MY JOURNEY

WITH CANCER

by LINDA PITTLicensed Master Esthetician

Master Aesthetician Linda Pit t leads the team of licensed aestheticians at Signature Medical Spa. She has worked under dermatologist Bonnie Straka, MD, since before the inception of Signature Medical Spa, contributing her decades of extensive skin care experience to helping build the award-winning practice. Linda has a reputation for excellence and specializes in facial and body rejuvenation through advanced treatments.

My interest in skincare goes back as long as I can

remember. As a child, I was always trying out a

variety of lotions and other skincare products on my

family and friends, so it came as no surprise when I

became a skincare specialist. During the past three

decades, I have worked with patients during their

most dif�cult health trials and have always

encouraged them to continue to keep up their

skincare routine during these dif�cult times to

maintain a sense of normalcy.

In the Spring of 2018, I was diagnosed with an

aggressive form of breast cancer. My prognosis was

good, but I had to undergo a series of aggressive

treatments, including 16 rounds of chemotherapy,

surgery, and radiation. During my treatment, my

oncologist informed me that I would need to undergo

a form of chemotherapy called “The Red Devil.”

I immediately thought of a few clients I had worked

with in the past who had seen permanent skin

damage due to this speci�c type of chemo and

immediately started to panic that I would have

similar results. It’s funny where our thoughts take us

during a time of crisis.

Thankfully during the past thirty years as a skincare

specialist, I have experimented with a wide variety of

skincare regimens and remembered that iS CLINICAL®

has a cancer skincare line that I had seen others have

success with. I quickly adopted this line into my routine

to help further prevent long term damage to my skin

during my battle with cancer. Thankfully I was able to

see a tremendous difference and to help keep my skin

strong and healthy.

After my second round of chemo, I lost my hair. As

a woman who has always taken pride in her 80’s

style “big hair” I was unsure how I would get

through this. Up until that moment, most people

couldn’t tell that I had cancer, and now suddenly, it

was now clear to everyone that I was sick. I was

determined to get my hair back quickly and started

to use my iS CLINICAL serums on my scalp. I

�gured I had nothing to lose.

During this time, I couldn’t believe the number of

compliments I received on my skin. Over the years, I

have always taken excellent care of my skin and am

a big advocate for using high-quality products. But

with no hair, it was much easier to notice my skin.

Even my oncologist noticed the difference and

encouraged me to continue my daily skincare

routine. I’m happy to report that my hair did grow

back healthy and strong, although I have learned to

embrace the grey and have kept it short.

As I went through my journey with cancer, I made

the decision to create a blog documenting my own

skincare regimen during my treatments in hopes of

helping others in a similar situation. I wanted the

blog to be a positive platform to help them regain

some control they felt they might have lost during a

dif�cult time. It was also a great way for me to keep

in touch with my patients. I was both surprised and

humbled by how well the blog was received and

have gotten so many messages, saying how

inspiring people have found it.

I have always believed, it is not what life throws at

you, but how you deal with it that matters most.

To this day, I continue to work, exercise, eat well,

and follow the iS CLINICAL cancer skincare to

maintain a healthy lifestyle. I am happy to say that

I am coming up on the �rst anniversary of having

�nished my cancer treatments. I know I still have a

long way to go to a full recovery, but I feel

con�dent that I will get there. In these days of

such uncertainty, it is nice to be able to rely on the

results of my iS CLINICAL products!