![\"\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Marisa-Dolce-last-day-of-chemo-with-cold-cap-167x300.jpg\")
\u201cI couldn\u2019t feel a lump at all. I am so glad I didn\u2019t skip my annual breast cancer screening,\u201d stresses Dolce, who was diagnosed this summer with Stage II invasive ductal carcinoma. After recovering from breast surgery, she was set to undergo chemotherapy and radiation at UConn Health.<\/p>\n
But Dolce\u2019s biggest fear as a young woman undergoing cancer treatment was losing her hair as a result of chemotherapy\u2019s side-effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and sister\u2019s mother-in-law even shaved their heads for me to go through the experience with me,\u201d says Dolce. \u201cBut I really was hoping to keep my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully the doctors at UConn Health\u2019s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a> had a brand new optional tool called scalp-cooling therapy to offer Dolce to potentially keep her hair.\u00a0 Dolce was the first patient at UConn Health to receive the cooling therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted to try it,\u201d recalls Dolce who used the cooling cap technology before and after her chemotherapy treatments.<\/p>\n To reduce Dolce\u2019s chances of hair loss from her intravenous chemotherapy treatments, the computerized cooling cap system circulated cooled liquid through a tight-fitting silicone cap. The cooling therapy worked to limit her chemotherapy\u2019s side effects by constricting the scalp\u2019s blood vessels, which limits the drug\u2019s reach to the hair follicles and also slows the rate of hair cell division.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I was leaving my first cooling cap treatment there was a huge rainbow in the sky right above UConn Health,\u201d said Dolce. \u201cI knew that was a good sign!\u201d<\/p>\n The results?<\/p>\n \u201cI thankfully kept 70 percent of my hair,\u201d relieved Dolce said. \u201cI did have some shedding from the chemo but still was able to keep the majority of my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds: \u201cIt really helped me feel better about myself while undergoing cancer care.\u201d<\/p>\n Her only critique: \u201cThe cooling cap does get really chilly at 30 degrees,\u201d said Dolce. \u201cMy scalp got temporarily numb during the cooling sessions. But I didn\u2019t mind wearing the simple to use, air tight cap and it truly wasn\u2019t bothersome.\u201d<\/p>\n Dolce\u2019s limited hair that she did shed is now growing back, and she\u2019s also very glad her brother and other family member\u2019s hair grew back too. But she is especially grateful for her entire family.<\/p>\n \u201cI truly could not have beat cancer without the love and support of my family,\u201d says Dolce. \u201cI consider myself lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Susan Tannenbaum<\/a>, Dolce\u2019s oncologist couldn\u2019t be happier to offer her breast cancer patients like Dolce the possibility of keeping their hair.<\/p>\n \u201cChemotherapy-induced temporary hair loss is one of the most common and stressful side effects breast cancer patients experience,\u201d says Tannenbaum, chief of the Division of Oncology and Hematology at UConn Health. \u201cAnything we can do to limit a woman\u2019s distress while she undergoes breast cancer care is essential for the patient\u2019s overall holistic health.\u201d<\/p>\n UConn Health is the only Connecticut institution outside Fairfield County to offer the DigniCap, made by Dignitana Inc. Research studies have shown that the FDA-cleared technology is nearly 70 percent effective in reducing hair loss by at least half in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.<\/p>\n The technology\u2019s arrival was spearheaded by donations from UConn Health professors Dr. William B. White<\/a> and Nancy M. Petry, Ph.D.<\/a>, of the Pat & Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center, among others, and grant funding awarded to the UConn Foundation by the\u00a0CT Breast Health Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter my wife\u2019s chemotherapy treatment, I realized the emotional impact that hair loss can have on a woman,” said White. “We were pleased to learn of the potential for the Dignitana cold cap to preserve more than 50 percent of hair in about 70-75 percent of women getting chemotherapeutic regimens for breast cancer. Along with our initial donation to the program, it was very uplifting to have so many donors follow us in supporting the first cold cap program in northern Connecticut to benefit women undergoing cancer chemotherapy at UConn Health.”<\/p>\n The president of the Connecticut Breast Health Initiative is also proud of the wise decision her grants committee has made.<\/p>\n “The fact that 100 percent of our monies raised in Connecticut stays in Connecticut allows for such innovative and much needed projects to happen right in our own back yard,” said\u00a0Joyce Bray, president of CTBHI. “The fact that the cold cap technology can give hope and lessen fears among survivors,\u00a0 adding to their overall well being, is phenomenal and rewarding to CTBHI, families and friends.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Marisa-after-final-treatment-253x300.jpg\")