Maureen ▶ TN

Maureen | Tennessee
Age: 60
Diagnosis: Breast Cancer
Chemotherapy Regimen: Taxotere-Cytoxan
Total Treatments: 4 (+4 radiation) 

Tell us about yourself.
I have been married 25 years and have one son who is 22. I am a university professor and scientist in Nashville.

How did you find out about DigniCap?
One of my friends used a cold cap when she had chemo for colon cancer and had great things to say.

“I am so very grateful that I could use DigniCap. It gave me some control over a life situation during which you feel very much like control has been taken away from you.“

Did you have a successful experience using DigniCap?
I had quite a bit of shedding after the first 2 rounds of chemo, but it has slowed down. A month after my last chemo I was still losing a little bit of hair every time I washed it, but it slowed down a lot. Even now, when people find out I have been through chemo, they cannot believe it. The first thing they say is “your hair looks great!”. That is very nice of them and I truly appreciate it. I know that I have lost quite a bit of hair even with scalp cooling using the cap. I also know that it would have been a lot more hair loss without my DigniCap.

Why was keeping your hair during chemotherapy important to you?
I wanted to be able to decide who and when to tell people what I was going through. Using the DigniCap allowed me to keep most of my hair so that no one knew I had cancer unless I decided to tell them.

How did keeping your hair affect you, and those around you?
It made a world of difference to me! Alopecia Universalis runs in my family and I suffered from Alopecia Areata for many years. Prior to my cancer diagnosis I spent a lot of money for medication to grow my hair back and have been in remission for 7 years. Losing my hair to chemo after all that would have been very traumatic for me. Plus, I give presentations at conferences and teach in front of many people and wanted to look myself and not look sick and not have to meet people for the time without hair. DigniCap gave me the chance to look like myself and to choose who I told about my illness. Most people did not even know I had cancer. I was able to be treated normally and not with kid gloves by everyone.

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 was totally worth it. I did lose some hair and I won’t lie…I was upset about that. But overall, I think I look great and I am super happy with the results. It was only a little uncomfortable for about the first 10 minutes you put it on, and then I got so used to it, I actually called the nurse during the first session thinking it had shut off by accident because I couldn’t feel the cold. But it was still on and doing its job! I had just gotten used to it.

I am so very grateful that I could use DigniCap. It gave me some control over a life situation during which you feel very much like control has been taken away from you.