Patient Profile
In 2018, LeeAnn Molnar was diagnosed with stage 3 estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. While she was scared, she was not entirely surprised. Cancer runs in her family.
“Five of my immediate family members were diagnosed between the ages of 57 and 60,” she says. “I was 60.”
LeeAnn, a wife and mother of two daughters, opted to have a mastectomy. Three years later, however, LeeAnn learned that the cancer had returned and that she would need chemotherapy.
An investigator by nature, LeeAnn, who worked for years alongside her husband in the insurance fraud business, set out to research where to get her treatment. After careful consideration, she chose Middlesex Health Cancer Center to treat her cancer.
During a conversation with her cancer care team, LeeAnn decided that she wanted an option that helped to reduce hair loss because she knew that this was a side effect of chemotherapy.
After reading as much literature as possible and consulting with her team of physicians, LeeAnn decided to try the Paxman Scalp Cooling System. This innovative system works by reducing the flow of blood to the hair follicles through the use of a custom cap. The cap is connected to a small refrigeration machine that regulates the temperature to cool the scalp to approximately 66 degrees Fahrenheit before, during and after chemotherapy.
LeeAnn says each treatment takes approximately two hours from start to finish, which includes placement of the cooling cap. At first, LeeAnn was concerned about putting the cap on herself and possibly placing it in the wrong position and missing a spot. However, she says Erica Cove, administrative coordinator at the Middlesex Health Cancer Center location in Westbrook, has been great about helping her with cap placement.
“Erica makes sure there are no spots that aren’t covered before my treatments,” LeeAnn says, sharing that her hair is still growing and that she has confidence when going about her daily life. No one would know she is undergoing treatments, she says.
“I can’t say enough about the staff and team of caregivers, they are my cheerleaders and I can’t thank them enough,” says LeeAnn.
Today, LeeAnn has finished her six-course treatment plan. She has started her maintenance protocol, and had her first CT and bone scans and she says “everything is stable and improving, good news!”
As an avid gardener, LeeAnn can’t wait to get back in the garden. She already has some plans in mind for projects to do around her home as well — projects for when she is not spending time with her family and her rescue cats and dog.