Seeking advice on chemo and cold capping for breast cancer treatment

My daughter had long, beautiful red brown hair and had 30 rounds of chemotherapy. She ended up shaving all her hair off less than halfway through because the chemotherapy causes her scalp to itch so bad. When it grew back in, it came in white she is 56 and seven years since she had triple negative breast cancer. However, other people that I know who have also gone through chemotherapy, everyone’s hair changes mostly it comes back thicker but a different texture.

Hi I am new here. I’m 51 diagnosed 4/21 with invasive ductal carcinoma stage 1 er/pr + her2- grade 3. Had a double mastectomy 5/21. Pathology results showed all cancer out and nothing in the 4 lymph nodes. No radiation needed. But for chemo i need 4 rounds of ac and 12 rounds of taxol. My onco score is 49. I had a total hysterectomy 9 years ago. I am so scared of receiving chemo. I want to do cold capping as I have long natural curly hair but hearing different feedback. Has anyone been through

I have the same exact diagnosis as you but higher ONCA score. I’m doing chemo first, I’m on treatment 6 of 8 today. I was not a candidate for cold cap as I have had melanoma and cold capping would prohibit killing anything lurking in scalp. I will say I’m doing to cold booty/ mittens with the taxol and I can manage for about an hour of the 2.5 hour session, very cold. So far I’ve managed the chemo, very fatigued, but no nausea, taxol gave me hives so they are upping Benadryl , hoping that doesn’t happen again. Surgery and radiation will come next for me. I have confidence you will do great.❤️

Are you just doing taxol or did you have adramycin first? How long do the booty and mittens last? I wasn’t sure if i had to purchase a 2nd set. My mind is running circles. I go back to my oncologist on Monday for my dates but thank you so much for the info. Surgery went well and i had my first fill Tuesday. I do have some swelling in right armpit and go for my first lymphedema pt today. I hope there is no more issues for you. ❤️

I did 4 treatments of the adramycin, now just finished my second taxol with 2 more to go. The bootie/ mittens last about an hour I bought extra inserts but honestly I can only take about an hour of them, Dr said just do what you can tolerate. All the best to you.

Sending healing thoughts to you all. I am so grateful no chemo and just completed 20 radiations after surgery and rang the bell on Wednesday !

Similar treatment plan here. I was told cold capping wasn't guaranteed to prevent hairless so I just went bald. Hair actually started growing back while I was on taxol treatments. Now is coming in thicker and starting to get wavy. I was comfortable without a wig, but it is an emotional thing losing your hair. Hang in there. It definitely comes back.

It's completely understandable to feel scared about starting chemotherapy - this is a big step in treatment and many people share these concerns. Cold capping experiences vary widely among patients, with some finding it helpful for hair preservation while others find the process uncomfortable or less effective than hoped. The community here has members who have gone through similar treatment protocols and can share their real experiences with both the chemotherapy regimen and cold capping to help inform decisions. Consider discussing cold capping thoroughly with the medical team to understand what to expect and whether it might be a good fit based on the specific treatment plan.