The Cold Never Bothered Her Anyway

There are currently only 26 places in the United States where breast cancer patients have the opportunity to use the Dignicap as part of their treatment. When Araella began treatment three weeks ago, there were only 8 places. Rae believes that every patient, everywhere, should have the option to use it - and I agree.

The Dignicap does make treatment a little longer… Here is a snapshot of Infusion day round 2: Rae was scheduled to begin treatment at 8:30 this morning. At 8:45 Araella and her nurse began by going to the bathroom and saturating Rae's hair and scalp. 

By 9:00 Araella was in the chair with the pre-medications being infused through her port.  The silicone cap was placed on her wet head and plugged into the machine to begin cooling. It takes time to "fit" the cap to Araella's head because there are only four sizes. For about 20 minutes two nurses, myself, and Araella all worked on getting a tight fit. You can see in the pictures that small pieces of material are used between the silicone layer and the neoprene top layer.  The top layer has three velcro straps that go around her head (front, crown and back) and one that goes under her chin.  That strap is particularly uncomfortable!  Araella has to pull it down to swallow. (Perhaps she will help to figure out a better design someday.) In the meanwhile, her nurse is impressed with Araella's tolerance to keep the chin strap tight the entire time. 

The Dignicap has to cool the patient's head for one hour before chemotherapy begins. So, we waited until 10:00 before infusion of the first chemotherapy medication began.  Araella has four medications, each of which takes about one hour to infuse. It was 2:25 pm when the chemotherapy was complete. Then, the Dignicap had to keep her head cold for two additional hours while the medication circulates through her body. Keep in mind that all day long Araella was drinking water…  

The Dignicap temperature never drops below freezing.  However, it is cold enough that Araella's head was numb after about 20 minutes.  Being numb keeps her relatively comfortable because she can't really feel that her head is cold. The exception to that is when she disconnects from the machine to go to the bathroom. During those minutes her head can warm up enough that she feels cold again for a short time. We have a good system of getting her to the bathroom and back quickly and then bundling her up again.  

At 4:25 this afternoon, the machine beeped and Rae called for her nurse to disconnect everything. Woohoo! When the cap was removed a few ice crystal on her hair were revealed but melted quickly. It was another long day that was completely worth it because Araella walked away with hope and dignity.

Araella's Dignicap treatments are not covered by insurance.  Each session costs $450.00. Our hearts are overflowing with appreciation for the generous friends who gave to make this possible.

Thankful for a heated seat, warm blankets, and prayers that covered her all day - Psalm 91

The Dignicap machine is too big for a regular room, so Rae is in a more common area, but she loves the view!
(and the company from friends on social media)

There could be another patient attached to the machine on the opposite side, however no one was.
If you zoom in, the green cap on the right reads 1.9˚C in back and 3.2˚C on top.
#RaeStrong indeed!!

Click the link if you would like more information on the DIGNICAP.