{"id":13001,"date":"2014-07-10T11:13:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T18:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=13001"},"modified":"2014-07-10T11:21:08","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T18:21:08","slug":"free-stylings-help-patients-cope-with-cancer-hair-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/free-stylings-help-patients-cope-with-cancer-hair-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Free stylings help patients cope with cancer, hair loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Nicole Hitchcock styles cancer patient Brandi McWade\u2019s hair as part of free Hairdressers with Heart program. Courtesy photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

My wife abhorred having to suffer through breast cancer.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t thrilled either.<\/p>\n

But the idea of her losing her lengthy tresses didn\u2019t bother me, possibly because hair didn\u2019t register on my Meaning of Life scale.<\/p>\n

Possibly because I have the male Y chromosome.<\/p>\n

I knew I\u2019d love her \u2014 and still find her beautiful \u2014 even if chemotherapy destroyed every follicle, even if I stumbled over reddish clumps in our San Anselmo home.<\/p>\n

For Nancy, though, hair loss filled the No. 2 slot on her hate parade.<\/p>\n

As soon as the docs said baldness would follow her chemo cocktails, she freaked. And she never did get comfy with the identity <\/strong>crisis it spawned, \u201cthe most psychologically devastating part of the cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was 19 years ago.<\/p>\n

Today she\u2019d have more options to relieve her distress.<\/p>\n

Some free.<\/p>\n

Such as cutting and styling from Hairdressers with Heart, a nonprofit founded 18 months ago by Nicole Hitchcock and Nina Husen, co-owners of NH2 salon in Novato, after they saw close-up what treatment-induced hair loss could mean.<\/p>\n

What they\u2019d watched was the anguish Brandy Hitchcock, Nicole\u2019s sister, had endured when her hair fell out.<\/p>\n

Before leukemia killed her in 2009.<\/p>\n

Nina and Nicole, armed with scissors, hair products and truckloads of compassion, now celebrate Brandy\u2019s life by signing up Style Heroes, stylists who donate time to aid cancer patients.<\/p>\n

They offer pre-chemo haircutting and head shaving, wig fitting and customizing, and 12 monthly post-chemo cuts.<\/p>\n

Free hairpieces are provided financially disadvantaged patients.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s stylists work hard at ensuring their pro bono clients no longer feel powerless. And its website at www.hairdresserswithheart.org<\/a> \u00a0\u2014 while noting \u201cover a million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year in the United States\u201d \u2014 says clients can transform the way they feel by transforming the way they look.<\/p>\n

I remember wishing for a magic wand to do that to Nancy.<\/p>\n

None ever appeared.<\/p>\n

But what HWH accomplishes best is give \u201ca person something positive to focus on,\u201d declares Nina in a YouTube video.<\/p>\n

So far, Style Heroes have worked on 22 women.<\/p>\n

Bridgene Raftery, a Sonoma recipient diagnosed in August who\u2019s still being treated for breast cancer, is one of them.<\/p>\n

While her pre-chemo hair was being trimmed, she decided \u201cto have fun by trying different colors \u2014 lavender, a little bit of pink.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s now thrilled with her hair\u2019s reappearance, despite it \u201ccoming back in different sections, fluffy bits, straggly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The image jerks me into a time warp.<\/p>\n

Nancy\u2019s hair had returned thick and course, multi-colored and strangely different than its former soft texture. The curls had vanished. She couldn\u2019t wait to tint it back to her original color.<\/p>\n

But she almost felt like herself.<\/p>\n

Nicole, who\u2019s been a stylist since she was a teenager 21 years ago, feels especially connected to Brandi McWade, a recipient whose name is only one letter removed from her sister\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Brandi recalls that they developed \u201ca beautiful friendship\u201d as Nicole trimmed her pre-chemo locks.<\/p>\n

When it came time to shave her head, Brandi employed a San Diego outfit to \u201cmake a hair \u2018halo,\u2019 which is what I wore with a hat instead of a wig because it was my own hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fairfax recipient, whose breast cancer has since metastasized to her bones, has retained a positive attitude.<\/p>\n

Nicole\u2019s attitude is one of appreciation \u2014 because the program is expanding, boosted by an influx of donations.<\/p>\n

A May fundraiser picked up $24,646 (money that will be used to help the organization go national).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at MC23 salon in Ross, three stylists and an assistant have become involved in the HWH program, according to sales manager J.J. Kwan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a spiritual journey,\u201d she says, \u201cand helps us give back to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Sproos Salon in San Anselmo, Angele Perez is an independent stylist who\u2019s \u201cknown Nicole from high school and was totally inspired by what Hairdressers with Heart is doing. It\u2019s an emotional, tough time for cancer patients, but we can help coach them through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridgene calls the program \u201cabsolutely brilliant \u2014 because losing your hair is so traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she, as does virtually every woman who\u2019s discovered Hairdressers with Heart, endorse its rallying cry: \u201cYou are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy certainly was glad I stayed by her side during her nightmare.<\/p>\n

But I bet she\u2019d have preferred that I could wield a comb and scissors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  My wife abhorred having to suffer through breast cancer. I wasn\u2019t thrilled either. But the idea of her losing her lengthy tresses didn\u2019t bother me, possibly because hair didn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"