Download You might say that both Images Boutique and The Cancer Resource

From Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Synergy magazine:
Yawkey Center Features Expanded Patient-Support Services
Images Boutique and Cancer Resource Room Help Patients and Families
Cope with Cancer
At first glance, Images Boutique appears to be a convenience for those in
the Cancer Center with little time to spare. Catch snippets of
conversation between hair stylists and clientele and you might mistake
this for a neighborhood salon anywhere in Boston.
But at Images, there is a noteworthy difference: these hair, skin, nail, and
fashion specialists are trained to help patients with cancer deal with
challenges to their appearance that result from treatments such as
chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
A short distance away, in the Cancer Resource Room, you are likely to
hear good-natured laughter. Patients, family members, and healthcare
providers come here seeking information on diagnoses, treatment
options, or support services. What they also find is a friendly place to
unwind. They meet social workers, nurses, librarians, and volunteers
who understand the uncertainty and fear a cancer diagnosis can mean.
While assisting in searches for information, these are people who take
time to listen, be supportive, and help visitors relax and even joke
around.
Among the many cancer patient-support services now located in the
Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care, the Images Boutique and the main
Cancer Resource Room moved to the new building in January (the
existing Cancer Resource Room remains open in the Cox Building).
Each will use its new, larger, more patient-friendly space to expand
services tailored to patients’ and family members’ individual needs.
Images Boutique
“This is a place to pamper yourself,” says Kathy Gill Bazazi, general
manager of Images Boutique. “When people come in, we want them to
forget why they’re in the hospital.”
Since it opened in the Cox Building in 1997, close to 3,500 cancer
patients a year have taken advantage of Image’s services and products.
Formerly called the Images Hair and Skin Care Center, the new name
reflects the wider variety of offerings for women, men, teens, and
children that are now available in the Yawkey Center.
Bazazi is a certified post-mastectomy consultant, a Vidal Sassoon-trained
cosmetologist, and Boston’s regional coordinator for “Look Good…Feel
Better,” a national program for cancer patients that she helped establish
at Mass General ten years ago.
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“In the boutique, cancer patients can focus on their appearance, assisted
by our staff of consultants who enjoy helping people look their best,”
Bazazi says. “Our goal is to make the physical side effects of therapy less
challenging. It’s tough to go back to work or your usual routine,
participate in a meeting, speak to an audience, or get together with
friends if you are self-conscious about changes in your appearance.”
Images is a non-profit service made possible through a grant from the
Massachusetts General Hospital Ladies Visiting Committee. Proceeds
help support the committee’s patient-care projects.
Barbara L. Smith, MD, PhD, co-director of the Gillette Center for
Women’s Cancers, calls Images a tremendous service that smoothes the
way for patients. “On the same day patients first hear about
chemotherapy or radiation, they can go to Images and purchase a
flattering wig. They are taking positive steps to help themselves and
don’t have to search all over the city.” The time-saving factor is
substantial, she notes. Rather than the usual three- to four-week wait for
a permanent prosthesis to be ready, breast cancer patients now can be
fitted in their hospital rooms for a soft prosthesis that can be worn right
away.
Men can get advice on skin care products that even out facial coloration.
A haircut or a new style can minimize the impact of hair loss. Hats,
baseball caps, or hair prostheses, which Images sells, might be another
attractive solution. Images’ consultants also can demonstrate using an
electric razor to safely achieve a popular shaved-head look. Their tips on
moisturizers, exercise, and stress reduction help reduce health risks while
enhancing a man’s looks.
Women will find a new selection of attractive post-mastectomy lingerie
and bathing suits alongside an array of stylish head scarves and wigs. For
those with lymphedema, a side effect of treatment that causes swelling in
the arms, Kathy Bazazi can measure for massage sleeves and recommend
follow-up care.
“Soft, feminine, matching undergarments; pretty camisoles; cozy
pajamas can be tried on in two private fitting rooms, which is a relief for
women who find it awkward or embarrassing to shop in conventional
retail stores where privacy often goes out the window,” says Bazazi. This
season, a new line of hats and matching gloves and scarves for children
will be arriving as well.
“Whether people receive treatment at Mass General or elsewhere, they
are welcome to visit the boutique. We want to create the most
comfortable environment possible for any current or former cancer
patients,” she notes. “Often women discover the boutique several years
after a mastectomy. They’ve been struggling to find clothes that look
right. They’re thrilled to discover that we can help by doing a proper
fitting so they can wear what they want. After a consultation, I can’t tell
you how many people give our staff members grateful hugs.”
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The Cancer Resource Room
In what feels like two cozy living rooms, the Cancer Resource Room
staff has created two libraries—one on the first floor of the Cox Building
and now also on the eighth floor of the Yawkey Center—for anyone who
wants to understand a cancer diagnosis, anticipate what lies ahead, and
learn to cope with the cancer journey.
In each location, there are comfortable sofas and chairs; a lending library
brimming with pamphlets, videos, journals, articles, and books; free
internet access on eight computers in Yawkey and three in Cox; and
quiet alcoves for phone calls to family and friends, all at no charge. At
the entrances are revolving racks containing “Information Finders”—
reference sheets prepared by the staff listing Web sites, books, videos,
journals, and organizations related to cancer topics. The Yawkey Cancer
Resource Room, which was specially designed for this purpose, is
spacious, light-filled, cheery, and decorated in soothing pastels. It also
has a group room large enough to comfortably accommodate support
groups and the extensive, free workshops and wellness services of the
HOPES Program. (see Fall 2004 Synergy).
