KIDS AND BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

 

KIDS AND BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH 

This month is set aside for people everywhere to remember the heroes who battled breast cancer and won. And those whose lives were tragically cut short, and the lives of their families and friends that were forever altered by this terrible disease.

It’s never too early to educate and encourage our kids and October is the perfect time to investigate which non profs and which salons in your area will give you the special haircut that can make the burden of chemo just a little lighter. It's possible to wade through the daunting specifics and do it at home, but we decided it was also the perfect excuse to go to a salon.  

This is Laina. When she was 13 she decided to finally part with her long locks and get a haircut. It was a hard decision for a young girl about to start high school and face the challenges and anxieties that go along with that first day. In the process of talking about her cutting her long beautiful hair, I asked if she’d like to donate it for a wig.  After explaining how that worked, she got excited and asked who would reap the benefits of her donating her hair.

"Women and men," I answered, "But imagine if you were as nervous and excited as you are about your big first day, but you were also battling cancer. If you were having chemotherapy – like most, you could be starting high school wanting to make friends and impress your peers on all fronts, but with a bald or balding head."

I explained that her donation would be used to make wigs and there’s a very good chance some of those wigs would be given to another child who’s facing the same challenges she was.  "Add that to the normal consternation they are facing their first day of high school without the beautiful locks she is blessed with".

That was all she needed to hear. Her qualms about cutting her long hair began fading completely away and she was all in.  Here’s her journey for you to consider.

We researched the non profs who received hair donations for wigs first, then set about investigating all their requirements. Those varied quite a bit from one to another, but she realized she definitely wanted her hair donation to go specifically to another child. A few more clicks onto web sites and we found one that focused especially on children who’d lost their hair due to their cancer treatments, so don't give up if at first the research seems overwhelming.  To our advantage, it was also the one that appeared to be the easiest to work with, and the one that would donate vs charge the recipient for a much-desired wig, as some do sell vs gift we were surprised to learn.

Our next search was finding a salon willing to work with the precise requirements to cut her hair for this important donation. It's possible to do it yourself, but be prepared because it's tricky.  It was also our tradition to go to the salon for her birthday, so a win all around. 

The organization we chose stipulated that we had to divide the hair into 6 sections.  Not 5 and not 7, but 6. And that each section had to be a bare minimum of 6" in length. Not 5 1/2" or 5 3/4", but a minimum of 6. Be aware that some warn that if the requirements aren't precisely met, the hair - and all your hard work will just be tossed in the trash.

We were instructed to shampoo her hair that day, not using any conditioners or other products, then her hair would have to be thoroughly scrubbed again by a stylist at the salon. Again however, what little girl doesn't enjoy a trip to a salon.  

  

Despite all the specific requirements we lucked out with Stephanie, owner of Stephanies Salon and Day Spa in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Stephanie jumped on the opportunity to help us donate and stylist Zoey enthusiastically volunteered to give someone the boost they needed and one less challenge in their battle to beat cancer. Zoey was so patient. She carefully measured and re measured, then tightly secured each section. Then she tightly braided, and individually secured each with another rubber band at the bottom as instructed. Then clip! The section was cut off.

After her hard and meticulous work, Zoey took the extra time to tweak and style Laina's hair. Some salons charge extra for this long process which was about 2 1/2 hours.  It's a great quality-bonding time any time of the year and u ltimately, we all knew that Laina’s gift and Zoey kindly lending her patience and expertise were priceless.