These were tips and tricks that worked for me. Everyone is different!

My Chemo Regimen

• I had 4 rounds of Taxotere and Cytoxan every 21 days/3 weeks. 
• My infusions were on Mondays and I went Tuesday-Friday for Neupogen shots to boost my white blood cell count. Every Saturday, I had weekly bloodwork done. 
• This regimen is harsh on the hair and can cause permanent alopecia for some women. This was one of the reasons I chose to cold cap since it preserves hair follicles. 
• Due to the harshness of the chemo regimen, I decided to go with Penguin, which is a manual cold capping system. My infusion center did offer a stationary system, but after a lot of research, a manual system was going to give me the best results. If you are using a system at your infusion center, disregard my next couple sections.

Before 1st Treatment

• Make sure you and your capper practice prior to your first treatment. I would recommend putting the caps in the freezer for your practice round. This will make them a bit stiffer and more realistic to how they'll be with the dry ice. 
• My husband was my capper and we watched a ton of YouTube videos before the first round.

Dry Ice

• If you're using a manual system, you will need dry ice. It took me calling a lot of places before finding one that offered a discount for people needing it for chemo. We also had to find a place that opened EARLY because my infusions began at 9AM and the caps need to be on ice for at least an hour before you begin capping. 
• If you're in the Pittsburgh, PA area, I would highly recommend Mastro Ice Company! They were amazing to work with.
• Make sure you bring a few old towels with you to set the caps on during infusions.

First Round of Chemo

• I would put Lidocaine on my port to numb it before being accessed. 
• I would also take an Ativan and Ibuprofen on my way to infusions. The first round of chemo is SCARY and there are so many unknowns. The Ativan helps take the edge off. Your oncologist should be able to prescribe you a few pills to get you through on your infusion days. Please talk to your oncologist first, as I am not qualified to give medical advice. 
• Make sure your chemo nurse knows that you are capping, as they will time your premeds and let you know when your first cap should go on.
• The first 3 caps, in my opinion, were the worst. I would do some deep breathing (and swearing). After the first few caps, my head pretty much went numb and only the first couple of minutes of each cap change were uncomfortable. 
• Manual capping makes the day go by quickly!
• Try and drink a ton of water during your infusion. 
• We live 25-30 minutes from the infusion center and only needed to stop one time on the way home to do a cap change. I needed to cap (based on my chemo regimen) at home for a few more hours. All-in-all, it was roughly an 8-9 hour day of changing the caps every 25 minutes. 

Hair Washing

• Make sure you use cold water to wash your hair. I found it easiest to wash my hair in my kitchen sink because the pressure could go low and my whole body wasn't freezing in the shower. 
• After I was done washing my hair in the sink, I would put a shower cap on my head and then get a shower using warm water. I would be very careful not to let the warm water touch my hair. 
• Some people suggested not using a shower cap because your head gets too hot, but I was good at taking a pretty quick shower. 
• Follow your capping company's hair washing frequency directions. Mine was 3 days after infusion and/or twice per week.
• Make sure you use shampoo and conditioner that are sulphate and paraben free. I have the products (linked) that I used in the Chemo & Cold Capping Essentials tab.
• When you're washing your hair, very GENTLY lather the shampoo in. I would start at my roots and every so gently work my way up to my scalp. I would never scrub my scalp, but would use my fingertips to "swish" the shampoo around. Make sure you rinse all of the shampoo out, otherwise, you could get build up, which you don't want.
• Using conditioner was necessary for me. I would only gently work it through the ends of my hair to prevent tangles. 
• After you're done, gently pat dry your hair with a towel. 
• I would wait for it to be mostly air-dried before I would comb it. Use the wide tooth comb that comes with the cold capping kit. When combing, start at your ends and work your way up. Never start your combing at your scalp. It will pull too much.

Shedding

• I had a BIG shed around day 18 after my first infusion. I had read a ton about the first big shed, but until it happens to you, nothing can really prepare you for it. I thought for certain I was going to be bald and that it wasn't working. 
• After the first big shed, I had steady shedding, but it wasn't nearly the amount as the first one. 
• I never developed bald spots, but had overall thinning. I lost roughly 50% of my hair. I got really good at parting it and pulling it back certain ways so you couldn't tell it had thinned. 
• I lost the most of my hair around my ears and on the back of my head. These spots grew back SO quickly, though!

After Final Chemo

• I continued to shed for about 7 weeks after my last chemo infusion. 
• Continue to baby your hair until the shedding stops. 
• My shedding stopped overnight. One day I woke up, and it was back to normal. It feels like it will never end, but I promise you it does!
• I developed some nasty cradle cap after chemo. My hair dresser spent over an hour working it out and then I used an ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) rinse in between washes, which really helped keep it at bay. I linked this product also.
• By the time my shedding had stopped, I already had so much new growth. Only kicker...most of my new growth was grey. Not fair! I ended up having my hair dyed and trimmed by my hair stylist at about 10 weeks post final chemo. She used a special organic hair dye. 
• I JUST had my hair dyed for the first time, using regular hair dye, last week. This was at almost 9 months post chemo.