Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Rantin: Handful of hair, handful of hope

New cancer diagnosis spurs woman to donate locks again

Connie Austin-Welch could have sat this one out.

But the way she sees it, cancer’s not taking a break and neither can she.

For the second time in two years, the West Columbia woman participated Tuesday in a program intended to offer hope to women battling the disease.

Two years ago, she had shed her locks as a cancer survivor. This time, it was as a cancer patient again.

“This is just a small thing that I can do for other people,” Austin-Welch said. “If you’re going through (hair loss) for the first time, it can be traumatic.”

Welch and her daughter-in-law, Lisa Austin, both got their hair cut Tuesday at New Attitudes Hair Salon as part of the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign. The effort provides hair for women who have lost their own after cancer treatment.

Few know that plight better than Austin-Welch. She originally was diagnosed with breast cancer in spring 2002 during a mammogram. It was her second time around with the disease, having overcome uterine cancer in 1985. But only with the breast cancer did she experience the devastation that can accompany hair loss, a devastation she said typically hits women harder than it does men.

Austin-Welch successfully completed chemotherapy and seemingly was cancer-free until early last year, when she discovered it had returned. She has since resumed her chemotherapy, but also has maintained her campaign to help others facing the same challenge.

Because her current course of treatment is different, Austin-Welch didn’t lose her hair this time around. And since she cut it two years ago, it had regrown the minimal 8 inches required for donation to the Beautiful Lengths campaign.

Both she and her daughter-in-law had about 9 inches of their locks removed Tuesday and their hair restyled.

“I just figured that’s one of the things that I can do,” said Austin, who has been with her mother-in-law throughout her treatments.

Since her original diagnosis, Austin-Welch has maintained a commitment to help other women dealing with cancer and particularly with hair loss. She is a South Carolina ambassador for Pantene and The American Cancer Society. Her goal, she said, isn’t to bring attention to herself, but to inspire more women to donate.

“I don’t consider it a sacrifice. I consider it an honor,” she said.

After news spread about Austin-Welch’s initial donation, many others moved by her story also donated their hair. That included some students and teachers at Pelion Elementary School, where Austin-Welch had worked. Another friend from Florida also donated on Austin-Welch’s behalf along with her daughter and several of her daughter’s classmates.

“I think it’s just that compassion for other people,” Austin-Welch said of the outpouring of support.

Jessica Crawford, a stylist at New Attitudes, said several women have come to the salon to donate their hair, adding that others not originally aware of the program had been eager to get involved once they found out.

“They were all for it,” she said.

Nationally, the contributions have been even more impressive. Since the Beautiful Lengths campaign began in summer 2006, more than 80,000 ponytails have been donated. It takes about six ponytails to make one wig.