Cold Cap could save your hair

Thousands of women will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and many will lose their hair as a result of chemotherapy.

Or not.

While many patients and physicians accept the inevitability of hair loss during treatment, Marilyn Smith of Mount Pleasant defied the odds by trying a different approach.

The Penguin Cold Cap is just what it sounds like — a plastic cap filled with dry ice that fits on a patient's head while the drugs are being administered.

"When I brought it up to my doctor, he said it wouldn't work," said Smith, a 49-year-old mother of two who was diagnosed with breast cancer in September.

"But he said if I wanted to try it, I could."

When Smith began treatment the next month, she came armed with blue plastic caps and coolers full of dry ice.

"I was determined not to lose my hair if I didn't have to," she said.

Bottom line, it worked.

Smith kept her full head of blond hair and convinced her oncologist that there is an option to wearing wigs and scarves.

Well worth it

Smith heard about the Penguin Cold Cap from an out-of-state friend who used it successfully. An active runner, golfer and tennis player, Smith decided she had nothing to lose but her hair.

Indeed, hair loss is one of the most traumatic aspects of cancer treatment for women. While men endure the indignity better, hair loss carries a more powerful psychological punch for women.

Unfortunately, the Cold Cap is not considered an option in the United States. So Smith went online (www.msc-worldwide.com) to investigate and order the materials from a doctor in London.

The theory behind the product is simple: The cap keeps the scalp cold during intravenous treatments and prevents hair loss.

But it takes some effort on your part.

"You have to be motivated to do it," Smith said. "You have to put the cap on before the treatment begins, change it every 20 minutes to keep it cold, then keep it on for two hours after the treatment.

"I knew it was working when my eyebrows fell out and the hair on my head did not," she said. "It's a little cold and your head feels a little numb. But it's worth it."

A huge deal

Smith's oncologist, David Ellison of Roper St. Francis Hospital, once a skeptic, is now a believer in what the Cold Cap can do for his patients.

"It was used here in the 1980s, and it didn't work that well," Ellison said. "But it's more sophisticated now, and it definitely worked for Marilyn. She did not lose her hair."

Smith's long blond locks are testament that her $825 investment paid off.

"It clearly worked," Ellison said. "And she was taking the kind of drugs that cause hair loss 100 percent of the time.

"The process is somewhat expensive and labor intensive, but it was a wonderful improvement in her quality of life."

And, Ellison said, he would be happy to accommodate any future patients under his care who are willing to try the product.

"Michael Jordan made it cool for men to shave their heads," Ellison said with a keen sense of understanding.

"But for women, this is a huge deal."