I am sorry you find yourself here.
Loosing hair is hard! It isn’t vanity. It is identity.
I was not offered the option to cold cap. I would have jumped at it. But it would have not worked for my regimen. I had chemo over the winter, when we had a polar vortex. I was too cold, plus I don’t think I could have taken the pain.
I am an oncology nurse, in a breast cancer clinic, so I have some knowledge, but not experience. The goal of cold capping is to keep up to 50% of your hair. We have had quite a few patients have decent success cold capping for Taxol. A few still lost their hair. If your infusion center has the machines, it adds 60-90 minutes to your infusion. I thought the time I spent there was long enough. I am told that it can be quite painful for the first 15-20 minutes. It has been described as a brain freeze headache. We prescribe Tramadol for that. You need to be really careful with your hair, no coloring, heat, hair ties. I am told that capping that uses dry ice, like Penguin Capping has a higher success than the machines.
There are Facebook groups on cold capping. These ladies would be the experts.

I was devastated at the thought of loosing my hair. 2 weeks in, I had it shaved off because it was falling out in Huge clumps. My hair dresser cried. Surprisingly I was ok. Maybe I had control. The good news is, it does grow back.

Wishing you well!

My wig story was coming back to school with the wig- a bus driver asked who cut my hair- I just laughed and said- Trust me, you don't want to go there! Then she asked the next day, and got the same answer! On the third day- she was kinda ticked that I did not want to say, especially since it looked so good- I told her, wait until my kiddos were out of earshot- then told her I was out for cancer surgery, had started chemo, and under this wig- I'm bald as an egg! So, no, you really don't want a new style going that route. She went bright red- and kept apologizing. I told her, no worries, this was temporary, glad she thought it looked good enough to pass as my own hair!

We have a shop associated with the cancer center, so I had gone there to make an appt after surgery to have my hair cut in a short style, and donate. I asked what brands of wigs they carried. and went home and researched online. I found four styles I thought might work, and called them back with the model numbers. They had all four in stock (not in my color) that I could try on to see which one I would like to order. The order came in within a few days, and they trimmed the bangs for me a bit, and thinned it so it was more to my liking. It was a synthetic- and I called it my "wash and wear hair". Wash, Rinse, place on the stand, finger style and let it air dry, and it is good to go! Easier than my own hair! And, the oncologist can right you an Rx for a "cranial prosthetic" and insurance should cover it for you!

Keeping you in prayers! Hugs!

I don’t have experience with cold capping either but the synthetic wigs today look very real and most people would say to me, “you haven’t lost your hair, that’s so great”— although I would always respond that it’s a wig and they were quite surprised. My insurance covered the cost and my stylist trimmed it up to look more natural after he shaved my head. I paid for a higher end model that was extremely comfortable which I wore to my full time job and most people never suspected unless I had told them I was going through chemo. I guess don’t rule out a wig before you check them out at a reputable wig store. Mine was run by a bc survivor so she really knew her stuff. I took my sister and husband with me for support as I was initially traumatized by losing my hair but the wig really helped me feel less sick looking and more confident. Unlike you, my hair was color treated so it came back white/gray so I immediately started coloring again as soon as it grew back (in about 6-8 months).

Hi Maureen- when people asked if I would lose my hair- I just replied that it was expected to "leave on vacation" after my second treatment, and return 3-4 months after chemo was completed. It reminded me that- although not fun- this was temporary. And because like you, my hair was untreated- I was able to donate to Locks of Love. Which sent me a postcard as a thankyou. I kept that on the fridge to remind me that something good was going to come out of this for someone else.
I ordered a wig for work, I worked (now retired) with kiddos with significant intellectual disabilities. Admin said I could wear scarfs, hats, nothing- whatever I was comfortable with (even though dress code prohibits scarfs and hats). I went with the wig because I did not want to do bald, and I wasn't sure how my kiddos would react to me breaking rules that they had to follow. Easier to wear the wig!
Now retired, should I have to do this again, I would probably skip the wig, and go with the ball cap and halo hair!!

Keeping you in prayers as you work through all the feelings and find peace with this! Hugs!

Maureen, I was on Taxol last year. I did lose my hair and was completely bald. I did not do the cold capping, actually never gave it a thought since it was not ever mentioned to me as an option. It was difficult seeing myself in the mirror at first but that got easier. Bald can be beautiful in the eyes of the beholder. My insurance would have covered the cost of a wig if I wanted one. I chose to just wear silky caps and baseball hats. That worked for me. My hair has grown back. 8 months later at a nice length and style. It's such a short time on your journey that you might be OK just doing a wig, especially since there are no guarantees the cold capping would actually work. Not only that, the expense of it all! You will get through this! Sending positive thoughts and prayers! 🙏❤️🥰