Life After Cold Caps: a place for ex-cold-cappers to share

My big step 6 weeks Pfc ...I washed my hair under the GENTLE shower stream. Tepid water, same dermorganics shampoo, but so much nicer that the kitchen sink!

I cut half an inch a month off my long hair by myself all through chemo as an equal amount was growing in, judging by the length of natural colored roots I had. At my hairdresser's suggestion, I also had about two inches cut off at my first professional trim after chemo which was five months PFC. My hair was dry and lifeless looking with lots of breakage, so a good trim and shaping was necessary. It made a huge difference in how I looked. I wish I had done it earlier.

I don't think minor trims make any difference, and probably major ones either, though I would wait for a major trim until well after chemo just to be safe.

Leslienva - I would use a blow dryer and brush to make my hair look civilized. I used cool near my scalp and only used warm on the ends to give them a light curl. I even did that during chemo when there was a special occasion, although I tried to let my hair air dry at other times.

wow, you girls are very brave!!! You are both done treatments, right?? So very lucky. I'll be there soon.....

Good luck, Rain, I am sure it will look and feel great! I think the biggest risk has passed and as long as you are careful with the process, your hair will do fine.

I've been using Jason's w aloe .... I think I smell better without it. Ugh!! I'm also looking for something natural but a deodorant that at least smells good. Let me know if you get any good tips. Thnx! Congrats again on a successful finish 😃

I just saw on Amazon Latisse is on sale for $35 from $140 today only! And I think free shipping.

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My oncologist is very firm about her patients not using deodorants with aluminum in them. She said that while studies haven't been done to prove it, a lot of doctors feel that it might be a cause - combined with other factors - of breast cancer. She is nationally known and respected, so I take her seriously. I avoid aluminum.

I have had luck with a deodorant product called "DeodoMom" that can be found on Amazon. I think it was designed for pregnant women which would account for the name. I have found that it usually works for me. It's a cream that comes in a jar. I think its ingredients are similar to Milk of Magnesia's.

Schoolmom, do you remember how long it took to stop sweating out that yucky chemo smell?

I use lavanilla deoderant and it's ok. Geodeo works great and is invisible. But the best deoderant - mix 2 parts corn starch, one part baking soda and organic coconut oil - just enough to make it solid. Works amazing even on your sweatiest days. You can add some lavader or other essential oil if you don't like the plain smell. I'm telling you, nothing better - and this is coming from a diehard Donna Karan Cashmere and Kiels user which anyone who knows will tell you are the strongest antiperspent and most expensive ones out there. Now I make it and I amso not a granola hippy type.

Ladies - 9 mos. PFC and I finally took Hortense's advice and tried the Nioxen # 4 hair care system that I purchased after a consult in the salon at Ulta. After only one use, my hair appears to be close to normal. Unbelievable! Everyone is noticing how good my hair looks. My husband asked, "Wow. What did you do with your hair? It looks great."

I use Arm & Hammer Essentials and an extra dab of perfume.

RainDew - Somehow I just knew when the shedding stopped. I felt less "delicate". It is hard to describe. It was something intuitive that let me know it was time to gradually move back to a more normal hair care routine. I wasn't shedding. Hair that came out was like the hair that came out before chemo. Shedding is a more out of control hair loss...if any of this makes sense.

When my shedding stopped, it truly stopped overnight. One day I was still shedding, the next, not one hair came out. And, none came out for about four months afterwards, too. It was amazing. Mine stopped at 16 weeks on the dot.

Daniella thanks for the deodorant recipe, I will be making some today.

I don't dare use Kiel's products anymore as they have so many chemicals in them.

Hi, all - I've been reading this thread for a while, hoping against hope that I WON'T need chemo and thus won't need any of this info, but wanting to be prepared just in case.

Regarding Daniella's recipe for deodorant - I just wanted to mention that lavender, much as I love it, has known phytoestrogenic properties. Therefore anyone who is ER+ might want to avoid using the essential oil on their skin.

It's been years since I read about this so can't readily provide cites - it may have been in 'Slow Death by Rubber Ducky'.

Thanks for making your hard-earned wisdom available to all of us. I hope to never need it but will always appreciate what each of you have been through. Good luck getting back to loving your hair. ,

Hi, Pat. I am 'shadowing' a trial that is currently underway at a local university hospital. By shadowing, I mean that my bs is involved in the trial and offered me a chance to participate but since it would have required jumping through a lot of hoops with my insurer, we're simply following the treatment protocol without actually going outside my network.

The protocol has been used fairly extensively in Europe and the UK but not in the US. In my case my bs thought it would be a good option because of my positive node and high Ki-67 rate. These factors tend to suggest the likelihood of an intermediate Oncotype score (or high) after surgery and frequently dictate ALND, which I was very concerned about.

A re-biopsy after 1 month on Femara demonstrated a strong response in that the Ki-67 dropped from 43% to 4%. The tumor, which wasn't large to begin with, has shrunk and the node both looks better on US and was barely palpable.This is extremely useful to know (as opposed to starting after surgery and simply hoping for a good response).

I'll have surgery after 6 full months on Femara, at which time we hope that the node will show a pCR.

I think it's a very useful approach, although the waiting to learn the outcome is very difficult. If it means I get a pass on chemo, however, it will all be worth it. Even if I don't avoid chemo, we will have valuable in vivo information about my tumor's response and that will be helpful.

If anyone has questions please don't hesitate to ask. It's an approach I think we'll see more of in the future and I'm glad to share my experience.

Leslie, ALND is Axillary Lymph Node Dissection - the removal of the level 1&2 (sometimes level 3) lymph nodes. It's more likely to lead to lymphedema than a sentinel node biopsy.

The alternative is Axillary Reverse Mapping, (ARM) which is a newer technique that spares the nodes draining the arm and thus reduces likelihood of lymph edema.

I haven't had any real side effects from Femara. Occasionally my down moods will be darker and I think my hair might be a bit drier. It's hard to tell for sure with the hair, given seasonal drying effects and the dehydration resulting from some very long flights. So, on the whole, I'd say no side effects. I take it at night so that if anything such as tiredness or whatever results it doesn't cause any problems. Heaven knows, I'd much rather deal with anything Femara could throw at me than T/C.