​“When I saw the price of the wig, my face fell. After you get a diagnosis, expenses start to overtake you,” says a cancer patient. Several associations collect hair from donors and use it to make wigs to help patients who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, the number of cancer cases in Romania in 2023 was 21% higher than in the previous year. In total, 550,000 Romanians live with this disease.

In addition to the negative impact on health, some treatments, such as chemotherapy, can have a devastating effect on the self-esteem of cancer patients. Their hair gradually falls out until there is nothing left of it.

Reviews of many women show that most often patients do not manage to calm down even after a long time. For these people, wigs can play an important role in restoring self-esteem.

“I want to see what it looks like on my bald head, how is it, Dad”

Olena Dumitracheh. PHOTO: Personal archive

In May 2020 Olena Dumitrach (43 years old) she was diagnosed with breast cancer. During a simple self-examination, the woman felt that something was wrong, so she decided to go for an examination. An ultrasound and a mammogram were enough for the doctors to understand that they were dealing with a cancerous lesion. Further confirmation came two weeks after the biopsy.

Previously, everything happened quickly, as if nothing had happened, and the 43-year-old woman took this news as a blow. He had no family history and was physically healthy.

“At night, I got such a serious diagnosis, which I did not even imagine.”

Soon after that, in early summer, while processing information on the go, Elena began chemotherapy. The first session also meant the first contact with other cancer patients. In the room around her were women wearing wigs or turbans, even though it was hot outside and chemotherapy causes side effects such as hot flashes.

Then Elena thought that maybe the air conditioner was bothering them, but later her surprise would also find an answer from her own experience.

Between the first and second sessions, knowing that her curly hair would fall out, Elena pondered her options; he wanted to prepare himself and his family. She considered wearing a turban during chemotherapy, but family and friends encouraged her to use a wig.

So, together with a group of friends, she went to a store of wigs made of natural and synthetic hair. She tried several options until she found one she liked. She wanted her hair to always be perfect, neat and straight.

“When I saw the price… my face dropped a bit (no, between 700-1200 lei). Once you get a diagnosis and start running after everything, the costs are overwhelming. And then the friends who accompanied me, I think it was natural for them, they waved and paid for the wig. They gave it to me.”

Arriving home and wanting to prepare her seven-year-old twins for the physical changes she was about to undergo, she tried on a new brunette wig.

“I didn’t get recognized then, it looked great, I can’t deny that,” she recalls with a laugh. Due to the fact that the side effects of chemotherapy were beginning to show, and she was sick of losing her hair, one Sunday Olena took a clipper and threw away all the remaining hair.

“I want to see how it looks on my bald head, like it is dad,” I told the children. I made it look like a game.”

From that moment on, for seven months, while the treatment continued, Elena continuously wore the wig outside the house. He couldn’t go out without it, and only then did he understand why he saw patients who didn’t give up wigs at the first session.

From fear of looking in the mirror to loneliness at home

Delia Grigoriou, ROZ Association. PHOTO: Personal archive

Each person reacts uniquely to hair loss after starting chemotherapy, he explains Delia Grigoriou, president of the Association “Patience, Optimism, Smile” (ROZ)which provides psychological support and group resources to women going through a cancer diagnosis.

“Some of the first reactions may be fear: fear of looking in the mirror, fear of what they will look like, how others will see them, how they will present themselves in society.”

“Then on a deeper level there is a sense of loss of identity because so many women identify with their hair, especially women with long hair, curly hair, who have different hair types or colors. And if you’re post-middle age, you’ve already had a whole experience with your hair, you’ve got a special story with your hair – and you might feel like you don’t know who you are anymore.’

“They tried on the wig and the kids, so we made it look like a game”

Although at first glance it seemed to Olena Dumitrake that the situation in which she found herself was not so serious, for the children, inside, she felt fear and admits that psychologically she could not overcome the loss of hair, and her self-confidence suffered. .

“The fact that I could never go out without a wig hurts. If it was easy for me and I did not feel a burden, fear, I left without it. It is difficult. And even during treatment, in the chemotherapy office, I did not give up the wig.”

The only place where Elena felt comfortable and could take off her wig was at home, in a private space. “At home, they also saw me bald, they asked me when my hair would grow back, and I told them that I was undergoing long-term treatment. The kids tried it too, so we made it look like a game.”

