Conflicted about starting Paxman cold cap

lamb22

My insurance doesn’t cover it. It is $2200 for my treatment. I am worried bc I have heard that it only works for 50% of people to save half their hair. And I have also heard some drs are concerned that you could cook your body too much and slow your circulation too much that the chemo won’t work. Please any advice would be great. Thanks

WC3

I did cold capping and still lost more than 50% of my hair but I did it because taxotere can cause permanent hair loss and I had not known about weekly taxol as an alternative to taxotere. My hair is growing back pretty well so far and being that was my primary goal, I'm happy with it. Additionally, that I did lose what I did, I know the chemotherapy got in to my scalp, which does make me less worried about mets developing there.

You can see photos of my cold capping progress in the cold capping thread.

DiagnosisDisruption

I also did it with TCHP because of the Taxotere. It was recommended by my oncology pharmacist because of the very small percentage of patience whose hair did not come back. I did thin and it was stressful watching the hair and, what felt like, my money going down the drain. However, I work at an elementary school and none of the kids knew I was undergoing chemotherapy. I do not regret cold capping one single day because my cancer was my business, not everyone else's. As far as the inconvenience of being at the infusion center longer, it was six days out of my life.

PennyK

I use the Dignicap. I’m on treatment 6 of Taxol. My hair has shed a bit but it’s not noticeably thinner. My MC said I would have been completely bald by treatment 3.The cost is $3,000 for my treatment, which is tough. But I think it’s worth it. Worse than the money is the pain of the cap when it first cools down and the extra time in the chair.

Meow13

For people struggling with the costs the Rapunzel project may have resources to help.