HAIR-RAISING FRIENDSHIP

(The Weekly Journal, Saturday, January 12, 2002, page 4, Wendy Ferris)

Eliane Amyot plans to lose her long, beautiful curly locks in support of a friend at the St.Laurent Shopping Centre on Jan. 26. That's right, her hair.

Amyot, 21, will let good friend Karine Chartrand shave off her long hair, which hangs to the middle of her back, on the first level of the shopping centre near the food court.

The public shaving is part of a fundraising effort organized by Amyot called Hair 4 Lymphoma.

Chartrand, also 21, was diagnosed in November with large B cell lymphoma, a type of cancer, and requires eight chemotherapy sessions. The money raised by Hair 4 Lymphoma will be donated to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre, where Karine is being treated.

"One of the things she was very afraid about was losing her hair", said Amyot, an Orléans resident. "So, I told her that I would shave my head too, and we could raise money and give it to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre Foundation".

The Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre is an outpatient cancer treatment and research facility. Its services include prevention and early detection, diagnosis and treatment, research and education.

"At first I thought she was crazy", said Chartrand. "I said, 'Don't be stupid', and I didn't really think she would go through with it".

Amyot took a couple of days to think about it and decided she would shave her head to raise money. She will also donate the shorn hair to have a wig made.

Chartrand, also from Orléans, has had two chemotherapy sessions and has lost her hair. She has six more sessions to go.

"I had problems walking and I had pain in my left leg", said Chartrand, speaking of how her illness was diagnosed.

She was misdiagnosed for a year, but finally had bone scans and MRIs done in September.

Doctors thought she had bone cancer, but tests done at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto found she had non-Hodgkin's large B cell lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a term that identifies an abnormal growth of cells in the lymphatic system. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma refers to several cancers that arise from the lymphatic system, which defends the body against disease.

Chartrand had to put her last semester of college on hold and remains very tired from her chemotherapy sessions. She will begin her third session on Jan. 14.

However, Chartrand remains optimistic that she will beat the cancer.

Hair 4 Lymphoma began its fundraising efforts on Dec. 17, 2001 and has raised close to $1,000 so far.

If you wish to make a donation to Hair 4 Lymphoma, you can email jgour@sympatico.ca and provide a telephone number. Any person who contributes more than $15 will be given a tax receipt.

To check the progress of Hair 4 Lymphoma's fundraising efforts, and to learn more about Karine Chartrand and lymphoma, visit the Web site www.hair4lymphoma.cjb.net.

Chartrand will shave Amyot's head at St. Laurent shopping centre at 2 p.m. on Jan. 26.