So, why am I shaving my head? That's simple- I'm shaving my head for you. I'm shaving my head for all of those people in my past and present whose lives have been changed by cancer. I'm shaving my head for the kids who wake up with hair on their pillows, and for the moms and dads who have to endure the looks that strangers give their bald babies. I'm shaving my head for anyone who missed a birthday, or a year of school, or a joyful day with their family because of cancer. I'm shaving my head for the families who will miss their kids every day they are apart... I'm shaving my head for all the girls who have been called a boy because people equate long hair with femininity. I'm shaving my head for my middle school math teacher who went through multiple bouts of cancer and chemo over the course of many years, for my half brother who died of his brain cancer a few years back and for the wife and the rest of the family he left behind, for my friends' parents, whom they lost to cancer, for my old boss and a friend from school. I'm shaving my head for my mom, who didn't have cancer, but who had to have parts of her own head shaved for radiation therapy because of a brain tumor- I remember the looks she got even though I was only three years old. I'm shaving my head for the kids at Tulane Children's Hospital who will teach me more about being human than I thought possible, and for their families who will help me learn to be a better person, and a better doctor along the way. I'm shaving my head for my peers, in and out of the medical field, so that they can remember that hair is not what makes a person a person- so that they don't have to be afraid of the bald girl in their office, in the grocery store, the restaurant or the park. I am shaving my head for my future patients, so that when we sit together and talk about what will happen to their hair, I can take out a picture of me, bald, from my second year of medical school, and they can know that even before I knew them I cared about them. I'm shaving my head now, so that no child will have to lose their hair in the future, so that there won't have to be any shows of solidarity for cancer patients, because there won't be any cancer patients. The closer we are to a cure for childhood cancers, the closer we are to no cancers at all. I'm shaving my head for you...and for me. It's that simple. I am shaving my head in honor of Rachael Mayo Rachael Lynn Mayo, born November 15, 1983, was a wonderful friend of one of my own wonderful friends. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in June of 2001, during her second year of high school. Bright, energetic and optimistic, she went through multiple bouts of chemo and radiation therapy to treat her cancer, even spending time at a research hospital in The Cities (that's Minneapolis/St.Paul for those of you non-Minnesotans out there.) Sadly, Rachael died on March 1, 2003, due to complications following a second stem cell transplant to treat her Hodgkin's. She was an avid writer of science fiction and fantasy stories, and was an accomplished artist who through it all continued working on her own comic book in between treatment and dreaming of college. Admired by many for her talent and spirit, and loved by all who knew her, she was a remarkable woman and a genuinely good person through and through. She is remembered and missed.