Of all the hardships that cancer patients endure, losing their hair is often the thing that people tell us is one of the hardest to take. It’s such a visible manifestation of the treatment they’re going through, and it screams “I have cancer!” to the patient and to everyone they meet.

It’s for this reason that wigs can be so beneficial to cancer patients.

During the COVID lockdowns, we were unable to lend wigs to patients, and we were forced to look at other, perhaps more suitable ways to offer support in this area. As part of that process, we began discussions with two fabulous women, Cheryl and Ros, who run The Individual Wig. Instead of supplying wigs on loan through us, we began offering financial assistance for people to purchase wigs, and the ladies of The Individual Wig came on board to help.

It wasn’t just our service that was affected by COVID either. So many wig services in Victoria were closed that recently that Esma, a patient receiving support from Arrow, drove all the way from Melbourne to visit Cheryl and Ros for a fitting, returning to Melbourne ready to get back into living her life more fully with a new wig and new-found confidence.

Another of our patients, Clare, was so thankful for the care and attention that she received at The Individual Wig that she took the time to write:

“I just want to say thank you to the Arrow Foundation for the wig assistance payment. I visited Cheryl and Ros at The Individual Wig and they were fantastic.”

Clare, whose long dark hair began to fall out in massive clumps after her second round of chemotherapy says, “losing my hair was definitely the hardest thing I had to cope with. Cheryl and Ros at The Wig Library where so supportive and helped me find a wig within my budget. They made me laugh and shared stories and really gave me the courage to proceed with the big shave on Saturday morning – that was so hard and with my daughters holding my hand, my husband and neighbour attacked me with the shavers. I finally did it and although I spent the rest of that weekend crying I did feel empowered by that decision and by Monday I was embracing the GI Jane look!  My family and friends have been instrumental in giving me the courage to deal with it all. The following week was my 58^th Birthday so I was definitely feeling very old and low but my new blonde wig, which I wore out for my birthday dinner, just helped me feel good and I had a lot of fun.

“I’ve had such an emotional roller coaster week. But I’m feeling stronger and braver now. Thank you again for the support from Arrow. It really means a lot. And thank you to all your sponsors & supporters as this would not have been possible without them.”

We agree with Clare: Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters. We are particularly grateful to Tour de Cure for their generous financial support of our wig library services over many years, and also to Cheryl & Ros at The Individual Wig for the care they show our patients.