Forum Discussion

kezmusc's avatar
kezmusc
Member
8 years ago

Mater Springfield. 80% success rate now with cold caps!!! And the boys are using it too!

HI everyone,

i went for my 3 monthly oncology check up yesterday.  As I was one of the first few people to use their new paxman scalp cooler I was keen to see how it was going for them. I had a chat to the nursing manager who was saying that they are having about an 80-85% success rate with it now. The nursing team are now pros at fitting the caps and checking the positioning throughout treatment to get the best results.  They are stoked they can offer the service and have a number of men using it as well.

I can't speak highly enough of this team of nurses.  Their dedication and compassion for their patients is second to none.  Everybody there from the doctors, nursing team  through to the receptionists are always so welcoming anc caring.  

Have a great day everybody.
XOXOXo

 
chemotherapy
hair-loss
scalp-cooling
side-effects
  • Payne's avatar
    Payne
    Member
    8 years ago
    My hair loss was just thinning a bit on top.  Probably 5-10%.  The regrowth was quite quick, about the 5th round of chemo.  I took a diazepam before all treatments but was more for anxiety related to the chemo and cannula.  In hindsight I think this also relaxed me more all over.  As I also had the frozen gloves for first hour of treatment, this caused more discomfort than the cap and was given panadol which helped a bit, but I think the diazepam really did it.  Unfortunately, effects only lasted for up to two hours and I was in the chair for about 5-6 hours.  Also this meant I had to have a driver to take me the 70 minute drive to hospital as there would have been residual effects from diazepam.  Hope that makes sense.
  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago
    That’s great to hear @kezmusc. I wonder if there’s a pattern with the other 15-20% and if it is now more successsful with Adriamycin. I’m also interested in what amount of hair retained constitutes success.

    I’d love a feedback system for pain, satisfaction with the cold caps etc. to keep improving the system. I heard that they are better at giving pain relief and sometimes anti-anxiety medication before the cold caps now. Mindfulness would be very useful in this context. I hope this system is expanded and offered to more people as it certainly has benefits, despite the pain and discomfort. I used this system in the very early days, almost 3 years ago now. There were teething problems then.