In my pre-myeloma days, I didn't think much about hair or hats. I was surprised to find out how much this changed in the months during and after my stem cell transplant.

My previously bushy hair had become pretty thin before the transplant due to the treatment with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), which I was given to ‘encourage’ the stem cells to leave the marrow so they could be collected from my blood.

Perhaps, given this hair thinning, I ought to have been prepared for the next phase. However, I don't think I had really …

So why is hair so important? This may seem like an odd question to ask. As you will see, it is an especially unusual question for me to ask.

My hair has always been a very important part of my life.

As a child, when the relatives would gather and the family photos would come out, my mom would  always pass around one of me as a three-year-old standing on the beach with a full head of dark curly hair. “Oohs and ahs” were sure to follow.

As a teenager, once I …

This spring, my choir is performing a tribute concert to Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee.  Thus, many of the songs we sing originate in the U.K.  One song by the Beatles, which has a rollicking beat, barbershop in nature, is called ‘When I’m Sixty-Four.’

During one of our recent rehearsals, I suddenly realized that the first line of the song...’When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now…,’ had already applied to me.  I had already lost my hair, even though I was younger than 64.  Not fully …

The tiny room was spinning like an off-kilter gyroscope. I grabbed the sides of the chair with the hope that I would not fall off and further injure myself. The lights were interrogation-level bright as I closed my eyes to ward off an oncoming wave of nausea and a gnawing headache.  An unsettling buzzing near my left ear was growing in intensity as I realized that the point of no return was close at hand.

“Last chance. I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to. Sure you want me …