From Giving Tuesday on Nov. 28 until Dec. 31, Mary Kay Canada will match every donation made to Look Good Feel Better (up to $10,000). Please donate today to not only double your impact, but to help women like Sophie feel like themselves again.
Click here to double your impact and donate.
When Sophie Audet was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, it felt as though her life had stopped.
“For a mother of three, you can’t be sick,” the Mary Kay Sales Director said from her home in Saint-Georges, Quebec
She was diagnosed at 36-years-old – her youngest child was one-and-a-half. With impending surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, she was forced to accept there were things she could no longer do as a busy mother, professional and woman.
“I’m not a workaholic, but I like to work, I like Mary Kay – I love my business,” she said. “It’s difficult to accept things, it’s difficult to ask for help.”
As treatment progressed, she experienced appearance-related side effects: a green tinge to her skin, dark circles under her eyes and the loss of her hair, eyebrows and lashes.
“Sometimes how other people look at you is the hard part,” said Audet. “I didn’t want to look like I was sick.”
“I felt powerless.”
Although she’s an experienced beauty professional, Audet needed help when it came to these side effects.
“Yes I’m with Mary Kay and yes I like to wear makeup – but this was different from my everyday application,” she said.
Due to Mary Kay’s ongoing support of Look Good Feel Better, Audet was familiar with the program, which offers beauty workshops in cancer centres across Canada to help women alleviate and manage these side effects. She signed up for a workshop in Lévis.
“I wanted to go there for me,” she said. “It’s really important to take care of yourself.”
She was especially grateful for the opportunity to meet other women with cancer.
“When you’re sick, sometimes you can feel alone,” she said. “There, everyone is equal.”
While Audet has completed chemotherapy, her cancer has since been diagnosed as metastatic, so treatment is ongoing. She undergoes various treatment plans, often trying new medication and trials as they develop.
“I’ve realized that my story is not going to have a remission - it’s more like a condition,” said an emotional Audet.
While it’s difficult to accept, she’s sharing her story to ensure all women have access to Look Good Feel Better.
“At the end of the workshop, there was a sparkle in everyone’s eyes,” she said. “Every woman deserves that.”
From Tuesday Nov. 28 until Dec. 31, Mary Kay Canada will match every donation made to Look Good Feel Better (up to $10,000). Please donate today to not only double your impact, but to help women like Sophie feel like themselves again.
Click here to double your impact and donate.
