Ali ▶ CT

Ali | Connecticut
Age: 30
Diagnosis: HER2-positive, Breast Cancer (Stage 1 Grade 2)
Chemotherapy Regimen: Taxol -12 rounds
Total Treatments: 12 x Taxol chemo, 1x a week for 12 consecutive weeks.  
Infusion Center: Hartford Health – St. Vincent’s Medical Center 

Tell us about yourself.
I am now 32 years old, living in Santa Monica, CA with my fiancé Aaron who I met during diagnosis and treatment. I work for my mom, Kerri Rosenthal, she is an artist, and together we have a lifestyle brand that creates everything from home accessories to a full ready to work clothing line and have done several collaborations in support of breast cancer. I love to road-trip up and down the coast, hike, farmers market, cooking, beach walks, working out and enjoy every single day no matter what! I really do not sweat the small stuff. 

How did you find out about DigniCap?
When I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in September of 2022 I was terrified beyond belief. One of my main concerns was the possibility of losing my hair. I had heard wonderful things about DigniCap from a family friend who had been through it recently too and had great results from using the scalp cooling method. I knew I would try it immediately.

“I am so grateful for DigniCap – it was one of the best decisions I was able to make for myself during that time.”

Did you have a successful experience using DigniCap?
I’d say I kept 99 percent of my hair through scalp cooling. I know I got extremely lucky as I had no shedding. Now, over a year later, I have so much regrowth coming in which I thought was so crazy because I never lost hair, I guess I had lost little baby hairs that I didn’t notice but everything is coming in so thick and healthy, and my hair has never looked better!

I found that I tolerated the cold capping fine. It is not the easiest thing in the world but definitely not as hard as I thought it would be. It was also great that they did not have to change it out every 20-30 minutes, which is what I heard some other cap companies do. So I was able to sleep through it thanks to the meds. I followed the “rules” to a T. I did not use any product other than what was suggested, nor did I brush more than once a day, didn’t use any clips or hair ties, had a strict wash schedule and I would not touch my hair at all. I was incredibly strict. With this entire combination of chemo meds and steps I followed, I truly did not notice any hair loss on my head during my chemo treatment. I waited three months post-chemo to highlight, style and apply heat. Now, eight months post chemo treatment I do see a ton of little regrowth in areas where I never had a lot of growth and my hair is the fullest, strongest and healthiest it’s ever been in my life. I am so grateful to DigniCap!!

Why was trying to keep your hair during chemotherapy important to you?
I was 30 years old and single at the time, I felt like my long blonde hair was an important part of who I was, and I couldn’t imagine a world where I didn’t fight and do everything I could to keep it.

How did keeping your hair affect you, and those around you?
People kept saying I didn’t look sick. I knew I was still puffy from the chemo and steroids and lost eyebrows and eyelashes, so I didn’t feel like I looked 100 percent myself, but it was pretty close! I think that was important not only to me but my friends and family as I was able to resume everyday life and not feel like I had to talk about my diagnosis with strangers if I didn’t want to.

What advice would you give to someone who is going through a similar experience, or who has recently been diagnosed and is considering scalp cooling?
It is dependent on the diagnosis, but if anyone has a similar situation to mine and has the means to do it, it is 100 percent worth it. It really works. It is very important how the cap is put on. Other than that I didn’t touch my hair, put it up, hardly washed it. I was so strict and I really think that everything I did contributed to the success of DigniCap.