She underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment, the side effects of which were extreme and at times left her bedridden for days at a time.

But it was the physical effects - the hair loss, the skin discolouration and dark circles under her eyes - that took their silent toll.

It was during treatment that she became involved with Look Good Feel Better, a free program run by the Cancer Patients Foundation dedicated to teaching cancer patients how to manage the appearance-related side-effects caused by cancer treatment.

Workshops which run four times a year at Warrnambool Base Hospital.

Participants take part in a practical workshop which covers skincare, make-up and head-wear demonstrations and receive a Confidence Kit, full of skincare and make-up products to take home.

Many of the volunteers are beauticians and hairdressers, helping patients feel beautiful from the inside out.

Ms Freeman loved the workshop so much that she signed up to become a volunteer.

"Just to meet the other ladies and sit in with them, talk to them, it was just so uplifting," she said.

"Everyone got to know one another, it was a relaxing atmosphere, everyone got to try make-up and try on wigs and everyone was going through the same thing.

"I found that down the path was when you really notice the skills you learned. Even today I put on the make-up they gave me and I still remember the way they showed me how to put it on."

The program celebrated its 15^th year running at South West Healthcare on Thursday.

Warrnambool's Judy Conn has been running the wig bank out of the city's St John of God hospital for the past eight years, helping cancer patients find the right head of hair when they lose their own.

She has been working with Look Good Feel Better during that time.

"I started it with my oncology nurse and another lady, we thought there was a need for it. I'd been through cancer myself, it was very expensive, there were lots of things that you can't afford and a wig is something that you don't want to use later, so we thought - we'll start a wig bank," she said.

"I think it makes you feel more normal because everybody does look at you if you've got a scarf or whatever, people just can't help it I don't think.

"If you can go out and have a bit of make-up on and have a wig you feel like not everybody is staring at you, I think that's the most important thing. They feel good in themselves."

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