Class helps cancer patients look, feel good

Kaye Shearmire demonstrates how to draw an eyebrow with an eyeliner pencil on Tamara Watkins at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City. Watkins took part in a Look

? In a small classroom at St. Catherine Hospital, four women battling cancer learned that sometimes the best medicine doesn’t come in a prescription bottle.

Jenny Lindo learned about the miracles of lipstick while Helen Naab received a crash course in eyeliner.

Flo Blevins learned about the differences between human hair and synthetic wigs, and Tamara Watkins offered advice on how to wear scarves with a hat.

The women, all from Garden City, were part of a free group program known as “Look Good … Feel Better,” which is sponsored through a partnership among the American Cancer Society, the National Cosmetology Association and the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation. The program aims to help women build and maintain self-confidence while undergoing cancer treatment.

Kaye Shearmire, a licensed cosmetologist in Garden City and a cancer survivor, informed the women about what to expect from their chemotherapy and radiation treatments and the effects those treatments will have on their bodies.

“I lost my hair, my eyebrows and my eyelashes,” she said. “Your skin will need lots and lots of moisture because cancer treatments will dry your skin out.”

Each woman received a makeup kit filled with miscellaneous products and a manual on applying makeup.

During the class, each woman was asked to remove her makeup and participate in instructions on how to cover up dark splotches on the skin, draw eyebrows and other beauty tips.

Lindo said she was never one to wear makeup, but after her diagnosis of rectal cancer in September, she said, learning about applying makeup isn’t so bad.

“It perks you up,” she said. “I don’t look as pale, and I don’t feel sick.”

Lindo said she has lost 85 pounds – and her energy – because of the treatments involved in fighting her cancer.

But that hasn’t diminished her outlook on life.

“I’m too stubborn to give in,” she said.

Naab, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in January, said she keeps busy and helps her daughter, who also was diagnosed with breast cancer, through her treatments.

“I knew I was going to lose my hair,” she said. “But being here – with other women who are at different stages of their cancer and knowing my hair will grow back and seeing how they coped with it – gives me hope.”

The second part of the class focused on wigs – where to buy them, what to buy and for how much.

Naab said she bought her wig through the American Cancer Society catalogue for $40.

Her wig is brown with gold highlights and looks natural, Shearmire said.

“You can’t get your hair cut or frosted for $40,” Lindo said. “It looks so good, when your hair does come in, you’ll want to shave it just so you can wear the wig.”

Shearmire said she has been offering the program for about a year and would like to see it grow in popularity. She said the program is offered every three months.

“I can relate to these women because I have been there,” she said. “These women trust me more because of that and I want them to know they can still be self-confident even when fighting cancer.”