LOCKS OF LOVE SON MAKES A WIG FOR HIS MOTHER
Melanie Shaha is currently fighting her third brain cancer battle. For 15 years, she’s been suffering from a benign tumor on her pituitary gland. Although she doesn’t mind being sick, going to her appointments, focusing on her treatment, and talking to loved ones about her cancer, she doesn’t like looking sick. If you didn’t know Shaha, you wouldn’t realize she was battling cancer. But this suddenly changed once she lost all of her hair. She had two surgeries, in 2003 and 2006, in hopes of removing the tumor on her pituitary gland, but they weren’t successful. Then, when she began radiation therapy in 2017, the treatment caused her hair to fall out.
“Not having hair [makes] you stick out like a sore thumb, and well-meaning people can say things that break your heart,” Shaha told TODAY. She didn’t like all the attention and the looks people gave her in public. So, her 27-year-old son Matt had an idea. At first, Matt joked about cutting all of his hair off to make his mother a wig. But the joke soon became a plan, and Matt followed through in 2018. After graduating from college, Matt began growing his hair out. In no time, he had long and luscious hair. His mother tried to dissuade him from cutting it, but Matt wanted to help her feel confident and comfortable in her skin. So, he chopped it off and sent his locks to
Compassionate Creations, a hair company in Newport Beach, California, that created a wig for his mother. Now, Shaha has a piece of her son to take everywhere with her beautiful new tresses. “The color is spectacular, and we had it cut and styled with a hairdresser. Matt said it looked great on me. It sure fills your emotional cup,” Shaha says. If you — or someone you know — would like to donate your hair to cancer patients, you can donate to Locks of Love, Wigs For Kids, Chai Lifeline, and Children With Hair Loss. Research donation centers in your area if you would like to give back locally.
SUPPORTING SAN DIEGO’S FISHER HOUSE
There is no better way to spread holiday cheer than by helping worthy organizations and those in need. This year, North County Water and Sports Therapy Center will once again participate in a holiday drive to benefit the San Diego Fisher House. We are honored to work with such an amazing institution, and we hope everyone can contribute to our efforts. Supporting the San Diego Fisher House makes the holidays and the rest of the year a little brighter for active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. Fisher House offers a “home away from home” at no cost for families of patients receiving medical care at military treatment facilities. Each Fisher House offers comfortable accommodations that allow military families to focus on the medical care and recovery of their loved ones. Guests are warmly welcomed by caring and compassionate staff members
who offer encouragement and provide families with information about resources and services available to help meet their needs.
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Canned goods, like pasta, soup, and easily microwaveable meals Gift cards (VISA, MasterCard, Amazon) We are lucky to have such a strong veteran community, and we want to do everything we can to give back to them this
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We accept donations until noon Friday, Dec. 30, at our main office on 15373 Innovation
Drive, Suite 175, in San Diego. In addition, we are holding a raffle; you can purchase tickets to win a variety of gift baskets, and 100% of the ticket proceeds go to the
holiday season. Join us in supporting the San Diego Fisher House and help brighten up the season for active military personnel, veterans, and their families.
Our raffle will have some great prizes, with proceeds to be donated to the Fisher House! Give us a call at the office (858) 675-1133 to learn more! For more information, visit SanDiegoFisherHouse.org . Please contact our office at (858) 675-1133 for a full list of the most needed items for this year’s drive.
Fisher House. Check out our Facebook and Instagram feeds in the coming weeks to see all the goodies we have planned.
The Fisher House is prioritizing these items: • Lysol or Clorox disinfectant wipes • 13-gallon trash bags
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