The good, the bad and the ugly of my cold cap journey
Dear everyone, I am two and a half months past my last cycle of chemotherapy so I though I will share my experience with the cold calp. I had 4 cycles of TC (20/11/18 to 23/01/19). I chose to do a ...
For what it's worth @Lizzie75, I had TC chemotherapy (four infusions) and tried the cold cap. I abandoned it after two cycles as it wasn't working well enough for me to persist. I believe it just didn't fit on my scalp well enough. Round the edges and at the back, where it was tight, I retained some hair, but the rest wasn't good. This is what it looked like the day before I had it shaved off:
There were other bald patches round the sides. The thing is, if you try it, make sure it's squashed down really well on your head and with all over contact with your scalp.
For me the first 12 minutes was especially intense. The temperature is well below 0° and it is very uncomfortable. But after 12 minutes it eased off a bit and round the half hour mark it's just numb and you're OK for the rest of the time. They give you lots of drugs to help. If they offer drugs, take them! The NUM who was administering my first infusion said that in the five years she'd been doing cold caps she'd only had one woman who asked for it to be removed in the first half hour.
The first chemo cycle is often the worst for the exact reason you said, the fear of the unknown. After that, for most people, it's grotty but doable. For some lucky ones, it's relatively easy and they manage to work through it. One of the things about BC treatment is that we all react differently so try not to anticipate trouble that may never happen. Easy to say but harder to do I know!
Check out the Look Good Feel Better workshops while you're having chemo. They can really brighten a yucky time.
And welcome to the forum! Hang in there and check back in here as often as you need to. I hope you find it as warm and supportive as I have. Big hug, K xox