Another reaction that can occur, he adds Alina Nistor, president of the “Good People Association”a group of people who have had cancer and now help others overcome the disease is an isolation from the rest of the world that can persist even after treatment ends.

“There are those who cannot come to terms and cannot come to terms with the idea that their hair has fallen out, and decide to stay at home, not to go out, to shut themselves up. This is the worst option. There are people who, even after their hair grows back, have a very hard time leaving the house, a very hard time socializing, a very hard time finding their place in a new life.”

For this reason, she adds, a support group is needed in addition to the wig.

Sorina Fetche. PHOTO: Personal archive

Sorina Fetche is one of the beneficiaries of the Oameni Buni Association, who started attending the organization’s support group back in 2022 when she learned that she had adenocarcinoma of the lung. Radiation therapy cured her, but the cancer returned last fall when doctors recommended chemotherapy. Like Elena, Sorina also decided to voluntarily give up her hair between the first and second session.

“It’s quite a difficult process to constantly see hair all over the house and suffer from every strand. And I made the decision to shorten it.” Even though she felt prepared for this moment, the shock of the loss was great; when faced with the changes, she understood the feelings that her other colleagues in the support group were also experiencing.

“I used to say to other girls, ‘Why don’t you wear your bald head?’ Look how cool you look!”. I was a great counselor. I was in the same situation when this happened to me. That is, I was ashamed and afraid to go out at the first stage.”

From donated hair, the association makes wigs for patients

While in the clinic, during the treatment, Sorina became interested in several wigs, but when she saw that the cheapest one costs 700 lei, she did not buy it. Instead, I received one free of charge from the Association of Good People through the project “Romance with wigs”which operates on the basis of hair donation.

Over six years, the organization managed to collect enough strands of hair to make 38 wigs. They are sent to a factory in Galata, where they are manufactured, after which they are delivered to the beneficiary. At the end, they are returned, after which they go to other women who need them.

Among the great difficulties of the project is the price of making a wig, which is fully covered by the association – 1,500 lei is the cost of labor for a medium-sized wig – to which is added the difficulty of finding hair tails.

In the summer of 2022 Miruna Vasiu learned about the activities of the association and the possibility of donating hair through the festival; Inspired, she decided to donate the 20cm ponytail in the autumn of that year and says she will do it again when her hair is long enough to use for a wig.

“I wanted to donate my hair for a long time, especially since it was long enough, I had a lot to donate.”

Miruna Vasiu. PHOTO: Personal archive

“Sisterly smiles” is another hair donation initiative; it is based on 30 volunteers and belongs to the Society of Medical Students in Bucharest, and after collecting the pigtails, the wigs are distributed to children hospitalized in oncology wards.

Last year, says Iryna Vladuescu, project coordinator, 831 pigtails were donated and 21 wigs were made. To make the work more efficient, it has also partnered with two salons in the country where people can donate their hair, which will then be turned into wigs. The costs, as in the previous case, are borne by the Student Society.

For the comfort of patients

“It is very important to know that patients are supported by wigs,” says Cesar Irimia, president of the Federation of Cancer Patient Associations of Romania, who reminds that in Romania there is no initiative by the state to offer wigs to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

“Even with breast prostheses, they are offered only once every two years, while in European countries – two prostheses per year. Here, this donation from the state is much rarer, and there is no initiative regarding wigs.”

For example, in Great Britain, the NHS offers free wigs to certain categories of cancer patients, such as those under 16, under 19, in education or in hospital.

Until patients in Romania, in turn, benefit from this type of action, Delia Grigoriou, president of the ROZ Association, recommends that all those who are experiencing the disease be open and have access to available resources, such as those from NGOs, believing that they contribute to the success of the treatment.

“I think it’s a simple but very important thing for people not to close in on themselves and talk, talk about the treatment they’re doing and look for people in their social environment that they can trust to talk about it. By discussing and not hiding such an important and serious problem, you help yourself heal faster.”

Available resources:

Association “Good people” – project “Romanian with wigs”.

Email address: [email protected]

Telephone number of the Cluj branch: 0748 197 888

Baia Mare branch phone number: 0745 824 458

Phone number of the Mediash branch: 0745 438 584

Braided Smiles – an initiative of the Society of Medical Students from Bucharest (active hair donation campaign March 18 – May 31)

Email: [email protected]

Coordinator, Iryna-Gabriela Vladuescu: 0726 517 307

Assistant Coordinator: Robert Avram: 0720 157817