WHEN Helen Edgar was diagnosed with breast cancer she was told treatment could make her hair fall out.
But now the 45-year-old from Cedar Close in Gosport will be in good company.
Husband Keith, 49, will lose his long locks tomorrow to show how much he cares – despite having grown his hair since 1988, when he left the Royal Navy.
Both say it is important to focus on the positive, as cancer is not always a terminal disease.
Keith said his gesture had started as a joke.
‘I knew that a major side effect with chemo was loss of hair,’ he said.
‘It’s that initial shock, when my wife was diagnosed, what can you do?
‘Blokes are normally useless, so I thought why don’t we both lose our hair?’
Helen has chemotheraphy treatment once every three weeks at Queen Alexandra Hospital and has started to lose her hair.
But thanks to staff at the hospital she was diagnosed in December last year before the disease could develop.
She was admitted to the hospital three months before her diagnosis with a kidney problem. It was then doctors saw lumps under her arm and ordered a series of tests.
Helen said: ‘It’s a hell of a shock, and although you try and continue with your life, I’m on reduced hours because of the chemo but I’m still working.
‘It does take over your mind, it’s hard to think of other things.
‘But organising this head shave is helping me keep my mind off it all.’
The pair are hosting the charity night at the Three Tuns in Elson Road, Gosport, to raise cash for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The event starts at 7.30pm and there will be a disco and music from local singer Ian Hunt.
Staff from Hair@156 in Elson Road will cut Keith’s hair.
But if anyone else wants to join in with the haircut they can pay to have a go.
Helen said the cash will go to the Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent branch of the charity, helping local people.
She said: ‘I’ve been quite lucky considering how some people suffer.
‘You’re going through chemo but you can still go out and do things.’
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