Head shaving party!

Like most other cancer patients, the chemotherapy regimen that I'm on will result in my hair falling out, not just on my head but pretty much everywhere on my entire body. Rather than wait for the progression to happen (they say it usually falls out within three weeks), I have decided to do it on my own terms and shave my head now rather than wait for the inevitable. Since the last time I shaved my head was 6 years ago with my friend Ken (we took turns shaving each other's heads really out of boredom), naturally I asked him again if he wanted to join in with me and maybe we can start a head shaving party. When my other high school friends heard about it, they also wanted to get in on the action. So, this past Sunday, Tommy, Brian and Ken came over my house and we set up shop in my backyard and took turns shaving each other's head with our own brand of design before finishing off the final touches. Another guy, Andrew, lives in San Diego and couldn't make it but we'll be shaving his head this weekend sometime. I've known these guys since high school and we've been the closest of friends since then. We've been through thick and thin; we've been to each other's college graduation ceremonies; we've been groomsmen at each other's weddings; and we've taken family trips together. These guys have always been there for me and continue to be there for me, just like so many of my other close friends. They've been very supportive of treatment thus far, and here now they were willing to shave their heads too to support me. The ironic thing is that I used to see news reports and online articles about friends shaving their heads to support other friends going through cancer, most recently the entire Cleveland Indians team shaving their heads to support a teammate's daughter's cancer treatment, and I would think to myself, if one of my friends was diagnosed with cancer, I would most definitely shave my head as well in support of them. I never once thought that it would be me that would be the patient and that my friends around me would be the ones shaving their heads in support of me.

I'm not afraid to lose my hair. It's the least of my concerns. I've had my head shaved numerous times before so it's not a big deal to me. Just this time around though, it's going to be a little bit closer to the scalp (i.e. completely bald). They say that once you go through chemo, your hair grows back differently; many people experienced curlier and darker hair. Who knows...maybe my hair will go back all black and I can shake this Reed Richards moniker?!

Since I posted a pic of our shaven heads on Facebook (my first post in a year), I have received many emails and texts from other friends wanting to do the same. It's such a great feeling to see how many people care and are so supportive of me! So, this upcoming weekend, I'm going to have a head shaving party part deux with another group of friends. #baldisbeautiful
If anyone else wants to join me, I've got my clippers ready to go, so just give me a holla!