An Unexpected Triumph

Katie Thompson has a very special bond with her mother-in-law. When Katie was two, she lost all her hair due to alopecia totalis, and her mother-in-law lost her hair when she went through chemotherapy for her multiple myeloma. “We shared bandanas and laughed about how awful wigs are,” Katie says. “She helped me embrace my bald head and accept who I am.” In this way, an unusual connection became “an unexpected triumph” for Katie and her mother-in-law. “She says losing her hair wasn’t so bad because she had me in her life,” Katie says. “In the end, it’s really she who helped me.” Thankfully, Katie’s mother-in-law has been in remission for five years, and Katie is excited to run for “the organization that helped make that happen!”