Dear Friends, Family & Co-Workers, You’ve heard it right, I’ve thrown my hair in to the ring to have my head shaved January 19th, 2010 in support of kids that have fought and continue to fight the brave battle of cancer. Please spread the word and tell your friends, families and coworkers about this inspiring organization. You might be asking yourself why would I do this when I have no children let alone any with cancer. Well, the answer (or question really) is quite simple. How can I not? The reasons to do so are countless but there are two that jump out at me. One of my best friends, Marilyn, lost her battle with Inflammatory Breast Cancer last year at the age of 39. During her heroic battle she never seemed angry it was her that was dealt this hand in life. When we questioned her about this she responded with "Why not me? I’d rather it be me than one of my four children." That was such a powerful statement to me for many reasons. Then there is Karlie the daughter one of my best friends (Kiely, who happens to be Marilyn’s sister-in-law), was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma when she was a month old. Retinoblastoma is a rare eye cancer. Her grandmother noticed she was not focusing well and brought this to their attention. Although this was horrifying news for first time young parents they, at the same time, felt blessed that her cancer was detected so early. The location of Karlie's cancer is why it was noticed so early as the tumor was located in the center of the macula which is why her vision was so obviously affected. She started undergoing chemotherapy and laser treatments to her eye right away. She battled this aggressive cancer for a year with weekly doctor appointments to Children’s Hospital of LA, chemo, surgeries, poking and prodding of needles, MRI's, long stays at the hospital because her white blood cell count was so low, blood and platelet transfusions, nausea and lastly because of the aggressiveness of the tumor Karlie had a radiation plaque sutured to the back of her eye for a weekend to finally destroy the tumor. Thankfully, with all the treatments available, Karlie is a wonderful success story as she is now 17 years old and getting ready to graduate from high school. She has just recently gotten her drivers license and has played water polo and been a part of the swim team all 4 years of high school. Her plans are to go to college and become a pediatric oncology nurse to give back to the children born to similar unfortunate circumstance. So, as you can see, these are two extremely powerful reasons for me to try and raise money. After all, it is just hair. Who wouldn’t willingly give up hair if it could help raise funds for this horrific disease, even if it is 15" long? To "vote" for me, click on "Make A Donation" - you can also donate by mail or phone, but your 'vote' may not arrive in time to be counted. To vote for one of my teammates, click where it says "AmWINS Group Producer Conference" to the left, and then click on "shavees" under the fundraising bar on that page, to find the donation page for the person you want to vote for.

Thank you for your support!