Talking with her, it’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that vivacious Annette Ford — mother of three and grandmother of 10, with a great-grandchild on the way — is navigating through a second breast cancer diagnosis.
Elevate salon
When Jerrolynn Dauria was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in fall 2020, she knew chemotherapy treatments would make her hair fall out. “I said to my doctors, ‘I don’t care, if you are going to save my life, the hair doesn’t matter,’” says Jerrolynn.
It seems so simple, but giving a wig or head wrap to a cancer patient who has lost their hair can make a world of difference when you’re going through cancer, says Kimberly Parker-Walker about the New Era Cap Foundation Elevate Salon at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Laura Garrett knows first-hand the importance of advocating for her health. For months after a bout with COVID-19 in August 2022, she didn’t feel quite right. “Everyone I talked to kept telling me it was just long COVID and that I was overreacting.
It's not uncommon to feel apprehension, sadness or a loss of privacy before, during and after chemotherapy-related alopecia. In fact, for both men and women, hair loss is often the most common and distressing adverse effect of chemotherapy.
Aretha Graham is Brooklyn-born tough. At age 50, she looks many years younger and exudes a quiet, Zen-like energy, even though she navigates everyday life with a cluster of noncancerous brain tumors.
Throughout her treatment, New Era Cap Foundation Elevate Salon provided Grace with hats, headwraps and other resources to help her manage some of the challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis, maintain a positive outlook and feel more like herself.
"Our goal is to help patients regain their sense of empowerment, to feel more like themselves again and to remember that it’s all about allowing their inner beauty to shine through."