All pediatric oncologists can tell wonderful stories. This past month one of the medical students who rotated though our outpatient unit was one of my former patients. Though he was shy, and didn't often talk about himself, he occasionally explained what his therapy for leukemia had been like to the kids and/or their parents. Can you imagine the smiles (and occasional tears) on the faces of parents as they realized that this medical student had had leukemia as a toddler? One of Texas's current District Champions in high school wrestling is still receiving leukemia therapy. I have former patients who are teachers, nurses, laboratory scientists, business leaders, mothers, fathers and, in the interest of full disclosure, drug dealers! Clearly, enormous progress has been made in pediatric oncology. Know though that all of the joys do not erase the sorrow. The brilliant, irreverent, soccer player who re-invented himself as an award winning photographer and artist has gone to a different world. The young man that I know would have been the first black president, died years before Barack Obama was elected to congress. How many beautiful teenager girls have to make sure that their prom dress is made out of a material that makes noise so as to hide the sounds of a colostomy bag? She also wanted to be sure that I arranged to have her body donated, hoping research would help others. Needless to say, shaving your head doesn't compare to having cancer or to having a loved one with cancer. Moreover, if "going bald" funds research that furthers our understanding of pediatric malignancies and therapies to prevent or treat them, it will have been a ridiculously easy way to facilitate progress!