ACS Look Good Feel Better Program Returns to Washington County - Nov. 08, 2012
CALAIS & MACHIAS, ME -- Cancer can rob a woman of her energy, appetite, and strength. But it doesn’t have to take away her self-confidence.
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the Personal Care Products Council, and the Professional Beauty Association | National Cosmetology Association (PBA | NCA), Look Good Feel Better is a unique program which offers free, one-time beauty consultations with a licensed cosmetologist or aesthetician to women who are currently undergoing cancer treatment.
The beauty professionals provide tips and practical techniques for coping with hair loss and changes in the skin that often result from chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Since its inception in 1989, Look Good Feel Better has helped more than 750,000 women nationwide regain their self-esteem.
Submitted photo
The American Cancer Society is partnering with Calais Regional Hospital and Down East Community Hospital to offer this program to area cancer patients.
A Look Good Feel Better group session returns to Calais Regional Hospital on Saturday, November 17 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. and will be held for the first time at Down East Community Hospital on Saturday, December 1.
The program will be offered the second Saturday of each month, alternating between the two hospitals (January - Calais; February - Machias; March - Calais, etc.). Each participant will receive a complimentary cosmetic kit donated by the cosmetic industry.
Trained volunteer cosmetologists will show participants how to use the cosmetics and also ways to use wigs, scarves, and other accessories to conceal hair loss.
"Patients who have participated in Look Good Feel Better call the program an emotional lifesaver because it returns them to a sense of normalcy and allows them to smile once again at the person in the mirror," said Elisa Madore, Community Executive for the American Cancer Society. "It is also a wonderful opportunity to meet other cancer survivors in your community and find peer support from others who know and understand what you are going through."
The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 800,000 U.S. women will develop some form of cancer this year. The good news is that, thanks to advances in medicine, the five year relative survival rate of all cancers is 68 percent. New cancer treatments are saving more lives, but they are not without side effects. Some women experience total or partial hair loss, changes in the skin tone and texture, and weakened fingernails -- and Look Good Feel Better helps patients deal with these side effects.
TO REGISTER for a Look Good Feel Better program at either Calais Regional Hospital or Downeast Community Hospital, contact Mona VanWart by calling 207-454-3906.
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. As a result, an estimated 13.7 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
