'I didn't want to lose my hair after chemotherapy'

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By Jane Elliot Health reporter, BBC News

Melanie has lost little of her hair

Melanie Rowland is very proud of her thick white hair.

She did not realise just how important it was to her until she risked losing it all, during chemotherapy.

"I got as far as imagining myself bald. I have got white hair, but for some obscure reason you can't get a wig with white hair.

"I had to get a creamy blonde wig which I must say took years off me.

"They had lots of greys and some ghastly colours but no whites.

"But the nearer it got to thinking I was going to have to look at a bald head the more I felt traumatised at some level.

"I was dreading it."

But thanks to a charity donation of a scalp cooler the 61-year-old from Surrey was able to keep the vast majority of her hair.

The machines work by lowering the temperature of the head and scalp by a few degrees before, during and after chemotherapy.

I had it trimmed on Saturday and the hairdresser said you are losing virtually no hair Melanie Rowland

This reduction in scalp temperature restricts the amount of blood reaching the hair follicles protecting them from the effects of chemotherapy drugs in the bloodstream, meaning that hair loss is not inevitable.

Although the scalp coolers have been around for some years some hospitals still do not have them, or if they do, they do not have enough of them to save everyone's hair.

The breast cancer charity Walk the Walk supplied the Hammersmith Hospital - where Melanie was treated - with two machines.

They have pledged to fund a total of 134 coolers over the next five years in 38 hospitals across the country.

Better models

Martin Ledwick, head cancer information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said increased access could only be welcomed.

"Different methods of cooling the scalp to reduce hair loss associated with some types of chemotherapy have been in use for some years now," he said.

"Although not appropriate for all cancers or chemotherapy drugs it's important that suitable patients who want scalp cooling have access to it."

Joan Klein, nurse consultant at the Hammersmith, part of Imperial College NHS Trust, said that the scalp coolers available now are much more effective than some earlier models and fulfilled an important function.

A patient using the scalp cooler

"For some of the patients not losing their hair is absolutely vital. The cancer image is of someone who is pale, wan and bald.

"In some cases it is a case of thinking that if they look normal they can behave normally.

"A lot of people with young families often have scalp cooling not just for themselves, but to save their children what they might feel is the 'embarrassment' of being bald."

Burst into tears

Melanie Rowland said she had been terrified about having chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, but realised it was the best way to kill any stray cells.

She started her chemo in August and now only has one cycle left.

"I was absolutely terrified about the chemo," she said.

"The day I went to get the briefing from the oncologist I sat with some poor soul who told me every horror story you could wish to hear.

"And by the time I got in I just burst into tears - it was just awful.

"The oncologist then had to outline every possible side effect and by the time I came home I was in meltdown.

"All I can say is that some days have been testing and deeply painful, but overall I think I have got away with it pretty easily.

"And I have kept most of my hair which is a bonus. It thinned, but now I think it is growing back.

"I had it trimmed on Saturday and the hairdresser said 'you are losing virtually no hair'.

"I wore the head cooler from the start. The first five or six minutes is agony and because you don't know when it is going to end you don't know whether you can stand it.

"I had to wear it for five hours.

"I was frozen. It is like putting your head in the freezer, in an ice cold wind for a few minutes, then it is okay."

But she said the results had been worth it.

"My hair is more important than I have ever really realised."