Stella Serrao used a scalp cooling cap during chemotherapy — and now she wants California lawmakers to ensure every patient can afford the same choice.
When Stella Serrao of Brentwood received her diagnosis — invasive ductal carcinoma, triple negative — last August, she began preparing for a year of chemotherapy. Among the decisions she faced was one most patients never expect: whether to spend nearly $900 out-of-pocket on a technology that could help her keep her hair.
She chose to try the Paxman scalp cooling cap. The device cools the scalp to or below zero degrees Celsius during and after each treatment session, constricting blood flow to hair follicles and slowing the uptake of chemotherapy drugs that cause hair loss.
“It gave me a sense of normalcy. A lot of people didn’t know.”— Stella Serrao, breast cancer survivor, Brentwood CA
For Serrao, the cap was more than cosmetic. “I’m private — not ashamed — but I didn’t want everyone I encountered to look at me and think ‘she has cancer,'” she said. “This made me feel normal.”
Dr. Jo Chien
Professor of Medicine, UCSF
“Scalp cooling reduces blood flow to the hair follicles, slowing their metabolism and reducing chemotherapy’s disruption to them,” Dr. Chien explained. She noted that success rates vary by regimen, dose frequency, and cycle count — and stressed that patients should discuss the option with their oncologist. “This is something that should be available to everybody as an option,” she said, adding that the technology demonstrably improves patient wellbeing, self-esteem, and body image.
The Legislation
A bill currently moving through the California State Assembly would require insurance companies to cover scalp cooling technology for cancer patients — making it no longer an out-of-pocket expense. The bill was recently referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, with a target effective date of January 2027. New York and Louisiana have already passed similar laws.
“As someone who had a year of treatments, the cost gets into the thousands,” Serrao said. “A lot of people can’t afford that.”
“They did it in New York and Louisiana. They need to do it in California.”— Stella Serrao
Today, Serrao says she is cancer-free. She is sharing her story publicly in hopes that California lawmakers will act. “The one thing cancer taught me,” she said, “is to appreciate your loved ones.”
