Jill Martin in New York on May 4, 2023.Photo:Kevin Mazur/GettyWhenTodayshow correspondentJill Martinwasdiagnosed with breast cancerin July, she knew her life was about to change exponentially. In a flash, she went from feeling perfectly healthy to undergoing a double mastectomy for an aggressive tumor, and being told she’d need additional chemotherapy treatments.The one thing she was truly dreading, amidst everything she was processing, was losing her long hair due tochemotherapy. “It sounds silly but I love my hair,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s always been something I’ve been proud of.“So when her surgeon, Dr. Elisa Port, told her aboutcold-capping— a procedure in which hair follicles are literally frozen at sub-zero temperatures during chemo treatments to prevent them from absorbing the chemicals — she was willing to try it to see if she could prevent too much of her hair from falling out.“Everybody’s choice is different when it comes to their hair,” Martin, 47, tells PEOPLE. “For some people, it’s empowering to shave their head because they take control of the situation before cancer takes it. But obviously it’s a choice no one wants to make.“She adds, “Because I am still on the air onToday, and I am on Zoom calls and I am continuing to work while I go through this, I just didn’t want every conversation to be centered around my hair. I didn’t want everything to lead with what I looked like.“Martin, who has currently undergone five chemo treatments, says she does her cold-capping at the same time as her chemo, meaning she’s sitting in a chair for 12 hours at a time during those sessions.She estimates that as of now she’s only lost 30% of her hair, which means the cold-capping has been successful. “If I hadn’t done cold-capping, I would be completely bald right now,” she adds.Still, she notes that the process isn’t exactly simple — and can be pretty uncomfortable.“It’s like having a 12-hour brain freeze,” she says.
Jill Martin in New York on May 4, 2023.Photo:Kevin Mazur/Getty
Kevin Mazur/Getty
WhenTodayshow correspondentJill Martinwasdiagnosed with breast cancerin July, she knew her life was about to change exponentially. In a flash, she went from feeling perfectly healthy to undergoing a double mastectomy for an aggressive tumor, and being told she’d need additional chemotherapy treatments.The one thing she was truly dreading, amidst everything she was processing, was losing her long hair due tochemotherapy. “It sounds silly but I love my hair,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s always been something I’ve been proud of.“So when her surgeon, Dr. Elisa Port, told her aboutcold-capping— a procedure in which hair follicles are literally frozen at sub-zero temperatures during chemo treatments to prevent them from absorbing the chemicals — she was willing to try it to see if she could prevent too much of her hair from falling out.“Everybody’s choice is different when it comes to their hair,” Martin, 47, tells PEOPLE. “For some people, it’s empowering to shave their head because they take control of the situation before cancer takes it. But obviously it’s a choice no one wants to make.“She adds, “Because I am still on the air onToday, and I am on Zoom calls and I am continuing to work while I go through this, I just didn’t want every conversation to be centered around my hair. I didn’t want everything to lead with what I looked like.“Martin, who has currently undergone five chemo treatments, says she does her cold-capping at the same time as her chemo, meaning she’s sitting in a chair for 12 hours at a time during those sessions.She estimates that as of now she’s only lost 30% of her hair, which means the cold-capping has been successful. “If I hadn’t done cold-capping, I would be completely bald right now,” she adds.Still, she notes that the process isn’t exactly simple — and can be pretty uncomfortable.“It’s like having a 12-hour brain freeze,” she says.
WhenTodayshow correspondentJill Martinwasdiagnosed with breast cancerin July, she knew her life was about to change exponentially. In a flash, she went from feeling perfectly healthy to undergoing a double mastectomy for an aggressive tumor, and being told she’d need additional chemotherapy treatments.
The one thing she was truly dreading, amidst everything she was processing, was losing her long hair due tochemotherapy. “It sounds silly but I love my hair,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s always been something I’ve been proud of.”
So when her surgeon, Dr. Elisa Port, told her aboutcold-capping— a procedure in which hair follicles are literally frozen at sub-zero temperatures during chemo treatments to prevent them from absorbing the chemicals — she was willing to try it to see if she could prevent too much of her hair from falling out.
“Everybody’s choice is different when it comes to their hair,” Martin, 47, tells PEOPLE. “For some people, it’s empowering to shave their head because they take control of the situation before cancer takes it. But obviously it’s a choice no one wants to make.”
She adds, “Because I am still on the air onToday, and I am on Zoom calls and I am continuing to work while I go through this, I just didn’t want every conversation to be centered around my hair. I didn’t want everything to lead with what I looked like.”
Martin, who has currently undergone five chemo treatments, says she does her cold-capping at the same time as her chemo, meaning she’s sitting in a chair for 12 hours at a time during those sessions.
She estimates that as of now she’s only lost 30% of her hair, which means the cold-capping has been successful. “If I hadn’t done cold-capping, I would be completely bald right now,” she adds.
Still, she notes that the process isn’t exactly simple — and can be pretty uncomfortable.
“It’s like having a 12-hour brain freeze,” she says.
source: people.com
