Help provide hair-saving options for chemo patients who need financial assistance

When I was diagnosed with cancer on January 21, my world shifted. Like anyone facing this reality, my first thoughts weren’t about my hair—they were about staying alive for my children.

And while that remains true, as I began chemotherapy I quickly realized that some of the “smaller” parts of a cancer diagnosis also carry enormous weight.

Hair loss is one of the most visible and emotionally difficult side effects of chemo. When you already feel vulnerable—like cancer defines your every moment—losing your hair makes that experience immediately visible to everyone around you.

“Cold capping” is a treatment that can help prevent hair loss by limiting how much chemotherapy reaches the hair follicles. It is, quite frankly, excruciating (your scalp needs to remain between 18 and 22 degrees celsius), time-intensive, and it doesn’t save 100% of your hair (you’ll notice my growing baseball cap collection…). For many, those tradeoffs mean it simply isn’t worth it.

But for others who want the option, the barrier is cost. With a price tag of around $2,500, many patients are unable to pursue cold capping at all. As one New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/well/live/scalp...) put it: “It’s not right to have someone sitting in an infusion center with a cap and someone next to them not able to put a cap on — that’s an uneven playing field.”

At 33 weeks pregnant and with a young toddler, I chose to cold cap so that Louise could have newborn photos where her mom didn't look sick, and so that Clay could continue self-soothing by twirling my hair in his fingers while we read. Because of these continued moments of "normalcy," I’ve been able to hold onto something that feels deeply grounding in a time that otherwise feels anything but, and I firmly believe that this option should be available to anyone who wants it.

While hair loss is not the most important part of a cancer diagnosis, it is a daily, visible reminder of it. And for many patients, being able to blend in—to go to the grocery store, pick up their children, or look in the mirror and still recognize themselves—can be profoundly stabilizing during an otherwise isolating experience.

Our goal is simple: to make this option available to more patients, regardless of their financial situation. Until insurance companies start covering this important therapy (Bruce made me take out a few expletives about insurance in the original draft), I hope to help bridge this barrier with this fundraiser.