HI - have been reading your comments re cold cap but i cant comment as we dont have it at my hospital so not an option for me. I am starting my chemo on 11 March 2 weeks tomor and counting, got my first wig/scarf/bandana fitting next tues and the foll tue im to go to Look Good Feel Better. I am trying to be brave and take control of hair loss and am cutting my hair (its waist lengh dark and thick) could not bear for it to fall out be too much for me. so taking control and on advice from various sources am having sponsorsed hair cut very very very short!!! raising moneny for this bc care charity and have set up a page on Just Giving Well done for all of you who are having cold cap lots of love and luck xxxxShar xx
Great stuff Shar-where is your lgfb session please?I’d love to go to one of those!
Vxx
Wow! You will be fine. I have had my second fec today and back home now feeling fine. Everytime I go I just think that I am one step closer to finishing my treatment. The big c wont beat me! Good luck for two weeks time…you will be fine!
Thank you for your comments and support, i have my LGFB session in Wolverhampton in a few weeks time xxxxx
hello ladies,
ok just washed my hair and it went into like a “dreadlock” thats the only way i can describe it, major panic mode set it, so i put conditioner on and gently combed it, i must say loads has come out but then im not suprised as it was a mass of tangled hair,
has this happened to anyone else, and how can i prevent it from happening again?
thankyou
Donna
x
Hi Donna , we both post on the Feb. thread 
Am using cold cap and i have to confess to not leaving my hair that long to wash. I do mine about once every three days and it has been fine, i comb it very gently every day with one of those wide tooth combs and when i wash it i kinda comb the shampooo thru rather than rub it in with my fingers, then just pat it dry, i have had only a couple of strands come out each time. However i am getting a lot coming out from the back of my neck but i think this is where the cold cap does not reach or fit so well. Hope most of it is still hanging in there!!
Best wishes
Sally x
Hi Donna
Like sally I’m washing my hair every 3rd day or so with baby shampoo, then I’m gently blow drying it, can’t bear it otherwise. What’s the point of having hair if it looks awful?? I’m using a silk pillowcase which seems to help, not much if any hair on my pillow in the morning. Just hope I hold onto some of it, but constantly finding hair everywhere is being to get on my nerves. (Apart from finding my hair in the cat’s food bowl, that made me smile!) Donna xxx
Hello Sally and Donna,
Thankyou so much for your replies,
there was me thinking i was doing the best by not washing it, then bang it all back fired on me,i now will wash it every 3 day, i use organic shampoo and conditioner and also use a silk pillowcase,
im so mad with myself, maybe i would of not lost so much if id washed it earlier?? who knows,
I think we are all about at the same stage in our treatment, keep up the good work ladies
take care
love and hugs
Donna
x
Hiya!
Yeah I am washing it every third day too. I agree whats the point of having rubbish hair! I wash it with a shampoo that my hair dresser recommended. It is thinning but hey that cant be helped I guess. I too am finding hair all over the place…but none on my pillow yet!
I think the cold cap just delays it but I am hoping to hold on to some of my blonde locks! I am just grateful that my cancer didnt spread anywhere else and that I seem to be ok on chemo. Back at work today teaching.
Keep going ladies we can get through this x
Hi Donna and Sarah, seems like we are at similar stages. I first noticed hair on kitchen floor yesterday and bit more today - such an inconvenience! I also avoided washing it too frequently mainly because drying it on cold air at this time of year,was very uncomfortable and was worried about catching chill. (That’s what mummy instilled in me - Bless her)!!! Blessed with thick hair or should I say it was… Hoping not to lose too much and am prepared with wig etc but not the same as own hair. Got FEC 2 on wednesday and dread waking up in morning in case it walks away in the night. Using cold cap but there are no guarantees it will not go wondering. I seem to have bad headache which I think was from cold cap how are you coping with it? Part of me wants to go without as got further FEC after this one and then 12 TAX. Will it all be a waste of time trying to preserve it? Need someone to tell me they did and got the result they wanted! Anyway hope you keep your locks and best wishes x Adi
You are a brave woman! I have just had my second FEC…so a third of the way through my treatment. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Keep going with the cold cap…my nurses told me that it was working for me even if I am loosing some of my hair as if I hadnt of used it all my hair would have gone by now.
