Ivana | California

Ivana | California
Diagnosis: Stage 1 Breast Cancer, Triple Negative
Chemotherapy Regimen: Taxotere/Carboplatin
Total Treatments: 6

I was diagnosed with triple negative, Stage I breast cancer on October 9th, 2020. Due to the type of cancer, I had to start chemo right away and then have surgery after. My chemo treatment started 11/2/2020 and it consisted of 6 rounds every 3 weeks.

The day I was diagnosed my first thought was ” I don’t want to die at 49!” and then, “omg I will go bald”. For me, hair is my favorite thing about my appearance and I knew if I lost that, I would be depressed for this entire period. With preserving my hair, I was able to go to work and most people don’t know what I am going through, and that’s how I wanted it to stay.

I believe I lost about 40% of my hair, and its texture has changed but its still there and that’s what mattered to me.

One major factor in deciding to do DigniCap is the price. I was lucky that I could afford it at the time but what about all the women who can’t? Deciding between being able to do it or not, should not be determined by economic status or a GOFundME campaign. EVERY woman would be able to have that choice.
I truly hope DigniCap and the Insurance companies can come to some kind of agreement so EVERY woman can be given the opportunity to preserve her dignity while going through the most difficult part of her life.

PS…Just wanted to add few helpful tips… The placement of the cooling cap is “painful” first 20min of the treatment and then it magically stops, and you are pain free for the next several hours! Before every treatment I would take 2 extra strength Tylenols and then they would start the infusion with Benadryl which helped me relax!