Clare’s Story

Cancer Support New Zealand is now the home of the Look Good Feel Better

Clare is used to planning and organising a busy life with work, volunteering for various charities and communities, while also supporting a close extended family. So, it was a challenge to feel so out of control following a cancer diagnosis.

“You lose a bit of your identity,” the Aucklander says. “You’re going to have good and bad days, and so it’s just acknowledging that and then finding tools to help you through it. It’s an ongoing journey, so mental health is so important to give yourself compassion.”

Which is why she regularly joins free wellbeing classes offered by cancer charity Look Good Feel Better – both live sessions and some on-demand – when she needs them.

“You realise how great Look Good Feel Better is and how it helps and continues to support me through my cancer journey. I’ve been quite proactive in trying to join sessions that have a mental health aspect – mindfulness, breathing, anything that will get you into a good space –  because, I may look well from the outside, but I’m still going through a lot.

“During treatment, you don’t retain information, so it’s great to be able look for it when you’re ready,” she says, “and sometimes I just want to get lifted and invigorated.”

Money raised by people fundraising during Dry July helps Look Good Feel Better provide free practical wellbeing support, alongside Prostate Cancer Foundation NZ and the physiotherapy rehabilitation charity Pinc & Steel.

Clare was juggling her treatment with helping as a caregiver to her 90-year-old mum so her family gently suggested putting her needs first.

“I am incurable. So when I can take the good, I take the good, because your life changes so much, everything feels lost.”

A sister, and friends, recommended Look Good Feel Better, but as Clare doesn’t wear a lot of make-up initially she wasn’t sure she should attend.

“I am so glad I did, it lifted my spirits. It was a fun class and just full of laughs. I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful box that we got with all the beautiful makeup.  That also helps everyone around me see the support I’m getting.

“We had a mixture of people that had wigs, those who had head scarves, those who kept their hair.  When the session started, some took their headscarves off, and that helped me to get confidence to do that too.

“I had started losing my hair, and I wanted to know that once it started growing back, what did I need to do. The managing hair loss and regrowth session was great and informative.

“It’s eyebrows that worry us more than the hair. I learned how to shape my eyebrows and that made me really happy because losing hair is not only about us, but your family starts to see that impacting you.

“So my family had a shaving ceremony, and I got my nephew to shave my hair – it was actually a really great way to grieve and move forward.”

She regularly recommends Look Good Feel Better. “If you need Look Good Feel Better’s support you will find an incredible community and great resources. You’ll feel loved and cared for.”