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Cooler Heads Story as told by Founder Kate Dilligan
Recent Client Testimonials
Patient Information
- AGE: 46-year-old Female
- DX: R Invasive ductal carcinoma, stage 1a, er-, pr-, her+
- HAIR TYPE: Very long, past mid back. Thick in the back with a gentle wave and thin around temples
- FACILITY: Northern Arizona Healthcare, Flagstaff, AZ
- WHY SCALP COOLING: So she could control the narrative of her diagnosis, to minimize the effect the diagnosis would have on her medical practice, and to try to shield her children from more trauma
Patient Experience
“The Cooler Heads team was like my personal cheering squad. Each team member would reach out to me throughout my chemotherapy treatment to make sure I was set up for success.”
Patient Information
- AGE: 65-year-old Female
- DX: L invasive ductal carcinoma ER+, PR-, HER2+
- HAIR TYPE: Fine, thick, slight wave, colored
- FACILITY: The University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona
- WHY SCALP COOLING: I wanted to maintain my privacy both personally and professionally, to control something amid the chaos, to look healthy for myself and my husband, and to not have baldness as a continuing reminder (for months) of my cancer battle.
Patient Experience
“Cap is the best design available for comfort, ease of use, and efficacy. Amma is small, quiet, and easy to use , allowing me to be self-sufficient. The training to use the machine was thorough and clear; team members at Cooler Heads are engaged, responsive, thoughtful, genuine, and caring. My biggest wish is that Amma was accessible to everyone. Having a choice in your care during cancer treatment is powerful.”
Patient Information
- AGE: 48-year-old Female
- DX: L Breast ca (er+, pr+, HER2+)
- HAIR TYPE: Straight, above shoulders, thin
- FACILITY: Sharp Grossmont Hospital Outpatient Infusion Center, San Diego, CA
- WHY SCALP COOLING: I was determined to continue working full time during my chemotherapy treatment. My job requires me to travel quite a bit, and I wanted to maintain discretion and normalcy while continuing to work in a very public environment. I also wanted to look in the mirror and still see myself as “healthy”, while easing the minds of my closest loved ones.
Patient Experience
“I was thrilled to have the opportunity to use the Amma system. I felt that the results and ease of use would be better than the other choices currently available. As one of the first patients at the infusion center to use Amma, there seemed to be a lot of excitement and interest from both nurses and other patients when I would use the system. The unit is compact, and takes minimal space. It also allows for quick, simple trips to the restroom or short walks if you just want to stretch your legs a bit.
The best experience I had throughout my treatment was watching the reaction various medical providers had when they would see me. When I went for my half-way and end-point chemotherapy mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs, every clinician I saw was confused when I walked in. Each one asked “We are seeing you for your post chemo scans, correct?”, with a puzzled look on their faces, because I had kept most of my hair. I hope every other patient gets to experience that same feeling of satisfaction and comfort.”
Contact us
Contact us for more information about Amma™ and your specific needs. We are happy to answer all your questions and take the guesswork out of cold capping. We’ll explain the process and pricing, set you up directly with a local infusion center, and save you time and money while you keep your hair during chemo.
FAQs
Amma™ gives patients a choice about whether or not they want to keep their hair during chemo.
Amma™ brings your scalp temperature down to 65 F before, during, and after chemotherapy. The cold temperature prevents your hair follicles from absorbing as much chemotherapy so you will be able to preserve most of your hair. Amma™ is designed to cool the scalp over the course of a chemotherapy session, beginning 30 minutes before an infusion, during the chemotherapy infusion, and continuing for 2 hours after. The device consists of three main components: 1) a Cooling Wrap that delivers a cooling solution to the scalp and 2) a Compression Cap that keeps the cooling wrap in place and 3) a Portable Cooling Unit that keeps the solution circulating through the Cooling Wrap at the correct temperature.
Your hair will still thin from chemotherapy, but successful scalp cooling will limit your hair loss to approximately 50%. Your hair will be thinner, but our goal is to preserve enough of your hair so you can look like yourself to the outside world. Amma™ also helps your hair regenerate more quickly after chemotherapy so you can get back to normal faster.
Amma™ has to be cold to be effective. We recommend you bring a warm jacket or a blanket with you to chemotherapy to help you feel warm. Most users say they get used to the cold feeling within the first 30 minutes of treatment.
Please do not use Amma™ if you have been diagnosed with any of the following:
- Cancers of the head and neck
- CNS malignancies (either primary or metastatic)
- Cold sensitivity or cold urticaria
- Cryofibrinogenemia
- Cryoglobulinemia
- Existing history of scalp metastases or suspected presence of scalp metastasis
- Hematological malignancies and non-solid tumors (leukemia, non-Hodgkin and other generalized lymphomas) or hematological malignancies that are being treated for cure
- History of cold agglutinin disease
- Imminent bone marrow ablation chemotherapy
- Imminent or previously received skull irradiation
- Post-traumatic cold dystrophy
- Scalp and/or cutaneous metastases have been reported in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer, colon cancer, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, and bladder cancer. Patients with advanced forms of these cancers may be more likely to experience scalp metastases with the scalp cooling system.
