@galdiolus I got the feeling that the cold cap was in demand so might affect timing of appointments. I’m planning to book an appointment to look at wigs this week whilst I’m on annual leave… Been thinking about eyebrow options. Can you get them done before they fall out and if you can’t, is it a no no during treatment?
@mrsjelly I’m so pleased for you that the scans showed no further spread … that’s a huge weight off your mind I’m sure x
I personally didn’t bother with cold capping , I’ve had two lots of abraxane and I’m
Completely bald but bizarrely my eyebrows are clinging on !
Apparently you can get eyebrow stencils and that can work if you are good with a pencil but I know a few people had them micro bladed before treatment
I started getting wigs before chemo started … it’s the only thing that’s been remotely “fun” about this absolute disaster movie … having fun with different hair …
here’s a pic of me minus hair and one of my wigs (excuse the posie wig pic it was for my business insta )
4 Likes
I cold capped twice then stopped as it made my body temp drop so low it made me feel worse than the chemo. I know that many on here have used it with great success though. For me it was just about taking control of a decision. I think it’s just doind whatever feels right for you- whether that’s cold cap, wigs, embracing the bald, turbans, scarves - there’s lots of options.
1 Like
@mrsjelly yes you get your eyebrows done before you start. It is a no go once you start. Mine have been brilliant. My eyebrows and lashes only started to thin at cycle 4 (inhale my last one - 6th) next week. I am really glad I got mine done. Xx
2 Likes
You look fab!
2 Likes
Fear I’ll be too late for eyebrows. They may cling on like @arty1
I wear glasses so without them on I’d struggle to draw them on though my glasses do hide my eyebrows. Could just get massive frames!
3 Likes
@mrsjelly you couid just wear wigs with a heavy fringe if you’re eyebrows start to thin ?
I have very dark thick eyebrows so I just didn’t keep them in check before I started chemo and let them go a bit wild … so they’ve thinned enough to look fairly neat now !
Anyone else had terrible scalp itching ?
Mines been itching violently since cycle 2…
@mrsjelly , so glad your appointments went well and you are on your way to starting treatment. Glad the MRI wasnt too bad, but i’m not surprised you are sore. I only cold capped once and it wasnt very successful so didn’t bother any more. It prolongs the time in hospital as well. I was very pleased with my wig, it gave me a great deal of confidence when going out. I’m a bit reluctant to give it up now my hair is growing back quite grey. It was only at the end of treatment my eyebrows gave up, but as i wear glasses you couldnt really see much difference. Good luck with PICC line.
@arty1 fabulous pictures, love the wig.
Penny
2 Likes
Hi @caz591 once I was on just Phesgo, I didn’t really have any side effects of significance. Everything kept its steady return to as near normal as possible from hard core chemo: hair growth, taste came back, neuropathy in my feet & fingers improved but didn’t go altogether, energy levels got loads better. I thought the Phesgo was giving me diarrhoea, but turns out now that was more likely the letrozole I was also taking. I do sometimes wonder if I’d have recovered more quickly if not on Phesgo, but there are some things one just has to accept we’ll never know. I was back full-time working and just had a few hours off each time I needed a trip to the hospital for a dose.
Hope this helps.
2 Likes
Phi @jeml I had a complete response to chemo (neo-adjuvant) , it was sort of good news, but then I really had to trust that surgery, when there was theoretically nothing to see to take out and radiotherapy were really necessary. I always knew they were with my head, but my heart was a bit more all over the place about HER2 treatment with lymph node involvement meaning the kitchen sink is thrown at it! Hang on in there: for me doing chemo first really did get the worst part behind me early on and I wonder if I managed better because I started from a position of strength rather than when in symutgery recovery mode. I don’t know, that’s just thoughts I have had since. Sending pink love.
5 Likes
One thing to be aware of with regard to the cold cap is that if your treatment plan involves a taxol (docetaxel or similar), there is a the possibility of permanent hair loss as a side effect. It’s something that is not well communicated in pre-chemo intake appointments, so I post about it a lot when people are making the decision on whether or not to cold cap. 
5 Likes
Yes @kartoffel . That why I have posted in many threads about Paxman’s website www.coldcap.com, I found a link where you can put in your regime and it gives you stats. Also www.cancerhaircare.co.uk
I found the oncologist was very supportive of cold capping but found the nurses on the ward less enthusiastic as they are the ones applying the cap and the extra time you have to wear it. I had one nurse who said it doesn’t work with taxane, which is not true as I kept most of my hair with two small patches and some shedding.
Efficacy & Safety - Paxman. This is the efficacy and safety information if you’re interested, clicking on the patient tab takes you to coldcap.com website.
1 Like
Hello lovely ones
@mrsjelly I was out walking somewhere between Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard this morning when I saw your CT scan results were good. I shouted “Oh fantastic news! Mrs Jelly is clear!” My husband knew exactly what I was on about, even if the men working on their boat looked at me askance. We all knew exactly what you were going through and it’s such a relief to hear that it hasn’t spread. So it’s on with the whacking it with treatment phase next. You can do this. We’ll be cheering you on. I did cold cap and it didn’t work great for me, if I’m honest. I carried on until the end as one of the nurses told me it protected the hair follicles so I may as well see it through as I’d gone so far with it. I hated it. It was the worst part of chemo for me, without a doubt. However, I LOVED my wigs. You’ve read all this thread so you’ll know I ended up with masses. My hair is looking like a very unattractive curly Norman helmet now and I permanently wear a hat so I think I may get them out again.
