American Cancer Society Program Helps Women Overcome Effects of Cancer Treatment

Contact: Kelly Cross
American Cancer Society
Number: 252-333-6368

Elizabeth City, NC June 6, 2011) – On Monday, July 11th, the American Cancer Society will offer its first ever, Look Good…Feel Better® program to residents in the Albemarle area. 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 chemotherapy and radiation.

The class runs from 4pm – 6pm and will be held at True Images located at 505 East Church Street Elizabeth City. True Images is housed in the old Lighthouse building across from Todd’s Pharmacy. To register or for additional information, please call True Images at 252.334.9955 or your American Cancer Society at 1.800.ACS.2345.

“Look Good…Feel Better® is as much about improving and maintaining self-image and confidence as it is about appearance,” says Kelly Cross, Community Manager with the American Cancer Society. “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.

For more information on the American Cancer Society and Look Good…Feel Better, please log on to www.cancer.org or www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org.