Side effects from cancer treatments can be extremely difficult to deal with. Aside from the expected hair loss and thinning eyelashes, patients can suffer from hand and foot syndrome, redness and burns, rashes, and embarrassing dryness and flaking. Cancer centers recommend products, but many of them are full of petroleum-based ingredients, carcinogens, hormone disruptors and other potentially harmful chemicals that can irritate skin further, dry it out, and create rashes and other reactions-all while adding to the toxic load patients already have from the chemotherapy and radiation therapies.
As many of you know, about five months ago we ran an Indiegogo campaign and raised over $15,000 for our outreach efforts to visit cancer centers around the country to do the following:
- Educate the nurses on safe skincare alternatives as opposed to toxic conventional products that are typically recommended
- Donate books and CV Skinlabs products to patients so they can use them during treatments.
The Safe Skincare Revolution Tour has started and I am so proud to give you an update on our first stop.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
On October 4, 2013, we went to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts-one of the most prestigious cancer centers in the country. I was so excited to be able to meet with the nurses and visit Friends Place at Dana Farber, a gorgeous destination store where they offer all kinds of products for people living with cancer.
There, I had the privilege of sitting down with the nurses from the colon cancer and radiology departments. I told them about my book and about the importance of safe self care while going through treatments, and also educated them on the formulation, safety and effectiveness of our clinically proven CV Skinlabs skincare.
I found these nurses so open and excited to hear about our products. Many didn’t know about all the potentially toxic ingredients in standard over-the-counter personal care products, but they were very interested to hear how we don’t use synthetic fragrances, petroleum-based ingredients, harsh preservatives, or any other ingredients tied to potential health issues.
I told them how our packages are made to be easy to use by those with nerve damage and hand and foot syndrome, and how we worked so carefully while creating them to be sure they would be gentle and soothing for those with difficult skin conditions.
While I was talking, I let the nurses try the products for themselves, and they all talked about how nice they were to use, and how they made an immediate difference in their skin. Suffice to say they were very impressed!
We also set up protocols for them to instruct patients on how to use our products and donated the full collection to give out to patients along with copies of my book. They will run patient testing and hopefully start recommending safer options.
Our next step is to go back and sit down with patients to educate them on what to use and what to avoid during cancer, as that is my area of expertise-teaching people how to reduce their toxic load in their personal care products, food, home, and environment, along with teaching them about safe self-care.
Friend’s Place
Dana-Farber offers a unique experience for cancer patients, in that they provide a location where they can find supportive products. Called “Friend’s Place,” it has a staff that offers personalized consultations, and help patients choose a wig, find compression garments, learn how to wrap bandanas and scarves, and find a variety of helpful products.
I’m proud to say that after the nurses and management at Friend’s Place were so impressed with CV Skinlabs and my book, they are now selling both! It makes me so excited to know that we can have safe skincare readily available to those that need it most! So after the quantities that have been donated are gone, patients can walk right into Friend’s Place and get more during recovery and beyond.
Onward and Upward
This was such a rewarding experience, I can’t tell you! While on the train back to Boston, I felt like the luckiest girl alive, and wished I could have called my father to share the victory. We didn’t have these solutions when he was going through treatments, but we do now, and I so wanted to tell him!
This is what it feels like to truly be aligned with your purpose and to help others. Those of you who have gone through cancer or who have cared for loved ones facing the disease know how debilitating some of these side effects can be. You also know how difficult it can be to find products that really help, rather than do nothing, or even worse, cause irritation, burns, and scarring.
Our next stop is the Connecticut Children’s Hospital and St. Francis Cancer Center in Hartford, Connecticut on October 25, 2013. Watch here for updates as we spread the word about safe skin care!
Have you ever visited the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute? Let us know about your experience.
Picture courtesy Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Friend’s Place.
