American Cancer Society Program Helps Women Overcome Effects of Cancer Treatment - Archived

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Tabitha Patton
American Cancer Society
859.260.8285

Christi Henderson
Saint Joseph Mount Sterling
(859) 497-5017'>(859) 497-5017

American Cancer Society Program Helps Women Overcome Effects of Cancer Treatment

On Wednesday, February 20^th  the American Cancer Society will offer its Look Good…Feel Better® program to residents in Montgomery County and surrounding areas. Guided by volunteer licensed beauty professionals (cosmetologists, estheticians, nail technicians) female cancer patients who participate in this class will learn how to use make-up and skincare techniques to overcome the appearance-related effects of cancer treatment.

The class runs from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and will be held at Saint Joseph Mount Sterling at 225 Falcon Drive, located just off 1-64. It will be held in the Nazareth Conference Center (NCC) located on the first floor of the building.  To register or for additional information, please call 859.260.8585.

“Look Good…Feel Better® is as much about improving and maintaining self-image and confidence as it is about appearance,” says Benny Nolen, President of Saint Joseph Mount Sterling. “Patients enjoy the opportunity to spend time in a relaxed,non-medical setting with others in the same situation. And the free make-up and instruction from professionals helps them look and feel better.” 

Look Good…Feel Better® is offered through a collaboration between the American Cancer Society; the Personal Care Products Council Foundation; and the Professional Beauty Association | National Cosmetology Association. Classes and materials are provided free of charge to women in active cancer treatment. 

On top of the very real physical and emotional concerns of the disease itself, the side effects of cancer treatment can be devastating to a woman’s self esteem as well. In her mirror she sees someone she doesn’t even recognize—tired and discolored, with thinning hair and no eyelashes. 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. 

According to the American Cancer Society, there are a number of anti-cancer drugs in use today, each with its own set of possible side effects. Possible appearance-related effects of chemotherapy and radiation include: hair loss on the scalp, eyebrows or lashes; weight gain or loss; changes in skin pigmentation and texture; skin oiliness, itchiness or peeling; and alterations in nail texture and growth rate.