When thirty-eight-year-old Shelly Cain was diagnosed with cancer, she was was worried about the effect her illness would have on her children.
When doctors told Shelly she would have to undergo a round of chemotherapy, she then worried that losing her hair would frighten her young children.
In order to make sure she didn’t ‘look’ like she had cancer, Shelly decided to undergo a very painful procedure to try and prevent her hair from falling out.
During chemotherapy sessions, Shelley wears a cap over her head that cools her scalp to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. This treatment is excruciating, but the mother-of-two hopes that it will help stop her from losing her hair. and ‘frightening’ her children.
She said: “I didn’t want it to look to my children like I was dying. I screamed for the cancer nurse to remove the cap when she first put it on as it was unbearably cold and painful. But I was so determined to stay looking well for her kids, it got me through the pain.”
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Though doctors could not guarantee the treatment would be successful, luckily it worked and Shelley was left with a full head of hair following her chemotherapy sessions.
“It wasn’t easy, but I think it was psycho systematic. If I looked in the mirror and recognised myself then I didn’t feel like a cancer patient, it helped me beat the cancer.More importantly, it meant the children could recognise the mummy they loved — which took away a lot of their fear.”
Do you think Shelley was right to undergo the treatment?