Janet ▶ NC

Janet | North Carolina
Age: 69
Diagnosis: HER2 positive breast cancer
Chemotherapy Regimen: Paclitaxel
Total Treatments: 12 
Infusion Center: UNC Hillsborough 

Tell us about yourself.
In June 2022 I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my left breast. Twenty years ago, I had been treated for cancer in my right breast and with a lumpectomy and radiation. It was determined that I had a PALB2 gene mutation, and also that I was HER2 positive. The tumor was stage 1 with no lymph node involvement. Given this information I opted to have a double mastectomy and even though chemotherapy was recommended, my initial reaction was to decline because I didn’t want to lose my hair. I was 68 years old at the time and retired, but losing my hair seemed more than I could bear.

How did you find out about DigniCap?
My sister was employed in the health care industry and had heard about scalp cooling and encouraged me to research this option. The information that I found was very encouraging, but DigniCap was not offered at my local cancer center. I found that it was available at the UNC Hospital in Hillsborough, NC. Even though it was a two-hour drive from my home, I had surgery and treatment there.

“I drove 2 hours every week to have access to DigniCap, but it was very much worth every mile!”

Did you have a successful experience using DigniCap?
While the extreme cold was definitely a shock at first, after about 10 minutes I hardly noticed it at all. My cancer center strongly recommended using ice gloves and booties to prevent neuropathy and I found the gloves were much more uncomfortable than the cold cap. The great news is that it all worked! I did lose some hair, but not enough for anyone else to really notice, and there is only a tiny bit of neuropathy in one finger which seems to be going away.

I only washed my hair once a week on the morning of my treatment, and I used the shampoo, conditioner and the other scalp cooling booster products by Daniel Field which I ordered from chemohairandskin.com. I never brushed my hair, only combed with wide toothed comb, always slept on natural silk pillowcases, and washed my hair in the sink using lukewarm water poured from a pitcher. I did not use any styling products or tools

Why was trying to keep your hair during chemotherapy important to you?
I know that hair does grow back, but I am somewhat private and didn’t want everyone that I saw to know that I had cancer. I am beyond blessed to have been able to have scalp cooling and to work with the wonderful doctors and nurses at UNC. The infusion nurses became like family and I actually missed them when my treatments were complete.

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?
I encourage anyone who is faced with cancer to explore scalp cooling. For me the additional time and slight discomfort were well worth it.