CBCC Partnering with American Cancer Society to Offer Look Good…Feel Better

Washington, DC, December 17, 2007 -- On Monday, January 14, 2008, the Capital Breast Care Center will begin hosting the Look Good…Feel Better® in partnership with the American Cancer Society.  Guided by volunteer cosmetologists, 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 Look Good…Feel Better® program is a wonderful way to help women who are in treatment remember that they are still beautiful and gives them the tools to enhance their beauty,” said Amari Sokoya Pearson-Fields, Executive Director of the Capital Breast Care Center.  “The program is offered in a safe, relaxed, and fun environment and helps give back what cancer treatment sometimes takes away. The free make-up and instruction from professionals helps women look and feel better.”

The class runs from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. and will be held at the Capital Breast Care Center, 650 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Suite 230, Washington, DC. The dates for the program for 2008 are: January 14, April 14, May 26, July 7, and October 13.   

Registration is open to all breast cancer patients across the city. Space is limited.  To register or for additional information, please call Keisha Derricott at 202-787-5334 or Tesha Coleman at 202-787-5331.

Look Good…Feel Better® is offered through a partnership of the American Cancer Society; the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation; and the 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 dozens 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.