A fellow cold capper and advocate started a great new Facebook page. She just featured my story! Such an honor! Join us!
My IG story:
I sat in the lot of the 3rd radiology center that week. It was hard to get out of the car. Before I did, I called my Mom to say, “We have to try. Even though they say it won’t work, we have to try.”
I had spent the previous day at chemo training, genetic testing, and fertility discussions. I came home and broke down completely. After a therapeutic cry, I did a web search for “cold capping.”
I had heard about it through a friend, though she didn’t have specifics. I asked my oncology team about it and was met with curt dismissal. “It doesn’t work,” was the response. “Not for your kind of chemo. Don’t waste your money.” Or the worst, “Focus on getting better, not how you look.”
My web search that night led me to Penguin Cold Caps. I devoured their website and got up to head to that parking lot the next morning for more scans with one thing on my mind…saving my hair.
Having something like cold capping to focus on during chemo was a much-needed distraction. Proving wrong those that tried to dissuade me was also sweetly validating. It worked! I didn’t lose my hair. The privacy I maintained by keeping my hair was like a gold crown. That I could still recognize myself were the jewels in that crown. But, the real majesty of cold capping came afterward.
I began connecting with newly diagnosed women, serving as a rare cold capping success story. I now get to help others defy chemo hair loss. That’s where I found my strength. Educating the world that #itsmorethanhair is how I’m truly healing.
If you’re in the Austin, TX area, please join our local Cold Cap Support Group too!
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