That whole chemo thing

[ShavedForNow]

This post is meant mainly as a public service announcement for those of us who have been, or will be, asked about chemo:

When people undergo the type of chemotherapy that makes them lose their hair, they lose their eyebrows, too. (In fact, they lose all their body hair.)

This is the simplest way to tell whether someone's a chemo patient or just shaving. 

[PigPen]

Short, sweet and to the point. I like it

[Timmay]

Not true.

Honest to God, on my way to Miami from Nashville heading to our mission trip in Haiti, there was a Gentleman ( I will call him gentleman because he was very polite) was sitting next to me on teh plane.  I noticed he had no hair, no eyebrows and didnt notice any hair on his forearms nor his legs ( he had shorts on).  I kept thinking I was going to say something, but didnt know exactly what to say.  I was feeling sorry for him because of the Chemo, but he looked awesome with a shaved head.  Finally, I think only because he noticed I wanted to say something he just looked at me and said, Go head, ask.   I said Excuse me.  He said it was OK, go ahead and ask.   So I asked him if he had won the battle?  He said that he wasnt in a swimming contest.  I kinda figured that because he wasnt built like a swimmer.  I said No I mean the cancer, did you win?  He said no no my friend I dont or didnt have cancer.  People assume that I have underwent chemo and its not the case.  What he said next ended the conversation.  He said, I do it because I like it and because I can. 

That is where I Got my "BECAUSE I CAN" motto from. 

So not always is it a case of Chemo therapy....it could be just a fetish that person likes.

[GASlick]

I thought this thread was going to be about that little boy that took off with his mom instead of doing his chemo.

[bem75]

I also have a friend (a former High School coach) that got some condition where he lost all of his body hair.  Everything.  He does not have cancer and did not have Chemo.  He just lost his body hair....permanently.

Also, I know that a lot of chemo patients will shave their heads because they don't actually lose all of their hair.  They just lose some and it looks pretty spotty.  So, they shave their head.  In that case, they most likely will not lose their eyebrows.

[ShavedForNow]

Also, I know that a lot of chemo patients will shave their heads because they don't actually lose all of their hair.  They just lose some and it looks pretty spotty.  So, they shave their head.  In that case, they most likely will not lose their eyebrows.

No drug in the world causes the same response in everyone who takes it. And of course it's also possible to lose body hair for other reasons. But if you want to play the odds when you encounter a completely hairless person "on the street," it's likely that they're on chemo.

[Razor X]

I also have a friend (a former High School coach) that got some condition where he lost all of his body hair.  Everything.  He does not have cancer and did not have Chemo.  He just lost his body hair....permanently.

That wouldn't bother me at all as long as I didn't lose my goat. 

[calbito]

When I started at my current workplace about 14 years ago there was a guy who also was completely hairless.  One day I heard him talking on the phone and he said something about cancer so I figured he was undergoing chemo.  However 6 months later he was still working with us and just as hairless as ever.  It was then that I found he had alopecia totalis or whatever it's called where a person loses all their body hair.  He still works for us today and is just as hairless as ever.