly appreciated. I will be reading through the forum and will be taking notes. Thank you for your time and support.

Respectfully,

Victoria

(209)629-1514

victoriamlewis@gmail.com

JannaPaget

Anyone experience with 9x3 PTC-Pertuzamab and Cold Cap?

I am starting this treatment July 25 and would like to know about the experience from others

(I am ER-, PR-, AR+, HER2+)