Supporting Wig Libraries

The Foundation sponsored the establishment of wig libraries operating from private hospitals in the region. This allows women suffering hair loss due to cancer treatments to have wigs fitted. The below article includes a quote from HBCF board member Mel Histon.

No need to wig out  

LIKE many cancer patients, 36-year-old Melissa Histon-Browning cried when she lost her hair.  

Things got worse when she had to travel to Sydney and spend upwards of $400 on a wig.  

‘‘I was sitting there in the fitting chair crying,’’ she said.  

‘‘As a woman so much of your identity is tied up in your hair.’’

Female private patients like Melissa, now recovered, won’t have to go through the same situation after a wig library opened yesterday at Newcastle Private Hospital.

It includes 26 wigs for loan, thanks to the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation.

‘‘A service like this provides a safe environment for women to come and try on some wigs and feel good about themselves,’’ Ms Histon-Browning said.

The hospital also opened its new 10-bed oncology ward yesterday.

General manager Ian Maytom said the ward brought together specialist staff and gave patients access to cutting-edge drug trials through the hospital’s clinical trials unit.

Article by Alison Branley appeared in the Newcastle Herald on 5 July 2011