Published: April 18, 2008 05:25 pm      

Cancer survivor donates hair to ‘Locks of Love’

Stephanie Huffman, a cancer survivor, and her sister Melanie Marbut recently sacrificed their tresses to “Locks of Love,” a public nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 who suffer from long-term medical hair loss resulting from any diagnosis.

“It’s hair; it grows back,” said Huffman, who has had her own experiences with hair loss.

“I had been considering cutting my hair since turning 40 a few months ago. This was a perfect time to do it,” Marbut said.

Huffman has battled cancer since 2001 when she discovered a lump in her breast.

Her doctor told her at the time they would “watch it” and that she was entirely too young, 29 at the time, to have breast cancer. Because Stephanie is an LVN, she pursued other diagnoses and opinions. She knew something was amiss with her body.

Aggressive treatment against cancer began for her in 2002. She endured a bi-lateral mastectomy, went through the radical treatments and hoped and prayed she was finished with the disease.

That was not to be the end of her battle. In 2003, the breast cancer surfaced again. She underwent the gamut of treatments once more, praying that this time her fight would end and that she would be cancer free.

But in 2004, she was diagnosed with multiple lesions in the brain, bones, liver and left ovary. More surgeries and treatments followed, and the battle became more potent.

The chemotherapy she underwent caused her to lose her hair completely more than once.

It seemed as though just as her hair would grow into the long, flowing curls that almost all of her life had adorned her head, another battle with cancer would begin.

Huffman became an integral part of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, an event that honors survivors and remembers those lost to cancer. She has served on the general committee since the event began in Johnson County in 2003, and she shared duties as general co-chairwoman in 2006 and 2007, despite suffering through a number of treatments during that period.

In 2006, she attended the American Cancer Society celebration on the Hill in Washington D.C. as an ambassador from the 17th Congressional District of Texas to advocate legislation intended to aid the fight against cancer.

In 2008, Huffman rejected her doctor’s advice for another surgery, and is confined to her home under the care of Hospice. She has expressed anxiety that her refusal will be seen as giving up, but she continues to battle the disease and hopes, along with her family and friends, that a new treatment or cure will emerge that will allow her to overcome the disease.

In the meantime, Huffman donated her hair to make her daily hygiene routine a little easier. Marbut donated her hair as an act of love and support for her sister.

As a result some young person battling a devastating disease will wear a wig composed of Huffman’s or Marbut’s “Locks of Love.”