On September 29 of 2009, my wife and I received the news that no parent believes he or she will ever really hear, “Your daughter has Leukemia.” After over nine months in intensive chemotherapy, Katie is in remission. What most do not know about Leukemia is the duration of the treatment is over two and a half years. Now in her maintenance phase consisting of daily regiments of chemotherapy in the form of pills (as much as twenty in a day), monthly spinal chemo, as well as regiments of other chemotherapy, Katie and her doctors continue to fight against any chance of a single blood cell being or becoming cancerous. While she continues to be inspirational in the way she faces these side effects as well as the duration of the treatment, it is through this and other cancer treatments that the longevity prognosis is as good as it is. In addition, some of the nastier side effects that used to accompany these medicines have been made less severe as a result of the same research which continues to work on the most aggressive and least invasive cures for all types of cancer. It is with this in mind that my friends and I will be shaving our heads in solidarity with cancer victims who may lose their hair. Some (few) cancer patients do not actually lose all of their hair, but they do have to go through the effects of treatments, none of which are pleasant. I wish, as most families who have loved ones with any type of cancer, that this was an isolated case. It is not. The money raised by this event is for continuing cancer research, but not just in one area. St. Baldrick’s awards grants where the money is needed most. There may be a breakthrough and quick funding is needed for it to be continued, funding may have been cut for important research elsewhere, better medicines with fewer side effects or medicines which help with those side effects may need funding, an important link to a cause might be discovered. These are but a few of the important places the donations can go. Shaving our heads is a light-hearted way of trying to gain attention to help raise money for a serious cause which seeks to help conquer the disease and effects of cancer.