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 dermal 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.
Janet also transformed me. She reminded 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 the success of their treatment.
That’s why I am proud to announce the launch of The Skin Recovery Clinic. I want it to serve as a source of healing and support for cancer patients as they undergo the challenges of treatment and recovery.
The clinic will operate out of our AVA MD Santa Monica and AVA MD Beverly Hills offices. In each office, expert doctors and estheticians (certified in clinical oncology aesthetics) will tailor services to address each individual’s skin care needs as they prepare for, undergo and emerge from treatment. The Skin Recovery Clinic will always work in close consultation with the patient’s oncology team.
Our mission for The Skin Recovery Clinic is to help patients protect and restore their natural beauty so that they can feel better about themselves every step of the way. No guilt allowed! 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.”