Stage I Breast Cancer: Jennifer's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Jennifer Buckland was 43 when she received chemotherapy for Stage I breast cancer at Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute. Once a week for 12 weeks, she put on a tight helmet-like cooling cap before treatment began. She wore it for as long as 8 hours before, during and after each session to reduce chemotherapy-related hair loss. Jennifer chose the cooling cap because hair loss felt like one of the most visible signs that cancer treatment had taken over her life. She wanted to protect one part of her identity and make the experience less frightening for her children. Jennifer was part of a 142-patient trial of the Orbis Paxman Hair Loss Prevention System. The cap circulates cooling fluid to lower scalp temperature and reduce damage to hair follicles during chemotherapy. During each of her 12 initial treatments, she received the drug taxane while wearing the cap. The cold caused headaches, and ice crystals sometimes formed in her hair, but she felt the discomfort was worth it. More than half of cooling-cap users in the trial avoided hair loss, while all patients in the control group lost their hair. As of November 2018, Jennifer was cancer-free and grateful that preserving her hair helped make treatment feel less traumatic for her family.