A note from the organizer, Katie Foster –

"This is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. On November 30, 2022, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 31 years old while 19 weeks pregnant. I had a bilateral mastectomy two weeks later and was induced to bring our sweet Kaden into the world at 37 weeks. Two days after delivery I had a port placed for chemotherapy access and two weeks after that I started chemotherapy with Taxol and Herceptin once per week for 12 weeks. Taxol is a chemo medication that causes hair loss in majority of patients but thanks to cool capping, I was able to save my hair.

For those of you who don’t know what that entails, the cap is cooled to -35 degrees Celsius with dry ice. In order for it to work most efficiently for my hair type, I had to wear it for an hour prior to the chemo starting, the 1.5 hours it was infusing, and for an additional 3.5 hours after it completed. During this time, the cap had to be changed every 25 minutes. The nurses aren’t allowed to do this, so my wonderful husband did this for me every single week. As you can imagine, this made for a very long day. Outside of the cap itself, a lot of work goes into taking care of the hair on a daily basis. I was only able to wash it on a specific day of the week with special shampoo, had to wash with cold water, not use products or heat, and try not to sweat or manipulate the follicles in any way. The hard work was all worth it though, because while my eyebrows and eyelashes fell out, I kept the majority of my hair. Sure some of it still fell out, but not enough for anyone other than those who knew me well to notice.

Going through a cancer diagnosis is something that of course is hard physically, but the toll it takes on you mentally is not something anyone can understand until they go through it. You grieve the life you thought you would live, and as vain as it might be, you grieve the person you used to see in the mirror. Cool Capping is an amazing medical advancement that allows you to maintain a small semblance of control and one small thing to not be taken from you; your hair. It is not easy, and unfortunately it is NOT cheap. It costs thousands of dollars and insurance does not cover any of this.

My story is a happy one; my cancer was caught early, my sweet baby boy is healthy, and I made it through chemo with minimal side effects, including keeping my hair. After all of this, I promised myself I would dedicate my life to giving back to the Breast Cancer community and though the work of God, I now work as a Physician Assistant in the very Breast Surgery clinic that saved my life. And now I have the opportunity to help as many people as possible afford Cool Capping through this amazing fundraiser.

Not everyone’s story is as happy as mine. Cool Capping, while it is a lot of work and so difficult to endure, helps in ways you will never truly understand unless you are faced with a cancer diagnosis. The Cap City Half Marathon is donating all proceeds to The OhioHealth Foundation which provides funding to patients who choose to try Cool Capping. Please join me during the race on the team “Cool(cap) Runnings” and by donating whatever you are able to this cause that means so, so much to me. This foundation paid thousands of dollars to save my hair and my sanity, and it’s my honor to pay that forward. Thank you so much for your time!"