40 | JANUARY 30 • 2020
Health
LYNNE KONSTANTIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A
s far back as Debbie Glazer can
remember, she wanted to be a doc-
tor.
“I wanted to cure cancer,
” she says. “Being
exposed to the world of disability and med-
ical issues impacted me and shaped what
direction my life would take.
”
But as she got older, she started honing
in on the differences between “caring” ver-
sus “curing” and realized her personality
and passion were more predisposed to the
former. During high school at Andover
in Bloomfield Hills and into college at the
University of Michigan, she considered ath-
letic training and physical therapy.
“I wanted to help people feel better from
whatever they were living with,
” says Glazer,
41.
To that end, she tried out a nursing class at
U-M — and loved it.
Glazer graduated with a degree in kine-
siology (the study of the mechanics of
body movements) before attending nurs-
ing school, also at U-M. Between degrees,
Glazer took the opportunity to pursue
another one of her passions, but this one
was just for fun — she took a crash course in
manis and pedis, earning her nail technician
license.
Back at U-M for her nursing degree, she
completed clinical rotations in the trauma
and burn intensive care unit, hospice nursing
and other specialties.
“I loved the intimacy,
” Glazer says. “Being
able to just be with the people, I could focus
on making them comfortable and feel better.
I could help their families. I didn’
t have the
pressure of trying to fix them.
“It’
s such a gift being invited into that part
of someone’
s life.
”
Armed with her nursing degree, Glazer
worked in hospice and oncology nursing,
orthopedic nursing and taught medical/
surgical nursing at the Oakland Community
College Highland Lakes Campus in
Waterford, where she’
s still on the adjunct
faculty.
She’
s also been raising her two young
daughters with her husband, Seth. Although
Glazer grew up attending Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, she and her
family are now members of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield, where they live.
“I feel like everybody has roles in their
family and in society,
” Glazer says. “I’
ve
always been a nurturer. I ask first, ‘
What can
I do for you?’
And my kids are also like that.
They’
ve been exposed to what I do enough
that they understand the importance of
being patient and being there for others.
”
A NEW PASSION
Despite her very full life, Glazer still had
a nagging feeling that she could be doing
more. In 2014, still doing nails for friends
and family on the side, she was asked to do
a favor for a friend: The friend referred her
to a woman who was homebound with end-
stage lung failure from a rejected bone-
marrow transplant.
“I would go over, do her nails at her
house,
” Glazer says. “She was fatigued; she
had an oxygen tank. I visited her for about
four months, until she passed.
“That experience was so much more pro-
found to me than any other patient-nurse
experience I’
ve had,
” she says. “It was so
much more intimate; it had so much more
meaning. My brain started thinking — I real-
ly enjoyed this. I’
m giving a gift but I’
m also
receiving a gift.
“It was life-changing,
” Glazer says. “It
changed my whole path. I knew this was my
passion.
”
From that first experience came others,
through word of mouth. She was approached
by someone whose mom had brain cancer,
another whose friend had dementia and
another close childhood friend whose moth-
er had pancreatic cancer.
“My time with her was very important,
”
Glazer says. “She was a guidance counselor,
professionally. And she’
s always guided me.
But that experience with her solidified what I
wanted to do.
”
In 2017, Glazer helped create a salon
enrichment program for Jewish Hospice
& Chaplaincy Network. And, in 2018, she
founded Comfort Salon Services, providing
mobile salon services to clients who are
unable to come to the salon due to their
physical or medical limitations, whether it’
s a
senior who needs his nails cut, a mom-to-be
on bed rest or people with chronic long-term
diseases.
In March 2019, Glazer received her
ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DEBBIE GLAZER/COMFORT SALON FOUNDATION
ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DE
A local nurse launches a salon and
foundation, combining her passions for
caring for people — and the world of beauty.
Providing
Comfort
A client blows
kisses with
Debbie Glazer.