Support ’em with make overs
Cosmetology helps boostBy SANDY MICKELSON
Fact Box
Klingson not only a cosmetologist; she fits wigs with center too
By SANDY
MICKELSON
Messenger staff writer
Jane Klingson, of Paton, works in the wig bank at the Trinity Regional Medical Center Cancer Center, where she fits wigs for those who have lost their hair.
"People either call the hospital or call me to make an appointment, and I'll meet them at the wig bank," she said. "Sometime I have to remove their hair. They want me to shave it or cut it real short. There are three sizes to a wig, so they need to fit properly. If it's not the right size, they're not going to wear it. I've had women say they didn't think they wanted a wig, but then they try it on and they walk out with one on."
She said women wearing wigs is not only uplifting for the woman, "it's an uplift for the family, too, because they look at her with the wig on and see the woman she used to be. You take them back before the sickness, or try to."
The wig bank started with just wigs, Klingson said, "but now there is a pump chair, a mat, pictures on the wall and everything. A self-enhancement room, they call it."
Women don't have to be treated at Trinity to be part of the program or to use the wig bank, Klingson said.
The wig center provides a variety of wigs, scarves, turbans and hats. Funds for the center come from several local groups, including the Angels Abreast Dragonboat team, the Angel Ride to Save the Ta Tas, even the Dayton Rodeo.
"I got the rodeo in there," Klingson said. "They were giving money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which is fine, but why not donate money to this and keep it in the community."
Klingson belongs to both the Dayton Wranglers Saddle Club and the Dayton Championship Rodeo.
A 4-H project for the children of Rob and Lorna Scott, of Pilot Mound, had all six kids picking up cans at the rodeo over the Labor Day weekend. They raised $386.40. That's 7,728 cans.
Klingson will talk to any group that wants to hear her. Talking about the wig bank or the Look Good ... Feel Better program doesn't bother her.
"Cancer is the biggest challenge of a lifetime," she said. "And you never know if it's going to be you."
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
PATON - Jane Klingson sees her work with the Look Good ... Feel Better program as more than a chance to make a difference.
It's helping cancer survivors or women fighting cancer get back what they might have lost to the disease.
She is a volunteer cosmetologist at the Trinity Regional Medical Center Cancer Center, with training in the complete makeup regime of the program called Look Good ... Feel Better. She also works in the wig bank at the Cancer Center.
Klingson, who has operated Jane's Hair Flair in Harcourt for 30 years, and Angie Constable, of Superior Styles in Duncombe, have trained to be consultants for this makeup program. Since November 2008, on the second Monday of each month, the two meet up to six women in Conference Room 2 at the hospital.
"They're going to get a bag full of cosmetics, and we do a makeover," Klingson said. "When they go through chemo, their skin and their hair and their nails are obviously going to change. This kit from the Look Good ... Feel Better program has products in it designed especially for cancer patients. It's a complete makeup regime, that's what it is."
Women must preregister at the Cancer Center for the class, which is limited to six.
"It's also like a support group," Klingson said. "What I've found is that the people in this class, some of them are just starting their first treatment. Some of them have lost their hair twice. It's not just a makeover; it's a support system, too, to get acquainted with other people going through the same thing. I've learned tons in the last year from people, sometimes more than I want to know."
Because Klingson is her own boss, when it's time to work with Look Good ... Feel Better, she leaves a note on her telephone message machine saying she'll be gone. No one ever complains, she said. In fact, her clients encourage her in the effort.
She said she first heard of the program when a flier appeared. "If it wouldn't have been for little Coleman Larson, I probably would have thrown it in the wastebasket. If I hadn't had the connection with Coleman, I would have said 'too busy,' but his mother, Peggy, is a friend of mine. I sat at the computer every night and read their story and thought, 'What can I do? What can I do?' When this came up, I thought this is something that can make a difference."
Coleman Larson lost his battle with cancer.
Klingson said her husband, Gordon, and her son, Travis, support her in these efforts.
"Gordon's parents both died of cancer," she said. "Did I have a choice?"
She said the first year in the program has helped both her and Angie. "We've gotten better about getting people to share and talk. We've had some really sick women, those who are really struggling through the process of treatment, and I thought this is where I need to be."
The Look Good ... Feel Better program is a one-time program. A case filled with $250 worth of name-brand personal care and beauty products is given to each woman, and they are shown how to apply the makeup.
"They actually do their own makeup," Klingson said. "We teach them how to apply it. Some of them don't even have eyebrows because they've lost all their hair. We teach them how to place the makeup to give them some color and some vibrance."
The American Cancer Society, Personal Care Products Council Foundation and the National Cosmetology Foundation sponsor the program.
"One of the gals in the class who was so very sick said, 'this has been the best day of my life,' to have someone pay attention to her like that," Klingson said. "This is like the most amazing thing."
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
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jonahsmom
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11-09-09 8:52 AM
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This is a wonderful program that both my grandmother and I participated in. Those of you who are going through cancer treatment or who have completed their treatment should definitely give them a call. Even if you feel perfectly wonderful and are back to your old self - this will make you feel wonderful!
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