Make Over Moment
Bald can be beautiful, but there's a difference between buzzing one side, two sides or all of your hair and losing it as a side effect while combating a disease that has already taken too much.
Stacy Meyer, a medical social worker, said for some women their hair is important to their identity, making hair loss during their cancer treatment a difficult obstacle.
Meyer, a Butler Health System Radiation Oncology staff member, said when the partnership with UPMC Hillman Cancer Center began at the Benbrook Medical Center a few years ago, she knew she had to bring more support to the patients.
“When I came here, these things came together and blossomed,” she said. “It's very satisfying to help patients when they're in a crisis and help them realize they're going to be OK.”
Meyer created a salon out of donated office space in the same building as support services at 102 Technology Drive.
“Because what happens is that someone going through chemotherapy loses their hair and eyebrows,” Meyer said. “Eyebrows are part of your identity and personality.
“We try to make them look themselves again.”
This year the salon will showcase a program called Styling It Right & Looking Your Best, where licensed stylists will assist women with wigs, halos and other beauty options. The program will begin Oct. 17.
Meyer said part of the program name — Styling It Right — was suggested by a patient who made a lifelong impression on her.
The woman came in for a fitting when her husband and daughter showed up at the appointment without her knowledge.
“They made it a family gathering,” Meyer said of the surprise. “She looked like a million bucks. She came in somber and left happy.”
In addition to hair tips, the program will offer makeup suggestions. BHS Foundation is donating cosmetic bags as well as the cosmetics.
Chemo beanies will also be provided to participants and supplied by HairPeace.org Charities, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that provides financial aid to cancer patients for the purchase of wigs in southwest Pennsylvania.
Patients can call or register with Meyer at 724-431-1822.
With a swivel chair and mirrors, the salon offers a comfortable place for the free program which is offered every other month.“She wanted to create a boutique atmosphere at her office,” said Pat Julkowski of Creative Hair Solutions of Allison Park, who is a program partner and works with Meyer.Julkowski said women that come to these programs generally have a wig or are looking at buying one. She said many prefer to match a style they are familiar with.“We try to duplicate the look of the way they have always wore it,” Julkowski said. “We want to recreate their look.”Julkowski said there are some women who never liked their hair or wished they could do different things with it, and she can help them accomplish that with a wig.“They may want to go with a different color choice, or they may want to go with a different style,” she said. “We try different things on them, so they can experience different looks and see what looks good on them.”Julkowski said in the classes, the focus is on helping women help themselves. She said it is important to teach them how to style and maintain the wigs and fit them properly.Julkowski said there are other options aside from wigs too. There are halos, which are extensions that sit on the head with an invisible wire holding it in place.She said there are also various covers, and each person has their preferences between, turbans, hats, scarves and other accessories.
After 25 years of working with cancer patients, Julkowski said she knows how important these classes are. She said the group setting is also highly beneficial because it allows a group of people in similar circumstances to vent to one another about familiar territory.She said supplying this type of support is essential to helping someone through cancer. She said she still has every thank you note she has ever received, each saying as much.“I never ever throw away one of those thank you notes. I have boxes and boxes of thank you notes,” Julkowski said. “It's a constant reminder to me of how much this work means.”Helping women comb through their options is only part of the partnership Meyer has molded into today's support structure.Meyer said organizations like HairPeace.org Charities and Ride for the Cure help fund these hair options for cancer patients.
Bonny Diver is a radio personality and director of HairPeace.org Charities who won her battle with breast cancer in 2003. Now she gives back by collecting donations to help subsidize wigs and hair options for women who struggle with the same disease.Diver said hair loss is world-shattering to some.“Cancer keeps taking more and more away from you,” she said. “(Hair loss) is just one more thing that screams to the world that I'm sick.”Diver said wigs and hair solutions empower women.“You can tell somebody if you want, that you have cancer, or not,” she said. “Some people don't even know that you lost your hair.”Diver said hair loss can affect a patient's stress level, which can have a chain reaction impact on their recovery.“Stress is one of the most unhealthy things that you can have in your life. Your body is in a flight or fight mode, and you're body isn't healing,” Diver said. “All that transfers what you put into your mind.”Diver said every cancer patient should have a sign on their door that reads, “No stress allowed in this house, just love is allowed in.”As a survivor, Diver said she wants patients and those who have survived to know that cancer does change people, but it doesn't always have to be a bad change. She said people can make positive changes based on their new perspectives.She said cancer forces every person struggling with the disease to take an accounting of their life. They must inventory each item they posses, every person they hold dear and all the stress they've accrued.“For me cancer was the worst and the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Diver said. “My goal is to always give others something encouraging to hang on.”Eagle associate managing editor Donna Sybert contributed to this report.
WHAT: Styling It Right & Looking Your Best for women cancer patients who have lost their hairWHEN: Classes start Oct. 17 and also offer cosmetic tipsWHERE: The salon at UMPC Hillman Cancer Center at Butler Health System, 102 Technology DriveTO REGISTER: Contact Stacy Meyer, medical social worker, 724-431-1822
