Sarah | California
Age: 39
Diagnosis: Breast Cancer
Chemotherapy Regimen: Taxotere/Cytoxan
Total Treatments: 6
Infusion Center: Long Beach Memorial Care
I decided to try out DigniCap because I didn’t want to have any regrets – if I tried it out and kept my hair, great! If I tried and lost my hair, then at least I tried. If I didn’t try, I was going to lose my hair 100% and would’ve wondered about the what-ifs. I had full long hair prior to treatment and cut my hair shorter ahead of treatment, knowing that even with DigniCap, I would lose hair and I figured it would be easier to deal with hair loss with shorter hair.
I felt pretty discouraged after the first session because I was losing “a lot” of hair prior to my second session (even bought myself a backup wig!) but decided to stick it out a little longer and eventually the hair loss stopped. I would guess I lost about 30%ish hair and really some thinned out spots were only noticeable to me. Everyone else commented that it looked like I didn’t lose hair at all!
For me, keeping my hair was worth it because I was able to “not” think about my cancer or my cancer treatment at all times – I didn’t constantly see a cancer patient every time I looked in the mirror and I did not want that to be my defining characteristic to me. It was also incredibly helpful during treatment to not worry my 3-year-old daughter. She was already confused about my frequent doctor’s visits and curious about me having shorter hair – I think if I had lost my hair completely, it would’ve been a hard experience for her. I am incredibly fortunate that I was able to afford the treatment and it worked for me. I’m about 4 months post chemotherapy right now and just got my “clean” mammogram yesterday! Feeling very hopeful about the future and my health.