a cooling cap for cancer patients

This is another post not related to a legal case, but it is related to cancer, a subject very close to my heart. MSNBC.com reported today on US studies on letting cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy wear cold caps in an effort to keep their hair. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40718154/ns/health-womens_health/

The cap works by cooling the scalp to constrict the vessels and limit the amount of chemotherapy the cells can absorb. It is genius. I think this is an amazing step forward in patient-care. When my mom was sick, she did not want to look sick -- here was a woman who never wore makeup, never painted her nails, and usually wore the same clothes day in and day out. She didn't want to lose her hair. She didn't want to be bald and have that "sick" look. We all know what it is -- as soon as you see someone without hair or with a scarf on her head or always wearing a hat, your attitude changes. For some people, it's that they don't want to look at the person because it scares them or grosses them out, for others, it's that they can't stop staring because the person looks so out of the ordinary. I know for me, I cannot look at someone who is undergoing chemotherapy without crying from the loss of my mom. In addition to how outsiders see the patient, letting a patient keep her hair helps a patient keep up the fight of her life. If you look sick, it's hard to remember being healthy; but, if you have just some touches of what you used to look like, it's a lot easier to remember and to fight to be healthy again. This cooling hat is an amazing and necessary gift in the fight against cancer.