I have not posted in a while, but with more and more women choosing cold caps during chemo, I get a lot of questions about the success of using caps and how much hair I was able to save. I collected all of the photos I could find of myself during and shortly after chemo so I could post them. I hope this allows some of you questioning the caps to see how things worked out for me more clearly. I hope this helps! If you are thinking about caps, they really did work for me although I felt doubtful that they would work at times. I felt like I kept shedding and shedding and was so worried there would be nothing left. Well I was wrong! I never had to wear a wig. I did add in some hair extensions towards the end of chemo and after, but no one would ever know.
Here is my hair a few days before chemo: March 1, 2011
Chemo #1 was on 3/3/2011 (Taxotere and Cytoxan)
Chemo #2 was on 3/24/2011
Chemo #3 was on 4/14/2011
Chemo #4 was on 5/5/2011
These photos were taken 4/19/2011 - after my third chemo
These photos were taken 4/23 after 3 rounds of chemo:
This was taken 5/8/2011 - just a few days after my 4th and final chemo:
This photo was taken 5/15/2011 - only two weeks after finishing chemo!
This photo was taken 5/27/2011 - only 3 weeks after finishing chemo!
This photo was taken on 6/28/2011 (7 weeks after chemo finished)
These photos were taken the first week of August 2011 - on vacation celebrating being cancer free and done with treatment! (about 13 weeks after finishing chemo)
This photo was taken 9/25/2011 - about 20 weeks after finishing chemo.
These photos were taken 9/27/2011 - I have some hair extensions in to make my hair look thicker. The first photo has no extensions - the second photo is with extensions. It definitely helps my hair look better.
This photo was taken 10/30/2011 - I have some hair extensions in to make my hair look thicker.
I finally caved and got my hair cut - not just the ends trimmed, but a real hair cut. I feel HUMAN again! This photo was taken 12/2/2011.
1/16/12 - my hair is all thick and looking good again!
Here you can see all the hair I lost around my hairline, forehead, temples and nape of neck....I now have major chemo curls! (1/31/2012)