Collection: #TeamJosh

A note from Tracy Kollander:

Going on 7 years, my son has  suffered from alopecia. For almost all of this time he has been able to hide it for the most part. However, last summer we noticed a fairly large bare spot on the top of his head. Josh felt like it was manageable and didn’t want to seek any intervention. Being involved in sports year round with either a hat or helmet on a good portion of the time made it easier. In December he had major surgery. Looking back on this, we believe that trauma exacerbated things for his hair. The past few months but even moreso the last few weeks, his hair had been falling out in handfuls in all different areas of his head. In June we met with a dermatologist and he started taking medication as well as steroid injections into his scalp. No help, only got worse. 

On August 3rd , Josh made the only decision he could and shaved his hair off. The boy I know may not be the same boy you all know (if you’re fortunate enough to know him personally). He is super stone faced with competition but a pretty cool kid who will make time for anyone. He is affectionately referred to by a select group of others as BFG. -Roald Dahl (Iykyk)

I know my son and I know this was incredibly difficult for him to do. He has managed somehow to make me even prouder of him in his struggles than with any athletic achievement.