Reflect On Your Cancer Experience

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimated 67,200 Canadian women will be diagnosed with cancer this year and thousands will face surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of these treatments. For many, the side effects of treatment can be as challenging as the disease itself.
Look Good Feel Better, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, has helped more than 350,000 Canadian women living with cancer to look good and feel better by teaching cosmetic techniques and hair alternatives to help manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer and its treatment. Free, two-hour workshops are offered at 65 hospitals and cancer-care facilities across the country. A recent study of women living with cancer, conducted at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital, revealed that a positive attitude was a leading strategy women felt helped them conquer cancer.
Sherry Abbott, national spokesperson for Look Good Feel Better's tenth anniversary tour, was determined to defy the odds when she was given a terminal diagnosis 13 years ago, and three months to live. A true believer that a "never-say-never" attitude can play a significant role throughout the cancer experience, Sherry took a path that led her to take back the control she had lost and to send positive messages to her family, friends and medical team.
"The cancer treatments left me battered, inside and out," recalls Sherry. "My body was depleted and the unfamiliar face that looked back at me in the mirror looked painfully ill." For the first time in her life, she learned to use cosmetics to correct, rather than enhance her appearance. Sherry quickly learned how a little lipstick and blush could do as much for her psyche as it did for her appearance.
As part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, Look Good Feel Better is inviting those whose lives have been touched by cancer to share their personal story or cancer experience by submitting it to the Reflections Collection. Entries can be submitted by visiting www.lgfb.ca or mailed to: Look Good Feel Better, Reflections Collection, 420 Britannia Road East, Suite 102, Mississauga, ON, L4Z 3L5. For more information on the program, call toll-free 1-800-914-5665.