Sharing care: Becca's story

Becca lost her hair due to radiation treatment for metastatic breast cancer. See her reaction while trying on wigs at the Wig Dr. Boutique.

Transcript

00:00

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December of 2015.

00:06

Underwent a double mastectomy, which, at the time of my diagnosis, I was 33 years old.

00:14

To lose a part of myself, a part that made me a woman, was very, very traumatic for me.

00:20

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:28

ERICA GAMBLE: I'm Dr. Erica Gamble, owner of The Wig Dr wig boutique. I am a trichologist. And a trichologist actually studies the skin and the scalp.

00:37

I have a doctorate degree in Health Sciences, with a concentration in hair loss. Oh my gosh, I am looking forward to seeing the look on her face

00:47

when she finds the perfect wig, and also lifting her up and hopefully just putting

00:54

a smile on her face, and making this the most memorable day ever for her. Oh yeah, that looks good.

01:00

Oh, I love it. [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:13

The cancer had spread to my skull, my right eye socket, all throughout my spine, my ribs and my pelvis.

01:20

People don't die from breast cancer unless they have metastatic breast cancer and that breast cancer has spread.

01:26

Having to think about my own mortality, I started to really fall back into bad habits.

01:33

I just found myself drinking away the sorrow. And I text messaged a friend who I knew had been in the program,

01:40

and I said, you know, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, as they say. I need help. Can you help me?

01:47

Funny thing is, three days before walking into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous,

01:53

I had a fly rod in my hand. I started thinking a lot about how I wanted to be remembered in my community.

02:02

And I said, hey, I have this idea. So I took on a completely volunteer effort

02:08

to host the first-ever Reeling in Recovery event. [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:18

And we had 12 women from 12-step recovery programs in the area come out to participate

02:24

in a full day of fly fishing. The river is my happy place. It's the place where everything slows down for me.

02:32

I had someone tell me, and I feel this so strongly now, that the best therapy ever is standing

02:39

with two feet in the stream. The water is cold. Losing my hair was an experience.

02:47

So I indeed lost my hair two weeks after radiation ended. So I went to the bedroom and I started to pull it out,

02:55

and I had my good cry. And I could have continued to cry, or I could have embraced it and said, I can be bald and beautiful, I can play with wigs.

03:04

See, that's why I feel like I could totally do-- I'm so excited about dark hair.

03:10

And so to be able to be here with my friend Jen and with the wig doctor is just an incredible blessing.

03:20

I feel so girly again. I don't feel like cancer patient, cancer patient.

03:26

[MUSIC PLAYING] I feel like it makes you look old. [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:45

To be able to see that I-- to see that I can feel beautiful again, despite all of this,

03:53

that touches your heart. It touches your soul. And there's nothing but gratitude there. I don't know what else to say, other

04:00

than I'm completely, incredibly grateful for just the fact that we live in this incredible community,

04:06

where there's so many people who are just willing to reach out and help. That's-- what more can you ask for?