When Michelle Kostas was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease last year, of course she was afraid of what the diagnosis meant for her health and future.
However, Ms. Kostas, 30, also was concerned about the effects of radiation and chemotherapy on her appearance. Would she lose her hair? How could she cope with treatment side effects such as flaky skin and having her eyelashes fall out?
“For me, this was the worst part about having cancer,” says Ms. Kostas, who lives in Fairfax. “I mean, I didn’t even feel sick when I was diagnosed, and now I have to wear a wig, too?”
Ms. Kostas attended a workshop sponsored by the group Look Good … Feel Better, which explained the side effects she might experience and coached her through how to cope with them. She learned about wigs and scarves, penciling in natural-looking eyebrows and applying makeup that would compensate for the effects of chemotherapy on her skin.
Looking good doesn’t make things “better,” of course, but it helps, Ms. Kostas says.
Look Good … Feel Better is a collaboration between the Personal Care Products Council, a cosmetics-industry trade association; the American Cancer Society; and the National Cosmetology Association. It brings together cancer patients and beauty professionals. By learning tips to cope with the outward effects of treatment, patients may gain a sense of self-confidence to help them through treatment, says Louanne Roark, executive director of the Personal Care Products Council Foundation.
“How you look is something you can control,” Ms. Roark says. “And control is a significant issue for many patients. Treatments for the disease cause side effects. You can’t control the side effects, but you can gain control of your appearance and perhaps gain a sense of confidence and face the disease and the treatment with a positive outlook.”
Look Good … Feel Better (www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org) conducted a survey of more than 301 oncologists and 351 women cancer patients, and it found that 75 percent of them thought nonmedical aspects of cancer care were very important. Meanwhile, 82 percent of the doctors and 9 of 10 patients said they thought support programs were very effective.
Look Good … Feel Better will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. The program started with pilot programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and at Georgetown University Hospital’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. It now has programs in all 50 states and 19 countries, serving more than 50,000 women a year. There are also programs especially for teens, as well as an online program for men.
Forty-five cosmetics companies donate about $10 million worth of products annually, so every participant in the free program leaves with her own bag of personal care products and makeup.
Suzanne Schrock, a registered nurse and manager of perioperative services at Sibley Hospital in Northwest, has been a volunteer with Look Good … Feel Better since its inception. Ms. Schrock got involved with the group shortly after her own cancer diagnosis and surgical treatment. She says working with Look Good … Feel Better appealed to her because it concentrated on the emotional aspects of cancer.
“We’re always so focused on the clinical side,” she says. “But if you look good, you will feel better about yourself. As a nurse, I knew women in cancer treatment and I knew how devastating it was to lose your hair.”
Ms. Schrock says there are intangible lessons that come from attending the two-hour workshop.
“I don’t even look at it from a self-esteem perspective,” she says. “I look at it as one fun thing you get to do in the months [of treatment]. Yes, it is going to teach you to deal with the side effects, but also to realize you are not alone. Women enter as strangers and leave as friends. There is one group of women I know who met in Look Good … Feel Better 18 years ago.”
Ms. Kostas says she appreciated the camaraderie. Because she is only 30, she says she didn’t know any peers who had had cancer. Attending Look Good … Feel Better introduced her to women who were further ahead in treatment and could tell her what she might expect.
“I was really happy I went,” she says. “I learned a lot.”
Ms. Kostas recently finished three months of chemotherapy and a month of radiation and is back to a full work schedule in her job in medical sales. Her association with the group isn’t over, however. She plans to volunteer because, unfortunately, there is always a new group of patients with similar concerns.
“I just called to see about volunteering,” she says. “The groups are led by beauty professionals, but I can still help out.”
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