"It's cold.”
Running his hand over his newly-shaven head Monday morning, Zack Gaz was not the only one getting used to an air-conditioned head. The Grand Traverse Academy eighth grader, four teachers and ten students, including one girl, all sat under the clippers to show support for Zack's upcoming regimen of chemo.
With nine to 12 months of treatment beginning next Monday, Zack will head to Ann Arbor minus worries decide when and how — as well as being buoyed by the outpouring of support.
"It's pretty cool how everyone came out here,” he said quietly just prior to the great Shave Off before school. "There's going to be a lot of hair on the floor.”
Diagnosed this month with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a tumor that occurs in the muscle or soft tissue — in this case Zack's soft palate — the prognosis is positive after treatment. Facing hair loss due to chemo, in his low-key way Zack asked his science teacher Ryan Schrock whether he would shave his head as well, creating a buddy system.
"It kind of started with, 'Maybe someone could do this with me,' and all of a sudden he's got this whole posse,” said Schrock, a now-bald math and science teacher at the school, who organized the event. "We didn't expect this many.”
In addition to needing parental permission, participants also signed a Contract of Shaving that students drew up. Each pledged to remain bald as long as Zack does, with a penalty of a month of janitorial duties if they renege.
In addition to signing his own name with a flourish on the parchment, Zack added a note: "I would like to thank everyone for their sacrifice and showing of their friendship.”
Adam Tunnicliff, an eighth grade student, said goodbye to his blond locks Monday morning, feeling it was the least he could do to help out a classmate.
"I don't really know what it's like having cancer so I wanted to show support,” he said.
Zack's parents, siblings and other relatives turned out for the event, amazed at the outpouring of affection from the school. His uncle, Neil Anderson of Oscoda, has always cut Zack's hair and drove over to do the honors Monday, shearing half the participants. A volunteer mom at the school, Ellen Fancher, pitched in with the rest as the two barbers were kept busy for 40 minutes.
"This is wonderful, it's really boosted his spirits,” said Shana Gaz, Zack's mother.
While facing a daunting year ahead of them, Gaz said that finding the cancer so early before it could spread is a miracle that helps put things in perspective. On February 20, she had taken her son to the doctor for an unrelated issue and, almost as an afterthought, mentioned her son's swollen glands in his neck. The doctor did a thorough exam and found a small, five-centimeter growth, which a subsequent biopsy identified as cancer.
"They said it could have been six months to a year before it would have been big enough for Zack to have noticed it,” said Gaz. "It hadn't spread but it might have.”
In addition to shaving their heads, students and staff at the Grand Traverse Academy are gearing up to support Zack throughout his treatment with cards, cookies, letters and e-mail messages to his Web site set up through the hospital.
"Zack had a lot of problems in middle school but when he came here he just took to it,” reflected Gaz. "They're a lot more strict here but the kids love it ... It's a family here.”