Cancer and hair loss from chemo!!
- kyle williams
- Feb 14
- 2 min read
Most people, when they hear “chemo” as a cancer treatment, immediately worry about losing their hair. I’ll be the first to admit that thought crossed my mind too—along with about a hundred others all at once. I was fortunate to learn that the type of chemo used to treat my cancer, FOLFOX, usually doesn’t cause complete hair loss. I felt lucky. I could look normal while going through treatment, pass a mirror, and for a moment believe that nothing was wrong with me.
As the months went on after starting chemo in June, I noticed my hair was growing at a painfully slow rate. I went from early July to late November without needing a haircut. When my hair started thinning, I remember praying—just let me make it through Christmas. I wanted to take our annual family pictures at church and still look like myself. I got my wish. I had just enough hair for Christmas Eve Mass, we got some great photos, and for a moment, I felt like me again.
Not long after Christmas, everything changed. My hair began thinning rapidly, and by January 16, 2026, I had lost at least 75% of it. I looked unhealthy.
I wasn’t prepared for the mirrors. Walking past them multiple times a day—especially in the middle of the night—doing double and triple takes at the person staring back at me, wondering how I got here. People who have never lost their hair from chemo often think it’s about the hair itself. What they don’t understand is that it’s really about the scar—the constant, physical reminder that you have cancer.
The morning of January 17, 2026, my wife, Danielle, woke up, looked at me, and said, “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” I asked.
“To finally shave your head,” she said. “Your hair is making you look really sick.”
After three or four hours of saying no and defending the fact that I just wasn’t ready, she finally convinced me. I put in my earbuds, turned up the volume, gave her a thumbs-up, and said, “READY.”
Almost instantly, my sadness turned into humor. I started making jokes, sending pictures to family and close friends. Instead of feeling depressed or angry like I expected, I felt relief. Once again, I faced a fear head-on and embraced it. I admitted what I already knew, the shaved look was better than the few strands I was desperately holding onto.
Now, a few weeks later, it doesn’t bother me anymore. If anything, it gives me a sense of empowerment. In such a short amount of time, I’ve been through more than I ever imagined—and I’m still standing.
Cancer will never define me.
I’m living with cancer, but I am not sick. #karmanospartners #YourBestChance
Video of Danielle shaving my hair
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