My Hair Scorecard

A seemingly easy decision has proved to be one of the most stressful I’ve encountered.  My hair. As you know I love my hair, it hides my face as only it can.  Once I wrapped my head around losing it (pun intended), it seemed easy – I just needed to decide which wig to get…Then more options emerged including Cold Caps.  This technology basically freezes your hair during chemo so your hair doesn’t accept the drugs.  It’s reported many patients experience “less shedding” and are able to keep a wearable amount of hair.  This was enticing! Then I started to dig into it:

• Costs – traditional code caps can run $400 a month ($2000), automated continuous cooling can cost from $200-$400 a session ($2000 -$4000)
• Insurance – most insurance will not cover though some people have had luck.  Dr’s won’t submit it, so you have to pay then ask to get reimbursed which may get denied
• Effectiveness – there are varying stats on how effective it is and even when it works you will still shed hair
• Urgency – You have to start it for the first chemo session, so there’s no delaying decisions
• Ease of Use – it can add 3-4 hours to each chemo session (before and after) and with certain systems you need to wet your hair for it (each system is different though – this is just for the one offered to me)
• Comfort – Some people compare it to a brain freeze for 5 hours, others have said 15 minutes
• Risk – I’ve read that scalp cooling can help you save follicles and there is a small chance hair never grows back, so this system could help prevent that BUT there isn’t necessarily studies proving that it helps reduce that risk

So with all this information, I had to ask myself – what is my hair worth to me and man for someone who LOVES their hair, I’ve gone back and forth to the point where today, the day before I start my session, I’ve flipped twice.  So what to do… A Selection Scorecard! Voila it agrees, in network wig.  So I guess this is goodbye to my hair.

*Disclaimer – I am not a doctor, and each insurance, and cooling system is different, and each patient is different so this is just my research in my situation.