First if all, I think it is crap that insurance does not cover cold capping! If it was like the little blue pill for men, I think it would be different.
If cold capping was offered to me, I would have jumped at it, but I couldn’t have done it.
I don’t have patient experience, but I have oncology nurse experience.

The goal of cold capping is to keep up to 50% of your hair. The company should have a website, where you can put in your regimen and they tell you the average percentage of hair that is kept. I had Adriamycin/cytoxan, it really doesn’t work for that. I have had patients have decent results for Taxol, Enhertu, Carbo/Gem. I am told that Penguin Capping works better, you actually dry ice. If you are using your infusion centers machine, it adds time, 60 to 120 minutes depending on the regimen. After all those hours I’d being there, I wanted out. Some patients complain of a terrible “brain freeze” headache. We prescribe Tramadol if that happens. I had chemo over the winter, of a polar vortex. We had highs of below zero. I was always cold, I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate it. We are heading into summer, so that may not be a factor. For Paxman, the max cost is $2400 for the caps.

Patients have told me there are face groups for this. I would think those ladies would be the experts.

Wishing you well!

I had my hair styled very short prior to starting chemo and then shaved my head to about a quarter inch when my hair started thinning. It hasn’t gotten much thinner and has even been growing ever so slowly. My chemo is THP (Taxol Herceptin Pertuzumab) but my taxol component is relatively low dose and I think that is why my hair has held on so well.

I shaved my head both times I had chemo and rocked the bald look. I would wear a cowboy hat if I was outside in the sun to keep my bald head from getting burned since chemo can make your skin more susceptible to sunburns. The first time I had chemo I waited until my hair started falling out which was about 2 weeks before I shaved. The 2nd time I had chemo I shaved my head a few days after my 1st round

I just completed 12 weekly infusions of a chemo called Taxol and I did not completely lose my hair. And I did not do cold capping. My hair thinned quite a bit but I am no where near completely bald. But I do wear a hat when I go out as I'm self conscious of the thinness of my hair. :)

I had the same question. I start chemo next week and I ordered the Paxman cold cap.