Natalie (Nat) Lawton has volunteered in the Cancer Resource Room for
six years. A dynamic woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 14
years ago and survived a recurrence four years later, she regularly drives
two hours from her home in New Hampshire to be there.
“The atmosphere is calm, positive, and restful, but more than that, it is
filled with information and people who can help you do research really
quickly,” says Lawton. “Knowledge is power and here you can get
explanations in lay terms. You can get the tools you need to make
informed decisions.”
When Nat Lawton’s husband, Buck, was diagnosed with prostate cancer,
the couple used the Cancer Resource Room to find reliable books and
online information about medications so Buck could evaluate his options.
Following his surgery, Nat used the computers to stay in touch with
concerned, out-of-town family and friends.
“This service is an incredible gift to people,” says Lawton. “Buck and I
are schoolteachers so we’re accustomed to doing research, but many
people don’t know how to dig for information. Friends can be so
supportive but they don’t always understand what you need and when
you need it. Sometimes they can overwhelm you while trying to be
helpful. That doesn’t happen here.”
Sally Hooper, MSW, LICSW, and with Debbie Essig, MSW, LICSW,
are co-directors of the Cancer Resource Room which began in 1995. The
room was a collaboration with Treadwell Library, MGH’s
comprehensive medical library, and the Friends of the MGH Cancer
Center, which provided the initial grant. The Friends have continued
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their support annually, enabling the Cancer Resource Room to expand its
services.
“The Friends have been phenomenal,” says Hooper. “Without them, we
wouldn’t exist. Right from the start, we wanted this to be a combination
drop-in center, living room and library so that people coping with cancer
feel welcome while obtaining information that ranges from basic guides
to sophisticated searches in medical journals. We have continued our
relationship with Treadwell whose staff provide reference searches of
their vast collection of medical texts and journals.
“This room really is a collaborative effort,” she adds. “We rely on many
social workers, chaplains and nurses who pitch in one hour a week to
work here as well as our wonderful volunteers, many of whom are cancer
survivors.”
Liz Johnson, a Clinical Nurse Specialist who works on an inpatient unit,
provides a nursing perspective when she volunteers in the Cancer
Resource Room on Thursday afternoons. “When someone walks in, we
determine their starting point, give information appropriate to their
current level of knowledge and help them prioritize and narrow their
search.”
“Mass General can be intimidating to some people because it is a big
urban hospital,” adds Debbie Essig. “We help make it less daunting,
more human.”
Among the creative ideas that the Cancer Resource Room provides are:
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The Pediatric Cart—books and magazines for children and teens;
Borrow for a Day—a loaner program on a rolling cart stocked
with CDs, tape players, and relaxation, music, and comedy tapes
as well as blank tapes;
Patient Information—a growing collection of print and online
material written in clear language;
DIP—Digital Information for Patients—a user-friendly database
created in tandem with Mass General’s Treadwell Library that
currently contains more than 800 scanned documents including
information on rare cancers, presented in non-technical
language;
Spanish-language videos, pamphlets, and Web sites as well as
access to multilingual assistance through the Mass General
Interpreter Office;
Referral to the Network for Patients and Families, a peer
matching program;
Hat Tree—knitted and fabric hats for patients handmade by
people throughout Boston for Friends Fighting Breast Cancer in
partnership with the Fabric Place, which supplies patterns and
makes a donation for each hat created;
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Questions to Explore—a helpful guide written by Cancer
Resource Room staff to help patients figure out what questions
to ask (available soon on the Web site);
Information Finders—useful guides prepared by the Cancer
Resource Room staff on cancer types and topics (also available
in the Resource Room and on the Web site).
“People spend a lot of down time in the hospital and need things to make
the hours pass more pleasantly,” says Essig. “For example, Borrow for a
Day helps patients and their visitors relax. They can use the tape player
to listen to music or a relaxation tape or to record sessions with
physicians because it is often hard to remember everything that is
discussed.”
Nat Lawton, like other volunteers, gives her time in gratitude for the care
she received. “For a large hospital, I’m constantly struck by how
personal and caring Mass General is. These expanded services take it to a
whole new level.”
The Cancer Resource Room
617.724.1822
Hours: Monday-Friday 9-5; Thursdays 9-7:30
Two locations: Yawkey Center, 8th floor, Cox 110
www.massgeneral.org/cancer/resources
A welcoming place for patients and family members that offers:
 Help from caring staff
 In-depth literature searches
 Computers for internet searches and e-mail
 Books (reference and lending)
 Pamphlets
 Videos
 Network for Patients and Families, a peer matching program
 Location for HOPES Program workshops and services
 Telephones
Images Boutique
617.726.3211
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30-4
Location: Yawkey Center, 9th floor
www.massgeneral.org/visitor/salon.htm
Individualized attention to help women, men, teens, and children with
cancer look and feel their best. Open to everyone.
 Full salon services
 In-room salon services for patients
 Certified “Look Good…Feel Better” consultant
 Skin care and cosmetic consultation for cancer patients
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Wig styling
Post-mastectomy products and apparel
Educational videos and books
Large selection of hats, scarves, turbans, and hairpieces
Relaxation tapes and aromatherapy products
Non-metallic deodorants, and more
Synergy (Spring 2005)
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