Amy has always been someone who lights up a room, even while battling small-cell lung cancer. But last fall, she walked into the Bon Secours Outpatient Palliative Medicine in tears.
Abby De Santis, RN, asked Amy what was wrong.
It was a moment before she could answer. “I look ugly,” she said.
She had lost her hair during chemotherapy, and it was so emotionally painful she had even covered the mirrors at home.
“She was still beautiful, inside and out,” said De Santis. “And when I walked out of the room that day, I thought, ‘I can fix this.’”
De Santis has a collection of wigs she wears just for fun. Though she’d never seen Amy’s real hair, she chose a shoulder-length brown wig she thought would work with her coloring. And if Amy liked it, it would be hers to keep.
The next time Amy came to the Palliative Medicine, De Santis had her try on the wig.
“Then I handed her a mirror, and when she saw herself, her face just lit up.”
Amy’s mother, who’d accompanied her, was teary eyed. “Oh, my gosh, it looks just like her hair,” she said.
That wig not only restored Amy’s confidence, it gave De Santis an idea that is now changing the lives of other Bon Secours patients too.
Amy before and after her visit to the Bon Secours Wig Shop
Creating the Bon Secours Wig Shop
While some health insurance policies may cover a “cranial prosthesis” — a wig in plain English — it can be hard for patients to shop for one. They typically have a taxing schedule of medical appointments, as well as treatments that can be debilitating. What’s more, even with insurance some shops charge additional fees that many patients cannot afford.
De Santis saw a solution — creating a shop at the Palliative that would provide wigs, custom-styled for the patient, all at no cost. The team at the clinic loved her idea, and she was given a space there to make it a reality. She also received help from the Cullather Quality of Life Center, an organization that supports Bon Secours cancer patients.
Next, she had to find a way to stock the shop. She provided some of her own wigs, then began finding donors. Among them were sisters who are influencers, and a local beauty supply store that made exceptionally generous donations from their collections. De Santis’ vision was about to become a reality.
The Bon Secours Wig Shop opened on Nov. 21 at the St. Mary’s Palliative Medicine Office in Richmond.
Step inside and you’ll find yourself in a beautifully appointed salon. The walls are purple — the color of palliative care, symbolizing compassion, dignity, spirituality and peace — and a pink neon sign says “Hello Beautiful!” Clients are seated in a white salon chair in front of a gold-framed mirror. The shop serves just one client at a time, by appointment only, so the experience is completely private.
Being the salon’s stylist, said De Santis, is her “side gig,” and she finds it incredibly gratifying to see the joy in a patient’s face at their transformation.
She remembers one woman who’d been delighted when she saw herself in the mirror, but was fighting back tears when she asked, “How much does this cost?”
“I said, ‘No, honey, it’s free. That’s the whole point.’ Then the waterworks really started.”
Bon Secours cancer and palliative care patients can now receive a one-time consultation and custom-styled wig, all at no cost.
The Wig Shop is now open with varying availability. To schedule a private appointment, call 804.287.7809.
This is made possible through the support of the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation, philanthropic gifts from donors help sustain The Wig Shop and expand access to compassionate services offered through the Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital Cullather Brain Tumor Quality of Life Center, ensuring patients can receive the wigs at no cost. Donations can be made at givebsmh.org/Richmond, then select “Palliative Care” from the drop down menu.
For more information about Bon Secours, visit bonsecours.com.
