will he or won't he? well, okay, he WILL, but WHEN? ...

Okay, I'm not going to harp on about my diagnosis and treatment (or maybe I will, 'cos, now that I think about it, without harping on, there probably wouldn't be much of a blog here *GRINS*), but the thing is, I am due to start on my chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday March 31st (had I mentioned that before?).

And, as we all know, chemo pretty much nearly always results in hair loss for the lucky(!) recipient, amongst other fun side effects, more on which I am sure I'll blog as time goes on. But this blog is about hair loss.

Now, I'm sure that my brother won't mind (too much) me saying here that, well, of the two of us, I've been the one to hold onto my hair better, and, while it's not really a big thing for me, keeping my hair has been something I've been quietly pleased about over the years. My Dad started losing his hair in his early twenties, so as I drift towards my 49th birthday (no, honestly, I can't believe it either!), having maintained a thatch on top was something I had kind of become used to. I don't go to any extraordinary  lengths to look after it, for all that, but it's been a constant and you kind of expect it to still be there when you look in the mirror each morning.

But there is a very strong probability that, at some point over the coming months, it won't be!

I've accepted that, and I know that once all the treatment is over, it is likely to come back, but I'm not going to get too upset about it. It is just one of those things, and to tell you the truth, I'll take hair loss if it means that this cancer-thingy in me gets gone in the process! But, as those of you who've been following my story over the past couple of years know, I'm in the business of fundraising for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) too, through my 365challenge (hence my id: 365er). If you're new and haven't come across this part of my story, click through here for more details: 365CHALLENGE. The 365challenge has been a great success. Personally, my fundraising is not that far short of £9000, and as a group (there are at present around 12 365ers around the country), we've raised over £28K for CRUK so far. But we can do better, and I am seeing my impending baldness as an opportunity to add to the pot ...

So ... I want to open a book on "When will Colin lose his Hair". Here are the facts as I know them: I am due to have three cycles of chemotherapy, with a drug cocktail called ABVD. Three cycles means six treatments, each approximately two weeks apart, starting on March 31st, and running through to around the end of June, with possibly some radiotherapy to follow. Now, as you can see, I have a full head of hair as of today (now, stop that!), and I promise I won't take any action to remove that until such time as it starts to fall out, at which point I will probably have it all shaved off. For the purposes of this "bet", that will be the point when I will consider that I have "lost" my hair. 

What I'm asking you to do, dear reader, it to place your bets now as to when you think this is going to happen. The choices are: Before Chemo starts (unlikely); After Session 1; After Session 2; After Session 3; After Session 4; After Session 5; After Session 6; During Radiotherapy; Not At All (you optimist, you!). 

I have no idea when it might happen, and nor has my cancer nurse, so it really is about having a bit of fun about my demise, taking a wild guess, and supporting your guess with a contribution to my JustGiving page for my 365challenge for CRUK. Click through here - justgiving.com/365challenge - to lodge your guess/bet (any amount welcome, but JustGiving do have a minimum donation of £2), listing "After Session 1", etc, in the comments section to indicate your choice, and adding your support generally. Now the thing is, there is no prize as such, other than knowing that you correctly guessed when/if I will capitulate to the hair fairies, but I WILL name check everyone who guesses right in a future blog, and if I have your email address, I will contact you personally to allow you to commiserate with me ;). I'll keep you updated too as treatment goes on, so that you can keep track of your success or otherwise in the betting stakes.

Over to you now. C'mon folks, dig deep while I desperately try to resist shedding, and lets see if we can make something positive out of this negative (for me, anyway) and maybe push my total raised over the £9K mark before it all starts to drop out ...