Mary Kay Canada will match every donation made to Look Good Feel Better (up to $20,000) until Dec. 31. Please donate today to double your impact and help women like Lan and Yvette feel like themselves again.
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You may remember we first met Lan and Yvette last year when they attended a Look Good Feel Better workshop together.
Best friends since grade two, the pair had already been through many life milestones together.
They had seen each other through career successes, weddings, motherhood – and then breast cancer, receiving their diagnoses just four days apart.
Initially overwhelmed by the news of their shared diagnoses, they began their treatment together and the anger subsided - it began to feel like a blessing.
“All of a sudden it felt like it was meant to be,” said Yvette. “I hate to say this, but I feel bad for anyone who’s not going through cancer with their best friend – you almost need that to get through this. It’s a support on such a deep level.”
Over the past year both Lan and Yvette have completed treatment and are grateful to have had each other as they navigate life after cancer.
Since sharing their workshop experience, they have become incredible ambassadors for LGFB, letting other women know that the program is here for them.
For both Lan and Yvette, as much as the workshop was about connecting with others, it was also about taking back control throughout their cancer experience.
Yvette explained, “When I first received my diagnosis I still felt like I was in control, but everything changed once treatment started. I no longer felt I could decide who I had to share what I was going through with. Ultimately, the physical effects begin to show and you don’t get to choose who to tell you are sick, people can just see it.”
Yvette continued to go to work through most of her treatment. Although open with her coworkers, she still remembers struggling with some of the physical changes.
“I emailed everyone at work to let them know that I would be rocking the Sinead O’Connor look for the next coming months. I wore hats most of the time and a little makeup. Even so, the loss of my eyebrows and eyelashes was something I struggled with most.”
Lan was also having a difficult time experiencing hair loss when the two friends decided to sign up for Look Good Feel Better.
“You remember yourself being vibrant and then you see yourself in the mirror – it’s a very faded image of who you were,” Lan shared.
After the workshop, Lan felt much more in control of what she saw in the mirror.
“Now, when I want to bring the same image back I just put makeup on – for me, it’s knowing this is who I am, that person is still there.”
For Yvette, the workshop was a complete change in perspective.
“I thought I felt brave and powerful before, but I think I had been faking those feelings to protect my family... and myself. The workshop was the first time I truly felt powerful and in control,” she said. “I had Lan and I had my family – I wanted to be able to decide who I shared with beyond that. The LGFB workshop allowed me to choose my own support system and maintain normalcy outside of that. It was the most empowered I’d felt since my diagnosis.”
This holiday season, you can help women like Lan & Yvette by giving them the gift of a Look Good Feel Better workshop. Until Dec. 31, your donation will be matched by Mary Kay Canada and the impact of your gift will be doubled.