It’s interesting that you say you have been depleted for 18 months. I was working in sales for an IT company (still do), teaching Drama and Musical Theatre on Thursday evenings and Saturdays locally and had taken on the position of LAMDA teacher at a local prep school on Mondays and Wednesdays. Add elderly parents and a teenage son into the mix and no wonder I was running on empty. I have vowed not to go back to being as frenetic and overstretched as I was as I think it unsurprising that my body got sick. If you can cut back your hours or stop for a while then I think you should. Especially as nursing requires so much from you mentally and physically. Being able to work from home just doing the sales job was a godsend.
@arty1 I LOVE YOU! Your pink wig is phenomenal and so is your glabrous goddess pic. My dear friend Jeannie who got through breast cancer only to suffer a stroke in her sleep earlier this year, was helping me through a year ago. She said that to her, any woman who lost her hair through breast cancer treatment was beautiful, shining with an inner strength. She was 100% correct there.
@purple_rain Prince was amazing, I agree. I saw him at Wembley Stadium but he was so far away that I watched most of it on the screen. Glad I went though. He was a very huge part of my teenage years.
Anyway, a HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Love Salbert
xx
5 Likes
What a relief @mrsjelly with your CT scan results, I’m so pleased for you and hopefully your road to treatment and recovery is right around the corner.
I think cold capping is a v personal choice. I had 12 inches of my hair cut and donated it and had a short bob. I decided to cold cap and I whilst I have lost a lot of my hair I’m glad I preserved as I was worried about the potential permanent hair loss with taxol drugs. So at the moment I am sporting a wiry grey roots thinned out bob 
.
Interestingly I had thought it would be in demand but it’s hasn’t been each time I have been in and I’ve been there 8-9 hours each time there is probably 1-2 people and me that are cold capping and my unit is a fairly big one. I also thought of it as part of my treatment that mindset has helped me through but that’s just my thoughts and this is all v individual.
Check out you @arty1 i love both your looks and you pull off the wig colour so well.
@salbert your get up and on the go attitude inspires me so much and I love hearing you are out and about!
I had my fourth cycle yesterday, two to go then surgery in March hopefully.
Take care everyone else and take care over cold weekend ahead xx
5 Likes
I had my Hickman line out today. It came out easily and I just had a local but no bleeding or stitches. It’s only been in a month though. I can shower tomoz but need to keep a dressing on it for 3-5 days. If I need a line again I will have a Hickman line again as I had a DVT.
So I can get my strength back until my CT/op which are next on the 30th Jan/op afterwards.
2 Likes
Sat here in tears , I’ve got a false front tooth , a bridge which is attached to the tooth next to it . I had to have it taken it when it snapped six years ago and became so badly infected it nearly killed me . Well this evening . Bit into some food and the tooth it’s attached to , broke and the bridge came out with the metal bonding attached complete with the bit if broken tooth …
Triage line … useless … just said call my dentist but first it’s shut till Monday and second … I was told I can’t go to the dentist for dental emergencies but to go to hospital … I also just want to out a bag over my head now as I look horrific … bald … one boob and a missing incisor 
I’m worried it will became infected over the weekend
1 Like
Oh no you need to ensure you don’t get an infection. There must be a way to sort this. Maybe the dentist can help or the oncologist. Can you call the onc’s secretary?
1 Like
Thank you for your comment! Glad you are doing well now. And im so glad you got the total response… it does seem to be a common thing luckily with our type.
@salbert i had a bit of a wobble but i am bouncing back! I think its just a normality of life now i will have good days and then bad ones.
I went out last night with some friends of mine. I feel a bit naughty today because i did indulge in the odd drink, but i did not go too over board like i normally would. I had a bit of a dance. I laughed, cried once with a good friend of mine who i have not seen since may ( we both had a lil cry ) but it was the most normal i have felt since start of it all. I did my self up and wore a lovely dress, put in my lil fake boobies lol ( we kept joking all night on how my boobs was going to bust out on the dance floor ) made it back home in time before the snow started to stick! Then today i get a message from my mum asking to ring her… she got my lil girl so i got worried. She okay, but my dad ended up in hospital on a drip because he had arm pain and his heart was thumping. Anyway he home now and needs further investigations on tuesday so he needs to rest… the stress saga continues! Felt stressed about it all morning. To top it off he had to walk home in snow because of no transport etc.
@mrsjelly so pleased to hear your CT scan was clear 
At least i had a good few hours yesterday forgetting things and a good lil boogie on dance floor too.
Happy new year to everyone! Im a little late saying it. Been a hectic few days.
5 Likes
That’s really rubbish @arty1
I hope you get this sorted, would it be worth going to hospital and getting it sorted as you would be going by the advice given, it is out of hours and wasn’t a planned admission.
Big hugs xx
3 Likes
@Linda_Corinne my dentist don’t offer an emergency weekend service so I can’t call them until tomorrow , It’s the weekend so I can’t contact my oncologist or her secretary
@purple_rain trouble is I’d have to go to urgent care who wouldn’t see it as an emergency and then I’ll be sat for hours with the risk of getting a winter bug only for them to say it’s dental and they can’t help…
I actually have an appointment tomorrow with my oncologist as it goes … in the meantime I’m swilling my mouth with the prescription mouth wash but my temperature is creeping up to the cut off point of needing to call the line again so chances are they are going to have to see me anyway … I can clearly see the tooth that my bridge was attached to has a bit snapped off and is decayed … probably because I couldn’t clean it well enough with the bridge in place
@jeml you look amazing even if you don’t feel it x I’m sorry about your dad though . Hopefully it’s sonethinb benign that’s treatable x
2 Likes