Fashion guru and TV host Kym Douglas, 65, says despite offering beauty tips on daytime talk shows, she didn’t feel beautiful herself while undergoing treatment for stage 3 breast cancer.
Douglas underwent a double mastectomy, grueling chemotherapy and radiation, and then a breast reconstruction. She says her body was “ripped apart,” and she dealt with hair loss during treatment. However, it regrew after treatment finished.
Chemotherapy stops cancerous cells from growing, dividing, and spreading to other organs. It works by traveling through the bloodstream, killing cancerous cells. However, the process also impacts healthy cells, leading to side effects.
Your doctor will help you manage the side effects by either adjusting your medication or offering recommendations to help you cope, such as pressure bracelets and breathing exercises for nausea or cryotherapy, which minimizes hair loss.
While reflecting on her cancer journey, Douglas gained a greater sense of gratitude, which helped her see the beauty inside and out. It can also make a big difference in how somebody handles cancer treatment.
TV host and fashion guru Kym Douglas says her perspective on life and the definition of beauty changed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Douglas, who turns 65 this year, was a regular on the “Ellen DeGeneres” talk show, offering beauty and makeup tips.
“I’d go do a live show for six hours, talking about how to be beautiful. Then, I’d drive home and sit in the bathtub and cry, saying to myself, I can’t do this,” Douglas shared with Coping Magazine.
Douglas has amassed a large following who subscribe to her expert advice on enhancing one’s looks. Her background includes stints in local television news before appearing on daytime talk shows.
In 2018, her life took a turn when she underwent a mammogram that screened for breast cancer. She admitted she missed three years of annual mammogram screening. Expecting nothing, Douglas was shocked to learn her mammogram detected something concerning.
DCIS are abnormal cells that line the duct in a breast. A normal breast comprises many ducts carrying milk to the nipple in a lactating woman. This type of breast cancer is not invasive, meaning it has not spread outside the milk duct and can’t invade other parts of the breast.
“I was horrified; I was still thinking, it’s stage zero. There’s four stages and I’m zero,” leading the mothers of three to find some semblance of relief.
Douglas underwent a double mastectomy – the removal of both breasts – for treatment. She figured it would significantly reduce her chance of the cancer spreading. However, amid treatment, doctors found three undetected tumors elevating her cancer stage to stage 3.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 27: Actress Kym Douglas attends the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Summer 2016 TCA press tour event on July 27, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
A double mastectomy is a procedure that removes both breasts. Some women choose this procedure to reduce their risk of cancer, especially if they have a family history of cancer or possess the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation, which also increases their risk.
WATCH: Dr. Elisa Port explains what happens during a double mastectomy.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
Now, Douglass needed more aggressive treatment, which included several weeks of chemotherapy radiation and breast reconstruction.
“Chemo was a beast. Radiation was even worse,” Douglas explained.
Chemotherapy stops cancerous cells from growing, dividing, and spreading to other organs. It works by traveling through the bloodstream, killing cancerous cells. However, the process also impacts healthy cells, leading to side effects.
WATCH: Managing chemo side effects.
Your doctor will help you manage the side effects by either adjusting your medication or offering recommendations to help you cope, such as pressure bracelets and breathing exercises for nausea or cryotherapy, which minimizes hair loss.
Understanding Beauty and Gratitude
Douglas said during treatment, she lost her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, all of which are common side effects of chemotherapy. However, your hair often regrows once chemotherapy treatment finishes.
Douglas finds irony in her day job, which professes beauty while she feels far from it.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – OCTOBER 20: Kym Douglas attends Saint John’s Health Center Foundation’s 76th Anniversary Gala Celebration at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 20, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
“Here I am talking about beauty on high-definition TV…I was telling women how to be beautiful while looking like Godzilla’s daughter,” Douglas said.
“My body was pretty ripped up; it was carved into, and it was pretty ugly,” Douglas added.
Then, the fashion guru had an epiphany. During moments of reflection in her backyard, she realized that her hair had regrown with time, but her perspective on life and its beauty had evolved.
“My insides are completely changed. They changed in a good way. Now, I have empathy for people. I have grace. I know what it’s like to be brought, literally, to your knees. I know what it’s like to have everything stripped from you,” Douglas explained.
Nowadays, Douglas continues to offer fashion and beauty tips. However, she’s strengthened her following by drawing in fellow breast cancer survivors and warriors. She hopes she can use her platform to break the stigma around cancer and aging.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told SurvivorNet that his cancer patients who live with gratitude tend to handle treatment better.
