Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Sometimes I have an experience that really reminds me why I’ve always wanted to be a healer… Janet Blake was a two-time breast cancer survivor when she came into my office for a consultation. She had just finished months of aggressive cancer treatment, and it had taken a toll on her appearance. Janet told me that she’d been trying to wear her ravaged, post-chemo look as a ‘badge of honor’ for all those breast cancer patients who didn’t survive. “But there are so many moments,” she said, “when I want so badly just to look the way I did before the cancer.” Janet also admitted that she felt terribly guilty about her desire “to look pretty again.”

I told Janet that we all deserve to look and feel our best, so no more guilty feelings! I restored her skin using a series of hydrating facials, laser treatments and fillers. And Janet began a regular skin care regimen for the first time in her life. Janet came to my office a few months later truly transformed, inside and out.

We are all social beings, and—like it or lump it—appearance plays a significant role in how we interact.  The personal impact of appearance-related changes due to cancer treatment can be devastating for most women. Looking like ‘yourself’ throughout the cancer process directly impacts sense of self, social functioning, and self-esteem.

Patients like Janet remind me how critical and even life-saving it can be to give patients undergoing cancer treatment skin that not only looks good but feels good. If patients are unaware or unprepared for how cancer treatment may affect their skin, it can greatly impact their self-esteem—and even the success of their treatment.[1]

At AVA MD, we have The Skin Recovery Clinic to serve as a source of healing and support for cancer patients as they undergo the challenges of treatment and recovery. The clinic operates out of both our AVA MD Santa Monica and AVA MD Beverly Hills offices; expert doctors and estheticians (certified in clinical oncology aesthetics) tailor services to address each individual’s skin care needs as they prepare for, undergo and emerge from treatment.  All work is done in close consultation with the patient’s oncology team.

Although the field of skin support services for patients undergoing cancer treatments is new, there is support available nationwide.  If you or someone you know is battling or recovering from cancer, seek this support. You have the right to protect and restore your natural beauty so you can feel better about yourself every step of the way.  There is no room—or reason–for guilt in this equation!

I became a healer so I could help people like Janet reawaken their confidence about their appearance – as well as their love of life. “For the first time in a long time,” Janet recently said to me, “the way I look on the outside is matching the joy and gratitude I’m feeling on the inside.”

Every cancer patient and cancer survivor has the right to feel this joy.

To learn more about skin cancer treatment, visit WebMD.com.