Marta was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Among many other things, her treatment has cost her her hair, permanent skin tags, and a huge physical and mental exhaustion that he carries “as he can”, hoping that one day everything will become a nightmare from the past.
Like her, many cancer patients have to face daily the trance of dealing, not only with the disease, but with the reflection of a person in the mirror that they do not recognize. “Overnight you are another and you have to learn to live with it,” says Marta. “It is not about hiding that you are sick but about continuing to have confidence in yourself to do the same things you normally did without complexes like going out to meet people without the disease contaminating everything”.
Silvia, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma patient for six years, shares the same opinion. Silvia acknowledges that after the diagnosis it is “harder for her to take advantage” and that conditions her to do things that she used to do “with her eyes closed.” The young woman is aware that there are many things about her disease that she cannot control, but she has decided to take charge of those things that she can influence.”
Rebuild self-esteem
To alleviate these consequences and ensure that people with cancer can recover part of their lives, the stylist Monica Camacho has devised the taller Activate your well-being. “It is important that cancer patients know that there is a whole network of professionals willing to help them beyond the oncologist himself, which, of course, is essential,” says Mónica.
“From our workshop they leave with a long list of free resources that they have at their disposal to help them at any moment of the process and that they do not feel alone. We are talking about nutritionists, psychologists, sexologists and many others, all of whom are experts in oncology, who have produced videos in which they offer practical resources so that no patient feels alone in this process”
The importance of this network is not trivial. The experts confirm that, once the initial medical and psychological treatment has been addressed, the oncological aestheticsas a way of adapting to the side effects of medications, can mean an important reinforcement for the safety and confidence of patients, thereby improving their quality of life.
The workshops have been held in recent months and will continue during the month of January in different towns in the province of Huelva thanks to the financing of the Equality area of the Huelva Provincial Council. The talks are completely free and are aimed at reducing uncertainty in cancer treatments through information and mobilization of resources in different areas.
As Monica explains, during the sessions, the patients “learn to prepare the skin avoiding possible adverse effects caused by drugs”. The workshop is designed so that teaching is in all directions favoring shared experiences. “These are very important sessions since, on many occasions, they are things that are unknown and that can help improve the quality of patients’ lives.
Promote the presence of men
Although this workshop is open to all cancer patients, Most of the users are women.. “Men get involved but always to help other women, almost never in the first person,” explains Mónica. “We would love for men to come here from now on so that they can know everything that oncological aesthetics can do for them.”
“I think that aesthetics is still seen as something exclusively for women,” says Mónica. “Despite this, and the fact that cancer in women usually leaves more visible signs and scars that in men, their skin needs the same care and requires the same attention as in the case of women”
With this conviction, Pedro spent last year for a massage therapy and oncology physiology treatment which left it “like new”. The cancer treatment he had been undergoing for the past few months had left him exhausted and “in terrible pain.” Fortunately, “after the first sessions I noticed an incredible change. The pain began to subside and it no longer limited me. I started doing sports and taking care of my skin like never before. If cancer changed my life, these treatments they returned it.”
Monica assures that specific massages, as long as they are done by a qualified professional, are “very beneficial and necessary” since they “remove the focus of pain and improve mood.” For the beautician it is something very positive: “My patients have even told me that the doctor should prescribe them.”
Improvement after the sessions
Since Monica started the workshops, her users confirm that they leave each session “renewed” and with “a quality of life that they did not have before participating.” This is confirmed by Loli, who almost two years ago was given a bonus for sessions with Monica by her coworkers after her first chemo. “One of my biggest side effects was the pain in the skin. I had some pimples that prevented me from sleeping. In two weeks the problem was over. She is always looking for solutions,” confirms Loli.
He has nothing but good words about his participation in the workshops. “Is a support network from which you come out newit takes you out of the house and you come back much better and different,” says the user. “He always uses natural things that have worked before so he speaks with a lot of knowledge of the facts.”
Of the same criteria is Sofia Serrano, diagnosed with cancer 7 and 4 years ago, respectively. “I consider it something very necessary. I saw myself alone and helpless after the result. workshops are essential because you find professional remedies that really work”, says Sofía. “They recommend skin products, shampoo, specific massages and Mónica always treats us with great judgment and knowledge of the facts where sometimes not even the oncologist can reach us”.
