Look Good . . . Feel Better program provides wigs, scarves, makeup and skin care tips for women fighting cancer.
BY MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
By the time Healdsburg resident Tammy Montenegro had lost both breasts and her blond hair to cancer treatment last year, she was starting to feel a little bit more like an "it" than a "she."
"All the outward signs of femininity were going to be gone, and that's really upsetting," she says, now cancer-free, her hair and body restored.
As with many cancer patients, the surface effects of chemotherapy and radiation were just one more insult during an arduous period of surgeries, energy-sapping treatments and discomfort.
There can be skin discoloration and extreme dryness, cracked and splitting nails and loss of hair -- including the eyebrows and eyelashes that play so important a part in defining a person's face.
Occidental resident Carol Delaney, who's been fighting breast cancer since 2000, has experienced it all, and then some, including infections in cracked nails and cuticles. She recently acquired "some new hair challenges" thanks to a round of radiation that left a bald patch amid her thinning fringe.
Like Montenegro, she was surprised -- and grateful -- to stumble upon an American Cancer Society program called Look Good . . . Feel Better that helps cancer patients learn how to address problems such as hair loss and skin care.
"They gave me the tools to work with and encouraged me to play with wigs and scarves and make-ups," said Montenegro, 51, "and I just grabbed that with both hands."
The program, sponsored by the cancer society, the Personal Care Products Council Foundation and the National Cosmetology Association, depends on volunteer cosmetologists and estheticians to teach skin and nail care, makeup and hair styling, as well as use of wigs, scarves and other head covering.
T.J. Griggs, owner of Salon West on West Third Street in Santa Rosa and a volunteer for the program, said she was drawn to the program two years ago by her belief that people feel better when they feel good about their looks.
There's been cancer in her family -- both parents are survivors -- so she's seen its ravages up close. Sometimes people just want to feel normal and go out in public without announcing themselves as "victims," she said.
"So for me, it gave me a chance to give back," Griggs said. "I have positive stories to share with people in treatment of cancers and also use my skills in a positive way.
"It is really neat for me to be able to do," she said. "It's really rewarding for me."
It's also a fun and therapeutic group environment for the patients, she said, allowing them to share their challenges and complaints, and receive practical instruction about what they can do to improve their appearance using head-coverings and wigs from the agency's wig bank.
"We get to play dress-up, basically," Griggs said.
"Personally, I'm really proud of the people that are brave enough to just go out there and let it hang out," said Delaney, who attended an Oct. 12 workshop with Griggs. "I guess what I don't want is . . . the attention that I might get because of it. I'd rather be noticed for a different reason if I'm going to be noticed."
Classes are available monthly at the cancer society office in Santa Rosa and every other month in Petaluma. Most groups include five to 10 women, though the program can be made available to men and young people when there's demand.
In addition to the instruction, participants receive free skin care products and cosmetics worth several hundred dollars from the Personal Care Products Council Foundation, an industry trade association.
They also love the wigs, which offer an opportunity to experiment and have fun with different colors and styles, both Montenegro and Delaney, 66, said.
Griggs offers free consultations in her salon, as well, including shaving for preparing for hair loss, "transitional" styling for those whose hair is growing back in -- usually with an entirely new texture -- and wig trims.
Griggs said women sometimes resist getting help on their appearance, thinking it means they're giving into vanity. But there's no shame, she said, in wanting to look normal, "to look more like yourself."
"You really do feel better if you look better," she said.
Staff Writer Mary Callahan can be reached at 521-5249 and mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.
