Valley cancer patient survivor freezes her hair to save it

GILBERT, AZ - The battle against cancer is a tough fight, and losing your hair through chemotherapy can make it worse, but a Valley woman has proven she can beat the odds.

When Gilbert resident Rebecca Eylers' doctor told her she had cancer, the thought she could die scared her, but her son's upcoming wedding brought on another concern. Her doctors informed Rebecca her cancer treatment would almost certainly cause her hair to fall out

"With my son getting married I really didn't want to look different at his wedding,” Rebecca said. “I didn't want to distract from his day."

Looking for a solution to keep her hair, Rebecca discovered Penguin Cold Caps . The device resembles a freezable ice pack. When wrapped around the head, the cap is so cold, it freezes the user's scalp and hair, preventing the chemo drugs from causing it fall out.

Rebecca’s doctors doubted the Penguin Cold Cap therapy would work, but as Rebecca got sicker and sicker, her hair stayed with her.

In the bigger picture, keeping her hair was something minor, but she said it gave her strength to fight harder against her cancer.

"You're pumped through with steroids, and for me I really wasn't feeling well, and I looked like I was 108-years-old anyway, so being able to have that hair on my head and say, looking in my mirror, 'I'm in there, I'm a fighter'."

Rebecca made it to her son's wedding, and because of the head freezing, so did her beautiful curly hair. A full head of hair kept her spirits up, and Rebecca powered through her medical treatments.

She beat her cancer and said she owes part of her victory to the Penguin Cold Caps.

“This isn't a cure for cancer, but it makes the process a lot easier to bear,” Rebecca said."It was about $1,200 which was worth every single penny for me."

The Penguin Cold Cap is not for all cancer patients, but its creators claim it can prevent hair loss more than 80 percent of the time.

More information on the Cold Cap therapy can be found on the company’s website.