Making Rounds
A cold capping system helps a cancer patient keep her hair
When Sabrina DiGirolamo was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring, she learned there was a long road ahead of her: nine rounds of chemotherapy, in 18 sessions that would take at least six hours each.
But chemotherapy can sometimes take more than time while doing its lifesaving work. Hair loss is a known side effect, and DiGirolamo dreaded potentially losing her thick, brown waves.
“I’ve always loved my hair,” she said. “And my husband loves it. Maintaining that was pretty important to me.”
DiGirolamo had a friend who’d been through chemo before and had some success with cold capping therapy, a system that can greatly reduce hair loss during cancer treatment. It keeps the scalp cold during chemotherapy sessions, reducing blood flow, which diminishes the drug’s access to hair follicles.
“I was curious and interested when she was going through it,” DiGirolamo said, “but I never thought it would apply to me. So when I was diagnosed, one of my first calls was to her.”
“Just seeing myself in the mirror as the same person, it helped me carry on and stay strong mentally throughout this whole thing.” - Sabrina DiGirolamo
After consulting with her friend and researching the options, DiGirolamo was pleased to learn that Cape Fear Valley offered one of the less labor-intensive, more comfortable systems she’d found: the Amma, by Cooler Heads. She requested it right away.
“I just knew that maintaining that piece of me would help me day to day,” she said. “Just feeling like myself, looking in the mirror and seeing somebody that I recognized.”
Brittany Dickerhoff, Gifts Officer, with Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation, said that’s not unusual for patients facing a lengthy cancer treatment.
“When people feel good, and feel like they look good, they have more courage to face the day,” she said. “And I think hair loss is a particularly difficult thing for some to accept.”
The Foundation provided the funding to bring the Amma system to Cape Fear Valley, as part of a decades-long mission to improve the patient experience. It was inspired by a team of nurses, social workers and other professionals who discovered through direct patient care what needs the Foundation can meet.
“Patients have better experiences overall when they’re supported in a number of ways,” said Dickerhoff, “and this was a great thing to offer. We want to do what we can to care for the patient as a whole person, during probably the most difficult thing they’ll ever face.”
DiGirolamo was eager to see if the Amma system could keep her spirits up and her hair in place, but she had another important reason to give it a shot: her 5-year-old daughter, Leona.
“She’s very curious, and I love that about her,” she said. “So we always try to explain things at an appropriate level, but explain them with honesty and make sure she understands what’s happening. But cancer can be scary, so I wanted to maintain any normalcy I could. I didn’t want to look different to her.”
To get started, DiGirolamo was measured for a custom-fit cap. On each chemo day, she started with a wet head and put her cap on, then connected it to the cooling machine when she settled in for her session.
“It’s very, very cold,” she said. “So I had a heating pad and hand warmers and a cozy blanket because it just chills your whole body. In the summertime it was actually kind of nice.”
By the end of her last chemo session, DiGirolamo could see all the hours spent in the cap had paid off.
“I’ve been able to maintain about 75% of my hair,” she said. “I’ve had some shedding, but to the point that nobody would know except me.”
With chemotherapy behind her, DiGirolamo’s next hurdle will be surgery. She said she feels energized by the success of her cold capping and grateful for the support of her husband and mother through this next phase. She also has high praise for Erin Champion, a Breast Cancer Patient Navigator who has guided her through the complicated journey from diagnosis through treatment.
“She has been the most wonderful resource for everything I’ve gone through,” DiGirolamo said, “connecting me with the doctors for every step of the way, giving me resources, answering questions or getting back to me when she didn’t know the answer. She’s my champion, for sure.”
With her wavy tresses still in place, DiGirolamo hopes to see cold capping made more widely available to others going through chemotherapy across the nation.
“It’s just not accessible for everyone,” she said, “and that’s a shame because it really has been such a life-changing thing. Just seeing myself in the mirror as the same person, it helped me carry on and stay strong mentally throughout this whole thing.”
