Look Good Feel Better survey: women with cancer

According to a Look Good Feel Better survey, women who are undergoing treatment for cancer believe they are being treated differently at work because of the physical appearance changes that often occur due to cancer treatments. The survey is being released as part of National Cancer Survivors Day. Some of the findings in the survey report that:

• 69 percent of women indicated their appearance changed during chemotherapy or radiation.


• 83 percent of women indicated they were self-conscious of their appearance during treatment.


• Almost 50 percent of women indicated that the change in their appearance during treatment resulted in friends and co-workers treating them differently.


• Less than 50 percent of women sought help to cope with appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment.

Look Good Feel Better is a free, nationwide cancer support program that matches volunteer beauty professionals with small groups of cancer patients to show them how to use cosmetics, wigs and head coverings to camouflage the hair loss, skin discoloration and extreme dryness that can result for cancer treatments. When you go from struggling with a momentary bad hair day to a continuous no-hair day, or unflattering skin conditions that you did not have before cancer treatments, it can get your spirits down. It can be shocking to look in the mirror and not recognize the person staring back. Look Good Feel Better helps 50,000 women each year.