Bridge Street

Thank you Sistina Giordano for having us on to talk about TCHP and our upcoming Fundraiser!

Liz on cnycentral.com

On Wednesday August 7th, 2019, Liz was interviewed by Meghan Coleman on NBC3 in Syracuse. To view the full interview, click below:

CAMILLUS N.Y. — A cancer diagnosis can be devastating. The treatments can be rigorous and life-altering. Now, a device is giving patients new hope that cancer will not take more of them, including their hair.

"That diagnosis is life-changing. It just changes the way you look at things. It changes your perspective," said Liz Formoza. "And I think things that used to bother me before or maybe I would get upset over before, aren't that big of a deal."

From the time she was a kid, Liz Formoza, of Camillus, always knew she wanted to be a mother. Those dreams came true with the birth of her four children whose pictures cover the wall of her family home. But life threw her a curveball in 2011 when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 36.

At the time, Liz had a 6-month-old, 3-year-old and 5-year-old twins. She underwent a double mastectomy, 16 bouts of chemotherapy and 35 rounds of radiation. Five years after her cancer disappeared, Liz noticed a pain in her lower back. Her cancer had come back, only this time it was Stage 4 and had spread to her bones.

"I had a good three days of just looking at my kids and thinking 'I'm not going to see her make her first communion,' or 'I'm not going to see them get their license or go to prom.' I couldn't look at my kids without crying," Formoza said.

That sadness and fear quickly turned into a determination not to let cancer take any more of her life.

"For me, it was more of a matter of ok how are we going to handle this, what are we doing, what's the plan? Let's get it done. And that was really how I approached it. I didn't want to feed the cancer more by sort of sitting and feeling sorry for myself. I honestly didn't have time with that many young kids."

Formoza says she did not look sick and did not feel sick. She wanted to keep things as normal as possible for her children. "It is a horribly scary disease and it's life-changing, but it doesn't have to be your life. When I see people, I want them to see me. I don't want them to see cancer," Formoza said.

She turned to a special treatment while undergoing chemotherapy at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The Paxman is a scalp cooling device designed to preserve hair follicles and prevent patients from losing their hair during chemotherapy.

"I'm not cancer 24/7," Formoza said. "I'm so many different things. I'm a mom, a friend, a wife all those other things. And I believe personally for me. I don't want to feed it too much more. I don't want it to be all that I am and all that I think about."

Instead of traveling to and from Boston, Formoza was able to get the Paxman transferred to Upstate Cancer Center in Syracuse. She would wear the cooling cap for about 30 minutes before chemo, during her treatment and for about an hour after it.

"I think technologies like this would be a big game-changer for us," said Dr. Abi Siva, a Medical Oncologist at Upstate Cancer Center.

Dr. Siva says the device can preserve 70 to 80 percent of a patient's hair. It works by causing the blood vessels to constrict and limits chemo exposure to the hair follicles.

"Hair loss can be one of the most devastating aspects of chemotherapy for women because they feel that they're losing their self-esteem and they lose their confidence," Dr. Siva said.

Right now, Upstate is testing out the Paxman as a potential new option for its patients. It is not available to patients yet, but Upstate is looking into the possibility of purchasing it. Formoza says she has heard about people forgoing cancer treatments because they do not want to lose their hair. She hopes spreading the word about this treatment will help others fighting this awful disease.

"I want people to know that this is out there. I want people to know that this is an option," Formoza said.

For now, she is drawing strength from her family and those four beautiful children to keep her fighting. "I kind of hope that I'm around long enough that this just becomes a chronic disease that I just have to deal with and live with. And I'll try anything to get to that point," Formoza. "I'm so blessed with four healthy children. This is what I was meant to do and I'm going to do it for as long as I can."

The Paxman is FDA approved for breast cancer patients along with people suffering from ovarian, colon and lung cancers. It is not recommended for those with leukemia or lymphoma or patients with head and neck cancers. Side effects include pain and discomfort from the cold sensation along with headache and nausea.