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Salon Provides Normalcy to Cancer Patients

Gini Gramaglia (right) adds the right touch to Judy Arnoff's wig while Eileen Tuman-Martello (left) waits her turn.

.Judy Arnoff of Bensalem is a sophisticated outspoken woman who wears high heels. Her glossy; dark brown wig is styled in a chin-length cloud of curls.

Eileen Tuman-Marcello, also from Bensalem, is a pretty, petite mother of a 2 month-old and a 2-year-old. Her chestnut brown wig is cut with long, straight layers and bangs. and hangs pas her shoulders.

It's hard to tell these two women were both diagnosed with cancer over the summer, and are undergoing chemotherapy.

For people dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment, coping with fatigue and nausea is daunting enough. But the additional side effect of hair loss can cause anxiety for many patients - especially women.

"It's not socially acceptable for a woman to be walk­ing down the street with a bald head," said Tuman­Martello.

"That's the most obvious side effect [of cancer treat­ment]," said Gini Gramaglia. She owns the Upper Southampton salon Gini G's, where she provides wig styling services for clients with cancer. "That's what everybody sees."

Arnoff and Tuman­Martello deal with their cancers differently; but they agree that their efforts to look good are helping them cope.

Arnoff, 58, was diagnosed at the end of May with non­Hodgkin's lymphoma. She gets chemotherapy every three weeks. She said losing her hair was more traumatic than she though it would be.

"Everywhere I looked, there was hair," she said, describing how her hair fell out in "big clumps."

She chose to have it shaved, she said, to take control of the disease. "You have to take control over those things which you can - focus on what you can do," she said.

When she looked at her bald reflection, Arnoff, a pharmaceutical industry consultant, said she was surprised to see that she has small ears, and a nicely oval face.

"I've always focused on things I didn't like about my face," she said. Suddenly, the positive qualities were more pronounced to her.

Tuman-Martello, 35, had a different experience with hair loss. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of June, after she found a lump during a self-examination. She now gets chemotherapy once a week.

"You never think it's going to happen to you," she said.

She said she was very anxious about dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy. But watching some of her hair fall out helped her recognize the treatment was working.

"For me, that desensitized me," said Tuman-Martello, a behavioral specialist. She said it was a "relief" when she finally had her head shaved, because losing hair was a nuisance. Afterward, she said, "I don't think I looked that bad. I am surprisingly comfortable with my hair loss."

Both women said getting ready is a snap these days, because their hair is always ready to go.

Gramaglia's salon on Second Street Pike is sweet smelling and homey. Wig clients are led down a flight of stairs to a private, narrow room filled with wigs of every color and length for their consultations with Gramaglia. She's a warm and energetic woman whose father died 12 years ago as an indirect result of chemotherapy.

"I try to make them feel as comfortable as possible," she said of her clients.

Gramaglia estimated she has worked with hundreds of clients with cancer over the past 10 years. She is certified by the American Cancer Society.

She said she tries to turn women away from the mirror while shaving their heads, and is happy to use scissors instead of a buzzer, which some prefer. She counsels the women on whether to buy a synthetic or real hair wig. She also styles and fits the wigs.

And she makes sure to have a box of tissues handy.

Arnoff bought two curly synthetic wigs for $550 apiece, after rejecting a straight style. Tuman¬Martello paid $950 for her human-hair wig, but first experimented with being a blonde. The prices included a few sessions with Gramaglia, who said she asks clients to come back for restyling if they find the cut of the wig doesn't suit them.

"They know that I'm here for them. It's a sense of secu¬rity," she said.

Gramaglia also volunteers to run free "Look Good, Feel Better" programs several times a year at local hospitals. The program, created by the American Cancer Society, the National Cosmetology Association and The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation, is designed to help women cope with the appearance-related side effects of chemotherapy.

She and other certified instructors teach women chemotherapy and radiation patients how to disguise side effects like skin discoloration and hair loss. This ranges from teaching them to pencil in natural-looking eyebrows to applying foundation to wearing headscarves fashionably.

Participants receive a tree bag of makeup goodies, she said, adding that many women feel empowered and less alone.

"You're in a room with a bunch of women who are going through something similar to what you are going through," said Arnoff, who participated in the program at Abington Memorial Hospital in July. "It makes you feel less conspicuous."

Tuman-Martello went to the program at Holy Redeemer in Meadowbrook in September. She said she learned how to make herself look the way she did before the cancer, which helps her feel normal.

"It may sound vain and shallow, but it's very important to maintain normalcy," she said. "Everybody feels better when they look better. Depression isn't going to help the treatment process."

Dr. Beth DuPree, a breast cancer surgeon at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown, agreed. She said some patients tell her they're more anxious about the hair loss than having cancer surgery.

"There's a definite connec¬tion between the way the body physically heals and how your mind and spirit are inter-related," the doctor said. "Depression and anxiety and fear can actually suppress the immune system."

DuPree said programs like Look Good Feel Better, as well as Healing Ministry, the hospital's 2-year-old cancer-coping program, help patients deal with the emotional and spiritual side effects of chemotherapy.

"It's simple, but important, for women to feel more whole and more like themselves," said Jane Valdes-Dapena, a patient services specialist with the American Cancer Society's southeastern division.

On Sept. 29, Gramaglia, Arnoff, Valdes-Dapena and about 150 other area residents went to Washington for "Celebration On the Hill," an American Cancer Society event.

"It was a glorious day,"said Arnoff. .

The event focused on lobbying legislators to mandate insurance companies to cover colonoscopies, which can detect colon cancer early, and other needs of cancer patients..

For example, DuPree said, some insurance companies partially cover wigs - and then, only if they are called "complete cranial prostheses."

While Arnoff and Tuman-Martello both said they feel more comfortable wearing their wigs in public, they aren't shy about their cancers.

Tuman-Martello says she has a very good support system of friends and family. She said naps help her keep up her energy and it's important to "get up and get ready" for life every single day.

"Today it's not a death sentence," Arnoff said of cancer. "I don't have to whisper the word cancer."

She also said she tries to maintain a sense of humor. In fact, she has created a top-10 list of reasons why chemotherapy isn't so bad.

Number one: "I can look at a bald guy and say - mine's going to grow back," she said with a big grin.

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