Anyone choose NOT to use 'cold caps'?

muska

Before starting chemo I asked my MO about cold caps. She said it would be a torture so I didn't do it. Wore a wig that looked better than my own hair. I am a year out and my hair is better than ever - even though I an on arimidex

Spookiesmom

I didn't use them. Didn't know about them till it was too late. Would I have? Maybe, if my insurance covered them. I did chemo during Florida summer, maybe the cold would have felt good.

I lost every hair on my body. Nice not shaving my legs for a few months!

My hair is extremely thin. Can see scalp through it. I don't know if it's the one round of Taxotere, or the arimadex, but I'm alive to complain about it

sbelizabeth

The cold cap had become a talked-about thing when I did chemo.  My MO didn't particularly care, but I researched it and decided to not pursue using it for a handful of reasons--

• It sounded very uncomfortable.
• It would have cost thousands of dollars, not covered by insurance.
• Some sources advised against preventing chemo drugs reaching every cell in the body.
• My own hair is kind of a pain and I was sort of looking forward to the temporary bald experience.

 

And so, I was bald as an egg for about five or six months.  I started with a very nice wig, but it was hot and itchy.  Everyone I worked with knew I was bald, so I thought, what the heck, and started wearing scarves and hats.  I ditched them when my hair was about a quarter inch long. 

My hair came back in lovely soft curls, which gradually morphed back into my straight locks.  It's been a couple of years and you'd never know my hair was ever gone.

Blessings to you as you move through this process.  You'll make the right decision for YOU.