Melanie Shaha of Gilbert, Arizona has been battling brain cancer after first being diagnosed in 2003.
She had surgery to remove the tumor, but it came back. She had another procedure, and it came back again. In 2017 it came back again, and doctors recommended radiation.
Melanie recalled to Today, “I asked (my doctor), 'Will I lose my hair?' and they said 'No.’ Three months later, I had a big shed and started losing hair. I was surprised.
“Not having hair, you stick out like a sore thumb and well-meaning people can say things that break your heart," she added. "I don't mind being sick but I mind looking sick. I'd rather blend in and not stand out at the store."
While having dinner with her family in 2018, her son started joking around.
He told Today, “I said, 'Why don't I grow out my hair to make a wig for you?'"
He just graduated from a university with a dress code that limited hair length, so Matt was enjoying the freedom of growing it out, but then, "something clicked."
Well, Matt wasn’t joking around, and last March had grown 12 inches of hair, plenty to fashion his mom a wig. Melanie said, “We were super pumped and when they started cutting, we bawled.”
Matt's hair was sent to a Newport Beach, Calif.-based company called Compassionate Creations which delivered a hand-tied wig to Melanie in June.
Co-founder Veronica Balch said, “The family was such a joy to work with. When someone selflessly shaves their head for a family member, it makes what we do even more special.”
And most importantly, Melanie loves her wig.
The color is spectacular and we had it cut and styled with a hairdresser," she said. "Matt said it looks great on me."