Flagstaff hairdresser Alexandra Wolf helps women navigate cancer

Melina Walling, Arizona RepublicShe had big, curly blond hair, but she had always wanted to change it. She envisioned herself with straight, jet-black tresses. At the very least, she wanted something different.

Wolf battled a rare sarcoma that led to the amputation of her left foot and part of her lower leg, along with multiple painful chemotherapy treatments. But then, by chance, she found the Arizona Cancer Support Community chapter in Flagstaff, and she saw the perfect opportunity to help others. “I just have to use my voice,” she added. “The gift of cancer is that a near-death experience makes you so strong in who you are.”Wolf graduated from high school at 17 and moved to Troy, Kansas, a small town just west of Missouri. Her boyfriend at the time encouraged her to enroll in a private beauty school in Missouri, and though she was overwhelmed and nervous, she took the leap.

She said that some people discouraged her from pursuing that kind of styling because they didn’t see it as a viable career. “It was just weird avant garde stuff, and it just felt so fun to create that and see a professional picture and think, ‘I created that,’” she said. “It made me cry in the moment, being like, 'Wow, I can really do this.'”

The doctors she saw suggested blood clots, pinched nerves and fibromyalgia, but nothing showed up on ultrasounds. And the pain didn’t go away. Wolf completed a type of chemotherapy for RMS, but when that didn’t work, doctors decided to amputate her lower left leg.When they discovered the misdiagnosis, they told her she would need to complete another round of chemotherapy for her specific type of cancer, despite the amputation. That type of chemo included Doxorubicin, which is sometimes called the “red devil” because of its red hue and potency.“I have two kids, so my only choice was my children,” she said.

One day, she was in the car with her husband when she noticed a sign for a new cancer support community. She told him to pull over and got out to ask about the group. Wolf said coloring and styling wigs is different from the typical hairdressing experience, and not just because of the technical expertise required. She sees her volunteer hours as emotional appointments as much as aesthetic appointments, a chance to listen and be there for others.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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