Neurosurgery patients offered a strand of normalcy with ‘Styled for Surgery’
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“Invest in your hair, it’s the crown you never take off” is a quote attributed to pop music superstar Beyoncé.
Claire Arata of Aliso Viejo spent time Thursday morning doing exactly that. She got a haircut at a salon, less than 24 hours before her scheduled brain surgery at Hoag.
Arata enjoyed some small-talk with hairstylist Loni Kohlmyer, chatting about her recent marriage and her long tresses.
Was it a good way to get her mind off the craniotomy Friday, when Hoag neurosurgeon Dr. Ezequiel Goldschmidt would successfully removed a 1.5-centimeter brain tumor about the size of a grape? Absolutely. But the haircut had practical effects as well.
It was part of Hoag’s “Styled for Surgery” program for neurosurgery patients, which integrates professional hairstyling into surgical planning to help patients move forward after brain surgery.
Arata, 30, had her husband, Spencer Terry, and her mother Beth Arata with her for support Thursday morning.
She began the day at Goldschmidt’s office in Newport Beach, with the doctor marking her incision site with a question-mark shaped line on the right side of her head. She then made the short trip to Jamestin Grace salon in Costa Mesa to get a haircut from Kohlmyer, who has been a professional hairstylist for two decades and has worked at Hoag for the last three years as the lead stylist of oncology.
Traditionally, patients undergoing brain surgery have a portion of their head shaved in the operating room. But Kohlmyer’s custom haircut, offered at no cost to patients through Hoag donor support, is designed to blend the incision naturally.
“It’s going to be like it never happened, pretty much,” Arata said. “I really appreciate that, versus having a huge buzz [cut] and it being really obvious for like the next year.”
Arata completed her doctorate from the USC Keck School of Medicine in 2024. Ironically, she was working as a research scientist in cartilage tumors when she was diagnosed last August with a potential cartilage tumor in her brain.
Arata said that for several years she has lived with a condition called pulsatile tinnitus, which causes to hear her heartbeat in her ear. Her primary care physician suggested an MRI, which led to the discovery of the tumor.
“I’m not sure if the surgery will fix [the pulsatile tinnitus],” she said. “Regardless, the lesion that I have is basically smack dab in the middle of my head, in a location where it needs to be removed.”
Goldschmidt, who has been working for Hoag since last May, established the Styled for Surgery program soon after he was hired. He said he likes to have fun by doing things a little bit differently.
“I wanted to link the experience of having brain surgery to something positive,” he said. “Overall, it allows us to connect with a more wholesome aspect of our patients. Who you are is a lot related to your style, how you look and how you want to look. This is a way of providing comprehensive care, and to show appreciation for our patients.”
Kohlmyer was on board. It’s personal to her as well, she said, as her older sister dealt with leukemia and developed a brain tumor that required surgery.
Since the Styled for Surgery program was launched, about 30 Hoag neurosurgery patients have received haircuts, with Kohlmyer fitting them into her schedule. Arata’s appointment took place before salon employees started trickling into the shop.
Most patients she’s helped have been women, though Kohlmyer said there have also been a couple of men with longer hair who have participated.
“This was the perfect way for me to tie in my talent and my labor of love, to give back to something that’s really important to me,” Kohlmyer said. “It balances me. I have 12 to 14 clients a day at the salon, but this reminds me of what’s really important. It keeps me humble, balanced, appreciative, grateful. I love doing it.”
As for Arata, she was expected to be heading home as soon as Saturday morning following Friday’s successful surgery.
She had questions for Goldschmidt at her pre-operation appointment, ranging from when she could fly on a plane (whenever she feels like it) and if she could keep her fake nails on (yes).
She knew that her hair was not something she would have to worry about.
“I do appreciate that this is something that they offer here,” she said of the Styled for Surgery program. “I think it’s a little daunting to imagine waking up and not really knowing what you’re going to look like, so I appreciate that ahead of time I’ll know exactly what my hair will look like, especially because I do wear my hair long and down.
“There’s some kind of control given back.”
