Make-up artist with cancer saved her hair during chemo thanks to pioneering scalp-cooling treatment… and now she wants to help other women keep theirs
The make-up artist is now urging others to try the cooling cap to help them their fight against the illness
A BEAUTICIAN who was diagnosed with cancer managed to prevent her hair falling out during chemotherapy by using a new scalp cooling treatment.
Nadia Brown, 27, was left devastated after discovering she had Hodgkin's Lymphoma - a cancer that commonly affects young people.
It grows in the lymphatic system which makes sufferers more vulnerable to infection and illness.
The wedding and make-up artist, who was diagnosed after a series of scans last June, was told she was likely to lose her brunette locks.
But deciding she didn't want "to let the cancer take anything away", Nadia embarked on a pioneering new scalp cooling treatment.
During the 12 chemotherapy sessions Nadia wore a cooling scalp cap for four hours per session and was elated when it prevented hair loss.
She said: "When I was diagnosed I was shocked. You don't expect it. You just think 'it won't happen to me'.
"I was gutted when I learned I would lose my hair, because its my thing. I've always took pride in my hair.
"It's always been long and very thick, so the prospect of losing it, especially to something like cancer, was unthinkable."
Nadia's consultant warned her the cap could be too uncomfortable to keep on because it could "hurt like the worst brain freeze ever".
Although most patients undergoing chemotherapy allegedly struggle to keep wearing the cap, Nadia was determined to keep her locks.
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The Paxman Scalp Cooling treatment, available on the NHS, works by lowering the temperature of the head using a cap made from lightweight silicone tubing.
Liquid coolant passes through the cap extracting heat from the patient's scalp, ensuring the scalp remains at an even, constant temperature to minimise hair loss.
Nadia's partner Carl Aldridge, who also lives in Stoke-on-Trent, helped her to remain positive during the gruelling treatment at Royal Stoke University Hospital.
She added: "I didn't have to walk into somewhere looking like the stereotype of a cancer victim.
"The cold cap stopped cancer from taking my hair away from me; it let me look in the mirror in my darkest times and see me."
Now, Nadia is celebrating after being in remission since January and wants more patients - especially women - to try the cooling treatment in future.
Speaking about when she found out she was in remission, she commented: "It was the best news ever, like winning the lottery.
''It does change things. After something like this, you really know yourself completely."
Richard Paxman, managing director of the Paxman clinic, said: "I understand from personal experience the devastating effect losing your hair in chemotherapy has on a person, and we want this to stop.
"We want everyone, wherever they live to have the choice of whether scalp cooling is right for them.
"That's why it is so refreshing for people like Nadia to share their personal experiences and hopefully give advice and support to others in a similar situation."