- Severe liver or renal disease from any etiology who may not be able to metabolize or clear the metabolites of the chemotherapeutic agent
- Skin cancers (melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma)
- Small cell carcinoma of the lung
You will use Amma™ beginning 30 minutes prior to your chemotherapy, continue for the duration of your entire chemotherapy, and then for an additional 2 hours after chemotherapy is complete. After your infusion is complete, you can leave the infusion chair to complete your scalp cooling therapy anywhere in the infusion center with an outlet. We will train you on how to prepare for scalp cooling and how to care for your hair so you get the best results.
Wash your hair on day 3 following chemo using lukewarm water (between 98-105 F, non-sulfate, paraben free shampoo and conditioner. You will blot your hair dry or let your hair air dry. Avoid hair dryers, heated styling tools, braids, ponytails, tight hats, and any excess heat that will make you sweat. It is not recommended to saturate your hair in pools or the ocean during this time.
Your infusion center will provide you with required accessories and will connect you with Cooler Heads Customer Care. Cooler Heads Customer Care will provide comprehensive training, a digital resource library, and virtual support during infusions.
Please contact us or your infusion center for pricing.
You may check with the following non-profit organizations to see if financial assistance is available for you:
- Sharsheret (sharsheret.org/)- is the “only national organization supporting Jewish women and families, of all backgrounds, facing breast and ovarian cancer.” Their subsidy program, Best Face Forward 2.0, includes scalp cooling and other services supporting breast and ovarian cancer.
- HairToStay (hairtostay.org) – is the “first and only national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping cancer patients afford scalp cooling.”
- Hope for Hair (hopeforhair.org) – partners with HairToStay, specifically for scalp cooling patients in North Carolina.
- Cold Capital Fund (coldcapitalfund.org) – provides financial assistance to scalp cooling patients in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
- Cap and Conquer (capandconquer.org) – provides financial assistance for scalp cooling patients in Southeast Michigan.
Scalp cooling brings a patient’s scalp temperature to 65 F before, during and for two hours following chemotherapy. The cold temperature on the scalp constricts the hair follicles so they don’t absorb as much chemotherapy, preserving the patient’s hair and follicles. To be successful at scalp cooling, patients must also change their hair care regimen with limited brush and washing so as to not stress their hair. The Cooler Heads Customer Care team will walk your patients through how they should use Amma and care for their hair to get the best results.
Patients with solid tumors who will lose their hair from chemo can use Amma™. Patients with blood cancers are not eligible for scalp cooling. Best results are expected for patients undergoing Taxane based chemotherapy. Patients with a regimen including A/C may see greater hair loss but will benefit from scalp cooling with faster hair regrowth because the hair follicles are not as damaged.
Amma™ is the first FDA approved Portable Scalp Cooling System and was developed by our founder, Kate Dilligan. After her difficult experience using a cold cap system requiring the use of dry ice during her chemotherapy, she designed Amma™ for patients to use on their own, free of dry ice, and made it portable allowing patients to leave the infusion chair when they are done with chemo.
Your patients will have hair thinning during treatment, but if scalp cooling is successful, their hair will look normal to other people. Patients will feel cold using Amma™ but users have described the feeling as tolerable.
The Cooler Heads Customer Care team will train your patients on how to use the system and be there to support them during their chemotherapy regimen. When Amma™ is being used, please have 1 ½ cups of water, 1 ½ cups of ice (as is used in a cold beverage), and 3 cups of isopropyl alcohol available for device set up.
Starting at the crown of their head, measure entirely around the forehead and back to the crown.
Sizing: Less than 21 ¾”, select size Small. Between 21 ¾” – 22 ¾”, select size Medium. Greater than 22 ¾”, select size Large.
How Amma works
Amma™ is designed to be portable and wholly self-administered by the patient. Due to the mobility of the unit, the patient can leave the infusion chair to complete their scalp cooling therapy anywhere in the infusion center.
Amma device is available at infusion center*
Receive capping components from infusion center
Watch the self-demo tutorial with Amma trainer
Begin scalp cooling treatment at infusion center
*Amma is currently available at participating infusion center locations and growing daily.
Our story
Cooler Heads was founded in 2018 by Kate Dilligan, a tech entrepreneur and breast cancer survivor, to protect the dignity, privacy, and identity of cancer patients. After Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer, she spent $8,000 on traditional cold cap therapy. After talking with countless cancer patients frustrated by the high cost, poor fit, and difficulty of use of existing methods, Kate was determined to engineer a better way.
Cooler Heads’ Amma is the only portable, FDA-cleared scalp cooling unit available. With Amma, facilities across the country can now provide this treatment to eligible patients without compromising space and chair time.
Recent Press & Podcasts
TV News
“Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy are dealing with the hardest challenge one can face; keeping their hair is critical to their mental health, their sense of self, and their recovery process.”
Kate Dilligan, CEO
Why Amma™
Portable within infusion center
Easy to use
Affordable
