162. Chemo On Cold Capping

A couple of months ago I didn't even know it existed, but during my latest visit to the Cancer Clinic I witnessed a Cold Capping treatment.  Cold Capping is a cold treatment applied to the scalp during and after chemo treatment so that your hair won't fall out.  It works on the principle that freezing the hair follicles will prevent the treatment from affecting the growth of your crowning glory.

During my latest chemo session I was sitting across 2 female cancer patients in their 30s.  While these 2 women were of the same age, they could not have possibly been more different from each other.  The first one  was finishing up treatment and getting ready to head out the door.  She was trim and slim, without being gaunt, with short, dark stubbles covering her scalp.  She seemed to have a lot of spunk because she bounced out of her chair.  Before she left, I commented on how well her "hair style" suited her.  She smiled and said that she often gets sideways glances from people wondering whether her hair is short due to chemo or whether she shaved it like that on purpose.  It was obvious that she felt very comfortable with it.

The second young woman on the other hand, had long wavy reddish-brown hair, looked pale and frail, and gave the impression she wanted to be left alone.  She stared ahead vacantly. Her husband was at her side.  He could not have been more attentive to her.  Eventually I noticed that she was wearing an unusual hat with a strap around her chin and that maybe, because of this contraption, it might be nearly impossible for her to open her mouth, let alone carry on a conversation.  Oh no! brain cancer, I thought, but then remembered the radio feature on Cold Capping a while back and my curiosity got the better of me.  So I quizzed the husband.  He confirmed it was indeed a cold cap and asked if I had any experience with this.  No I did not.  He said they had ordered all the necessary supplies from the States.  In front of him was a large hamper, containing, I assume, a cooling mechanism, a certain amount of hats and other paraphernalia. Every 20 minutes or so a cold hat was dug out of the container and was carefully and snugly strapped to the wife's head after the previous one was removed and returned to the hamper.  In addition, the woman had some kind of "visor" on her forehead.  It occurred to me that the treatment might not be too pleasant and joked she might end up with "brain freeze", to which the lady solemnly nodded.  Since this was her second treatment I couldn't help but think: Poor girl you have a hard road ahead of you.  But obviously her husband was just the perfect  man who would be able to help her through her ordeal.

I'm scheduled for the long-awaited Post-NanoKnife Liver Biopsy tomorrow morning.  I don't expect to have a report on the results till the end of the week.  If the results are unfavorable, I will need some time to absorb this.  Keep well!  SanTeh!