Penguin Cold Caps

My oldest sister Joy was diagnosed with breast cancer in March and had surgery in September.

The initial test showed that the disease had not spread to her lymph nodes but they had to do some more tests which she had to wait for the results of in 72 hours. When she left the hospital in the fall she was wearing expanders.

In October I got an email from my mom saying that Joy was seeing some friends, working still, and "almost sounds like her old self." Joy had gotten a call from the plastic surgeon's office wanting her to come the next week to fill an expander so her oldest daughter was going with her. On Oct. 30 Joy went to Chicago, IL with her daughter to see the surgeon and said they wanted her to come every week but is going every two weeks. They looked at wigs as Joy was going to get one of them prior to chemotherapy since she had to work. She was working on seeing if she could start chemo closer to home.

Originally Joy thought she'd have to have a double mastectomy but though she was in stage 2 she just underwent a lumpectomy and they also removed the lymph nodes that had cancer in them.

Joy also planned on getting her hair cut shorter in November and seemed to be in good spirits then. On Nov. 23 I got another email from Mom stating that Joy was going to get the port in for the chemo and Mom guessed that she would start after the holidays. Joy's oldest dog Candy was diagnosed with congestive heart failure also on Nov. 23 so Joy was very sad about that and planned to take her with her for her Thanksgiving trip.

Joy started chemotherapy awhile back near her house and won't be done until April. She got her wig in Chicago ahead of time.

Some special caps may ease chemo effects and the headwear is said to preserve cancer patients' hair. (Source: Times Union).

Known as temporary cranial freezing or scalp cooling, Penguin Cold Caps constrict the blood vessels in the scalp, meaning less blood flows through the hair follicles, according to cancercompass.com.

"No serious side effects have been seen from the cap's extreme cold by European researchers, but long-term study is ongoing," stated a press release. "The cap resembles a winter hat and is filled with a special titanium gel that tolerates extremely low temperatures."

Penguin Cold Caps are widely used in England, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, where the technique has been embraced by cancer patients and the medical establishment alike for years, according to research. But in the U.S., the FDA has been slow to look at the alternative therapy, states Cancer Compass.

For more information on the caps, visit msc-worldwide.com online.