The beauty of this treatment

It took Duke University Medical Center nearly five years to officially recognize - and fully appreciate - the work of Jacques "Mr. Jacques" Shy.

It took Dr. Mel Elson about 10 minutes.

Now he's ready to help Shy confirm the benefits of "medical cosmetology" - and launch the field nationwide.

Here's how it started.

Elson's wife, Betty, had surgery in September at Duke for ovarian cancer.

She did well, according to her husband, a graduate of Duke's medical school now affiliated with Vanderbilt University.

But in the day or two afterward she felt dirty and uncomfortable.

"Here is this immaculate and beautiful woman," Elson said. "She asked, 'Is there anyone who could just wash my hair?'"

Enter Mr. Jacques.

But Elson quickly saw that Shy was much more than a barber or beautician doing a little primping.

Shy, with his professional manner, came into the room with equipment specially designed for use in a hospital setting: an inflatable sink that can be maneuvered under a patient's head, a water pouch that can be hung on an IV stand, a gentle handheld sprayer, a case with all the equipment a traveling cosmetologist might need.

Shy is meticulous in the way he disinfects every item used in his work. He checks with the nurse and the patient before he begins, so that he can be alert to allergies, or the placement of sutures, or the presence of blood or glass in the hair (often true for patients who are in the hospital following an automobile accident).

But Shy is also keenly aware of the psychological needs of his clients, many of whom have been through major surgery or are battling life-threatening illness. He massages the scalp with calming aromatherapy shampoo. He works efficiently, but speaks with cheerful calm. After all these years working with patients at Duke, he seems to sense just what patients need. He has seen his ministrations do wonders for patients.

Including Betty Elson.

"It made all the difference in the world," said Dr. Elson.

Elson, a dermatologist who has traveled the world training other docs in the wonders of Botox and other "injectables," took Shy's card.

He had an idea.

Upon returning to Tennessee, Elson contacted Colleen Mallory-Welch, dean of nursing at Vanderbilt, about finding a way to expand on Shy's work. It occurred to Elson that it would be easier for this work to gain recognition from both cosmetology boards and the medical profession if its benefits were quantified in a real study.

"I think we can all agree that what Jacques does is good for patients," Elson said. "But at this point it's an abstraction. We need proof."

Working with Mallory-Welch, Elson came up with the bare outlines of a study in which medical cosmetologists trained by Shy would perform services for 50 patients at Vanderbilt. Another 50 patients would not receive the service but would be the "control" on the study. The two groups would then be surveyed about their recovery, their feelings and the like.

Mallory-Welch is excited about the project, for which she and Elson are seeking funding.

"In some ways this is a combination of Eastern and Western philosophies of healing," Mallory-Welch said. "We don't pay enough attention to what women, in particular, need after surgery or illness. Sometimes what a woman feels like or looks like can be so important to that healing."

Elson said he thinks the project has the potential to create a new "medical" specialty.

"It's all about Jacques," Elson said. "I just wish we could clone him."

Shy said it's not about him at all. It's about gaining respect for work that is desperately needed. It's about creating new jobs.

And, as always, he said, "It's all about the patients."