Catalog Offers Breast Cancer Survivors TLC

No one really told Teresa Miller how life would be after her first mastectomy in 1980.

“I brought a pair of my son’s socks to the hospital with me, and I thought after the operation I’d throw back on my bra, stuff it with the socks, and be on my way,” said Miller, who is now 52.

But for Miller, like many cancer survivors, putting her physical and mental appearance back together was more challenging than she ever imagined.

“It took weeks for me to look at myself and then I would cry,” she recalled.

Sixteen years later, society is more apt to discuss cancer openly, and many women are warned how their body may react to surgery or treatment--that they may lose their hair to chemotherapy and suffer other side effects.

But that information alone might not help a woman who no longer feels like herself and who no longer recognizes the face and body she sees in the mirror.

So with breast cancer patients in mind, the American Cancer Society and several corporations put together a publication that’s part catalog and part magazine, called tlc, for tender loving care.

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As a catalog, tlc offers women an array of hard-to-find products such as hats and scarves that help hide their hair loss, as well as bras that disguise the fact that they have lost a breast. The products can be ordered over the phone at discounted prices.

The 16-page booklet also contains articles that answer questions about surgery and that seek to reassure women that they can--and should--still have sex after cancer.

“There was no other item like this on the market and we felt there was a need that was not being met by anyone,” said Angela Ryan, manager of breast cancer support programs at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.

“Women have a hard time admitting that they even have breast cancer,” she said. “And many of them don’t have access to stores that can supply them with the goods they really need.”

There are more than 1.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today, according to the American Cancer Society. In 1996, 183,000 women will be given a diagnosis of breast cancer and 44,000 women are expected to die of the disease.

Like Miller, many women are uneducated when it comes to understanding what surgery or treatment will do to one’s body. Besides coping with the devastating loss of one or both breasts and their hair, many women also suffer from gland swelling and hormonal abnormalities.

“Women go through different stages when facing cancer,” said Dr. Avi Barbasch, a New York oncologist. “Their first concern is life. . . . Then they worry about what the treatment will be like.

“Then most deny the impact this will have on their appearance,” he said. “But at some point, women really need some place and some needs to maintain their femininity.”

For patients and survivors outside major metropolitan areas, finding help beyond the doctor’s office is sometimes difficult. Many rural communities don’t have shops that sell prostheses, or breast forms, that can be used to give the normal breast appearance.

J.C. Penney Co. does have a special catalog with breast forms and bras, swimwear and other clothes for breast cancer survivors. However, accessories like scarves, hats and hairpieces are much harder to find.

In addition, the disease leaves many women feeling too sick to leave their homes, and others are self-conscious about asking sales help for such products.

“I wanted women not to feel stigmatized,” said Lana Rosenfeld, who founded tlc last year. “The whole thing [of learning about breast cancer and finding products] is so primitive. There had to be another way for women to get information they needed.”

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Rosenfeld, who does not have breast cancer, saw the need for the publication after she talked to friends and family members who have had cancer and realized there was a market that wasn’t being met.

But it took several years for tlc to become a reality. The hitch was attracting corporate sponsors that were willing to lend a hand in financing the not-for-profit project.

Hanover Direct Inc., one of the country’s largest catalog firms, produced the magazine as a public service and is providing distribution for tlc products at cost.

The members of the Weekhawken, N.J.-based company’s staff have also volunteered to handle the phone orders. Some operators are specially trained to help women who need fitting of certain products, like the prostheses.

“This cause is one that has touched so many people,” said Debra Berliner, vice president at Hanover Direct. “Our employees were excited to get involved. We feel some fulfillment from the catalog.”

Spencer Press of New York did the printing for free, and the hairdressers, photographers and makeup artists who worked on the catalog also donated their time. The models agreed to accept a salary reduction.

Many of the scarves and hats were designed by a New York-based accessory maker, Glentex, and were created specifically for cancer patients. The products are sold to the public at discounted prices.

Some of the popular products include the hats and hairpieces to help women undergoing chemotherapy.

“With cancer, it’s horrible, you can feel really ugly,” Rosenfeld said. “We want women to not feel that way” and some of these products can help them feel beautiful again, she said.

The American Cancer Society did only a limited run on the publication to gauge consumer reaction. The catalogs were sent at first to a target group of oncologists nationwide and American Cancer Society branches in six cities.

But word traveled fast, and the American Cancer Society got a barrage of calls seeking information about the catalog.

When Ann Landers mentioned the publication in her syndicated column earlier this year, the society got another 8,000 calls, Ryan said.

Retail industry watchers and cancer experts say that there is such a large market looking for such products that the venture is likely to be successful. Depending on demand, the American Cancer Society may expand tlc to include information for all types of cancer.

No sales figures were available, but the society has already decided to publish two issues a year, Ryan said. Any profits made through the venture will go back into breast cancer research, the society said.

“When you are diagnosed with cancer, you are not thinking about all these things--like hair loss,” said Linda Frame, director of education at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a Dallas-based nonprofit education and research organization.

“That’s why this publication is important--because it is giving women another option and providing them with resources that they might not have otherwise.”

As for Teresa Miller, she underwent a second mastectomy last summer, but now is feeling healthy and volunteers in a doctors’ office in New York helping breast cancer patients with any questions they might have.

“I felt like a freak at my first surgery,” she said. “It’s nice to know that there are now options out there.”