Ella Mae Wickham was diagnosed with breast cancer 22 years ago and said she vividly remembers the day her hair fell out — and wished there was someone to help her navigate it.
Wickham said she didn’t know what was available or what next steps to take toward feeling like herself again.
“And I just thought … I’ve got to help these ladies,” said Wickham, a longtime cosmetologist.
Within two years of her diagnosis, Wickham opened Wigs Unlimited on Broad Street in Martinsville — originally selling wigs and now also selling prostheses and mastectomy bras.
She continues her job as a cosmetologist three days a week to help kickstart the mastectomy bra business, which she started two years ago. Wickham also helps women navigate filing with insurance providers to cut costs on prostheses and mastectomy bras — which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars without insurance coverage.
“I feel like I’ve been blessed to make it through my cancer journey,” Wickham said. “When you’ve been blessed, you want to help others.”
Shops like Wickham’s are “huge in the psychological recovery of breast cancer,” said Erin Steigleder, the director of programs at the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation.
Most people get to choose how they present themselves every day, Steigleder said, but medication decides that for cancer patients. Some choose wigs or mastectomy bras to regain their sense of control.
“When a woman gets breast cancer, it doesn’t just attack her body, it can attack her sense of femininity and sense of self,” Steigleder said.
‘Just trying to be positive’
Wickham has been Joan Joyce’s beautician for years — cutting and coloring her hair, Joyce said. When Joyce was diagnosed with cancer in May, she shared her diagnosis with Wickham.
“She just was a cheerleader, and she said the best thing you can do is put on your makeup, pick yourself up and just go, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” Joyce said. “I’m just trying to be positive and get through all of this.”
Joyce said Wickham prepared her for what was to come and was committed to helping her navigate the process of getting a wig.
“She said that it would be shocking, and I didn’t really believe that,” Joyce said. “But … when my first piece of hair fell out in my hand, I started crying.”
Wickham said it’s easy to feel others’ pain because she went through it herself.
Joyce said she went in for an appointment and ended up having fun trying on different wigs.
“She took videos, and we just had a good time trying on the wigs and seeing what we liked and what we didn’t like,” Joyce said.
Joyce said she decided on two light brown wigs — one with a pixie cut and the other a little longer. She said she loves switching up between the two wigs and plans on going back to get a third.
“It’s amazing the shops that are willing to do that and to help advocate for these women so that they can feel more at home in their bodies again,” Steigleder said.
Steigleder said breast cancer survivors know best about what’s needed in a community to adequately support women who are going through it.
“Kudos to her for seeing a gap and deciding to fill it,” Steigleder said.
Wigs Unlimited is the only such business in a 100-mile radius to accept prescriptions and help customers file with their insurance, Wickham said.
Wickham said she has filed with private providers for the past 20 years for wigs and the last two for prostheses and mastectomy bras. In the past year, she said she’s been able to file with Medicaid and Medicare, which will cover prostheses and mastectomy bras but not wigs because they’re considered cosmetic, Wickham said.
Cap on coverage
The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 legally requires group health insurance plans that cover mastectomies to cover post-mastectomy breast prostheses and bras.
However, insurance plans often cap coverage on the number of prostheses or bras a woman can get. Typically, plans cover one breast prosthesis per affected side each year and between two and four mastectomy bras per year, if a prescription is provided from a doctor, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“It’s an item that you wear every day,” Steigleder said. “When you think about those who don’t have breast cancer, how many bras do you own? You don’t have just one, you have many, so that you don’t have to wash one every single day. So that’s a challenge that we know some of these women face as well, is getting the adequate amount of these supplies.”
Wickham offers prostheses made of silicone and non-silicone forms, such as foam, fiberfill or fabric. She also offers custom-made forms, which are molded via 3D scanning to fit the contours of a woman’s chest wall.
Wickham has been a cosmetologist for 45 years, cutting hair at The Cottage Salon, which is next to Wigs Unlimited in the same building, which she owns. She hopes to eventually focus solely on wigs and prosthetics, she said.
“As you get older, you grow old with your clientele,” Wickham said. “You’re going to have less clientele. That just kind of comes with the cycle of life.”
Right now, wigs bring in the most money out of the three services, Wickham said. She can do wig appointments remotely, so she ships wigs out of state, in addition to the in-person appointments and sales.
“I haven’t been doing the bras that long,” Wickham said. “So I’m sure as soon as people get more aware that I’m here, the bras will pick up.”
Wickham was recognized at Martinsville’s city council meeting on Wednesday as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“The city of Martinsville recognizes the survivors, families, caregivers, health care professionals, advocates and loved ones who continue to bring courage, compassion and hope to the fight against breast cancer,” Mayor L.C. Jones said at the meeting.
“October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but breast cancer happens all throughout the year,” Steigleder said. “We really hope that women take this opportunity to be aware of their health and to know their bodies and feel confident in talking to their doctor when they see something that’s not normal for them.”
