By: Vontoba Terry
Angela Moreno survived breast cancer and decided to use her experience to help others. She is providing free hair shampooing and styling to Fresno breast cancer patients. Angela works at Enigma Salon in Fresno, California. She was only 21 years old when she received her cancer diagnosis. After losing all of her hair and fighting for months to recover from her treatments, she has been in remission for nearly 20 years.
She told the Fresno Bee, that people should "take preventative measures. Talk about it with your family and friends. See a doctor. If people weren’t so scared of it, I wonder how many more lives could be saved?"
Angela Moreno is an inspiration to us all and an example of how we can give back in more ways than one.
P.S. If you have any positive news to share, please drop a note to us in the comments.
Sincerely,
Vontoba Terry (@vontoba)
(UPDATE: Ms. Moreno shared more of her story with us)
"The reason I started offering my services of a free Shampoo & Blow-dry to women dealing with breast Cancer related issues, is because anyone that knows someone that has gone through it knows how much it helps in the healing process. Being unable to lift and move your arms, whether it is from Lumpectomy, mastectomy, double mastectomy, reconstruction, etc not only you don't feel good, but you feel dirty, hair stinks, cant shower, sick to your stomach, bruised up and in pain. Did i mention emotional? I am speaking from experience. I battled breast cancer at the age 21 in 2000."
"I would have loved something like this offered to me. however I was recently informed that I carry BRCA1, meaning I am a carrier of cancer. I have an 84% chance of it coming back. not only to my breast but my ovaries. I am in the beginning of the process of having both breast & ovaries removed sometime this year as preventative measures to reduce my percent. So something like this is what i will be getting when my time of no shower comes."
"To some people its "just a shampoo & blow-dry" but to myself and other fighter/survivors it's a really big deal in the recovery process. What i hope to come of this, is that other people will want to do the same. Other cities and states. Hairstylist or not. Since my article in the Fresno Bee, 3 of my co-workers have jumped on with me and our paying it forward. this means so much and it's only the beginning. My goal is to bring more great human acts of kindness to our community in today's society. We need do what we can as individuals and find ways to help those in need; mine just happens to be with the breast cancer community."
"A simple wash & blow-dry to make someone feel good about themselves makes a huge difference in the healing process. N0 matter what someones going through, no one should have to have dirty hair.#bekind #payitforward"
- Angela Moreno