Good luck and keep strong. x
good morning ladies,
i feel calmer now, i was so angry with myself last night, i caused more trouble by not washing it, that will not happen again,
i too think that all my hair would be gone by now im 1 week post fec 2 and i still do have hair, (alot thinner now on top) but its there,
can i ask what shampoo and conditioner you all use please?
thankyou
Donna
xx
Morning lovely ladies, feel like I know you all really well already. Well done all of you and you all seem positive - GOOD! Hair didn’t go walkies in night don’t know why I had convinced myself that it would. Probably the achy scalp and seeing my kitchen floor with strands… Will persevere with the cold cap tomorrow, only trouble is that the white is overtaking the black! Next question is did any of you have it coloured? I know it is not really recommended but I am starting to look like a badger:( Anyway will have to go to see hairdresser next week as it definitely needs a bit of a cut as overdue. Keep smiling:) x
Good morning ladies - wanted to pop on and say, 1yr ago about now i was starting out with the cold cap, my hospital weren’t very supportive from the off - saying their results with it were very poor. Like some of you, the prospect of losing my hair seemed even worse than everything else. To cut a long story short - i persisted with it through chemo (4 rounds of AC - Not 6 ) I know you’ll be wanting me to tell you it worked a treat - it didn’t, my guess is i lost about 85% of my hair. I was absolutely gutted - i felt it was so unfair, i was trying so hard and following all the washing / non washing instructions to the letter etc etc.
On a personal level i was hugely disappointed /sad but the point of my post is that i’d probably do it again, some folks wouldn’t, its such an individual thing. I always found it really hard to take, the fact that it works for some people and not for others, but the fact is… it will work for some of you, lots of women will tell you that. I wanted to wish you all good luck with it - and for those of you who have managed to get round 2 in, i’d be really surprised if you lost it now.
Good luck.
Lynn
x
Another one here with words of encouragement for you ladies. Keep going. I can only echo what Lynn has said that if you’ve got through two sessions and have kept most of your hair it looks like it’s working. You will continue to lose hair each time, I did, but kept going and although it thinned on top I still think it was the right thing for me to do. I would say though that the cold cap does feel colder the more hair you lose and at my last session the nurse put two little squares of gauze to cover where it was thin.
Good luck to all of you.
Beverley xx
Good evening all, oh Donna P just read your post from last night cos just got in from work, felt so bad for you that you were so cross with yourself, am glad you feel better this morning. I use baby shampoo and no conditioner.
Donna and smortiboys i too think like you two, no point going through the cold cap thing if your hair still looks rubbish i also got to confess to getting my straightners out if i am going out anywhere special. My bad !!!
Bloods tomorrow and FEC2 on Thurs so hopefully my hair will hang in ther.
Keep persevering girls am thinking of you
Sallyxx
Sally, thankyou so much,
i wonder if i should use a different shampoo and no condtioner, my hair has colour i though??
i use a shampoo from holland and barratt as i was told it shouldnt contain any ph and additives and not to use baby shampoo???
oh well time will tell
omg you are brave using straighteners, mine are collecting dust now along side the thickening shampoo/conditioner/moose hairbrush
take care all and lots of luck for your chemo this week
love and hugs
Donna
xx
Evening Ladies I thought I had got away with it. Even this morning no hair loss but an hour later I think it did a Tommy Cooper - ‘Just like that!’ I ran my fingers through it to tidy it up before hospital visit and could not believe it - it was just coming away. Oh well we knew it would happen. Got FEC 2 tomorrow and think still going to use Cold Cap. Have booked to have some cut as it may be a bit heavy and this may not be helping. I suppose some hair is better than none. Why are we so vain? Keep smiling. Adi
Evening ladies!
Really like chatting to you all…its really helping me! More hair came out today and cant believe how dry it is!! Mine is full of blonde bleach but I have never seen it looking so unhealthy! I will keep going but not going to look rubbish so if I have to shave it off then I will do it! The fact is that my hair is dying and anything that I put on it needs to be full of energy.
I am using a salon shampoo…and lots of conditioner. Just pop it on your head and leave it to soak in. I know it sounds sad but I just dont want people to stare at me which is why I am soooo keen to keep my hair. I kept my cancer hidden for months and now just want people to treat me for me. So now that I am in my second fec is it more likely that I will keep most of my hair?? Any advice?
Sarah x
Hi,
sorry to butt in on your thread. Thought you could use a success story, I used the cold cap last Jan - June for my Chemo and it worked really well did thin a lot and kept thinning through to my 4th chemo but not as much as expected, I only washed my hair once a week using dove ph balanced shampoo and patted it dry, I was naughty on a few occasions and used my straightners, once chemo was over I cut my below shoulder hair to chin level and now have my shine back and my thickness also, noone knew i was going through chemo unless i told them.
Its hard doing the cold capand adds quite a bit of time onto your hospital visit but its worth it if it works.
Take care
Jill x