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A DreamGirl’s Life
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The
Personal Care Products Council Foundation and the American Cancer Society
accept
the $2.6 million check at the 2005 DreamBall: (l-r)
Louanne Roark, Personal Care Products Council Foundation; Scott Beattie, Elizabeth
Arden; Dona Lagani, Cosmopolitan Magazine; Pamela G.
Bailey, Personal Care Products Council; and Don Distasio, American Cancer Society. |
Every year, the
Personal Care Products Council Foundation,
along with the American Cancer Society host the DreamBall.
The DreamBall is the sole source of funding
for Look Good...Feel Better. It has raised more than $29
million since 1987 when the cosmetic industry and the American
Cancer Society began their Look Good...Feel Better partnership
(The DreamBall began benefitting the American Cancer Society
in 1985, and was broadened to include Look Good...Feel
Better in 1987).
The American Cancer Society organizes the
DreamBall, and the cosmetic and personal care products
industry provides
the financial support. Funds from the DreamBall are divided
between the American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division,
and the American Cancer Society National Home Office and
the Personal Care Products Council Foundation
for Look Good...Feel Better activities. The 2005 DreamBall
raised over $2.6 million dollars!
Every year, a recent Look
Good. . .Feel Better patient graduate is invited to attend
the DreamBall as the the DreamGirl,
a special guest and spokeswoman for the program. Kristen
Guess was chosen to be the 2005 DreamGirl. This is her story.
If laughter is the best medicine, then chemotherapy
and radiation pale in comparison to the strength of DreamGirl
2005 Kristen
Guess’s sense of humor in her fight against breast
cancer.
At age 34, Kristen was thriving in a new city,
a new relationship, and a new career that captured her passion
for the outdoors.
Kristen noticed a lump in her breast and, on July 16, 2004,
she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Within 20 days of her
first mammogram, Kristen had her first chemotherapy treatment. “The
absolute worst part of chemotherapy for me was, and still
is, how it affected my
appearance. Am I vain? Yes. Will my sister tell you that
I don’t miss a chance to look in the mirror? Yes. Could
I open a beauty supply shop with all of my products? Yes.
Okay, it’s true my looks are important to me. They
always have been. But, never did I imagine the role my appearance
would take when it was suddenly annihilated by chemotherapy.”
Seeing
the trouble Kristen was having with the appearance-related
side effects of her cancer treatment, Tara Heery, Kristen’s
social worker at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Clinic,
suggested that she go to Look Good…Feel Better. A self-proclaimed “makeup
queen,” Kristen attended a group program and says it “solidified
my resolve to not lose me to breast cancer.”
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(l-r)
DreamGirl Kristen Guess and Elizabeth Arden spokesperson
and DreamBall guest Catherine Zeta-Jones.
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“For me, the program was not about how
to put on makeup. I’d
known that for years, though I have a greater appreciation
for it now. It was about maintaining my dignity, poise, self-composure;
however you want to describe it. I wanted to be as normal
as possible. I needed to keep me. I did not want to invite
people into my world by my appearance.”
“Cancer treatments are so in your face – literally!
Every morning and every night, I face the harsh reality of
those treatments. But, in the time in between, with hair
and makeup I could be me. I did not have to succumb to my
treatment’s merciless evil whims. What are looks after
all, some might ask? And maybe in the end, they’re
not so important, but for now, as I am a single young woman
full of life and energy, the way I look says a lot to me
about the way I feel.”
Nearly one year later, Kristen
has completed her chemotherapy, undergone a double mastectomy
and radiation. Her sense of
humor and determination has been supported through the companionship
of her boyfriend Scott, her family, Scott’s family,
her friends and a dedicated network of medical professionals.
Kristen tributes Look Good…Feel Better with playing “a
significant role in my breast cancer treatment, physically
and emotionally.”
“It’s too soon to know the full
impact breast cancer will make in my life. Through it all,
yes, it stinks, but
I always tried to smile and still think life is pretty great.
I’ve dealt with this the best way I could, by being
me. I could not let it overcome me.”
Kristen Guess just
moved to a new home in Annapolis, Maryland. She was born
and raised in Florida. Kristen holds a Bachelors
of Arts in Italian Studies from Georgia State University
in Atlanta. She also studied at the American University
in Rome. Her favorite pastimes include horseback riding,
traveling,
cooking, and fly fishing.
You can find out more about Kristen
by visiting her blog: http://dreamgirl-lgfb.blogspot.com.
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