Why I’m Balding for Dollars

My Cousin Nathan

The Balding for Dollars program was there for my family in a time of need and I want to give back. In 2004, my cousin Nathan was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare childhood cancer.

He went through chemo therapy, lost his hair, lost a lot of weight, had to be fed through a tube, and had to put up with feeling sick and coming to the hospital for different treatments and illnesses for months.

Through all this he never lost his vitality. I remember going to see Nathan in the hospital one day. His eyes were almost swollen shut and he was very tired in bed. But he still wanted to visit and still had the energy to tell me stories about his friends at school and laugh at the pranks they pulled and how the teacher was clueless.

After fighting through months of treatment, Nathan was told his cancer was not curable and he died in May 2005 at Canuck Place with his family surrounding him.

Helping Others

When Nathan was loosing his hair from the chemo treatments, I never heard him complain about it. He never told me that it would help him if I shaved my head…actually he probably would have laughed at me and said “Why would you do that?” I want to shave my head now because in the past four years I have learned more and more about how BC Children’s Hospital, Balding for Dollars, and other community organizations helped support our family while Nathan was sick.

The Cost of Cancer

I don’t think I understood while it was happening just how expensive the whole process was. I thought, “The drugs are covered and that’s the expensive part.” But that’s not the whole story.

Once you leave the hospital nothing is covered. For example, when Nathan came home and had to be fed by a feeding tube, the liquid food and equipment wasn’t covered and that alone could cost almost a thousand dollars each month. That’s where Balding stepped in. When my aunt picked up the food and supplies, they said, “Don’t worry, Balding for Dollars will help with that.”

I’m sure it’s evident to us all that dealing with the emotional stress of trying to help your child fight for his life would be horrendous. But to layer on top of that financial stress because you want to give your child the best care possible but you can’t bring in two incomes while you are caring for him is just cruel.

Our Support

That is why I want to support the Balding for Dollars charity. I want to help raise money for this fund so that other families who have to deal with childhood cancers or blood diseases can have a bit of peace of mind that there is some financial help for them.

Please, if you can, follow this link to my Balding for Dollars site and donate! Any size of donation is helpful. Or if you would prefer, call or e mail me and I’ll come see you and you can donate in person!

You can always help by tweeting, emailing or sharing on Facebook!

Thank you.