Breast cancer awareness; Plastic surgeon donates hair to help patients feel ‘whole again’
By Lydia Blackstone
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SAVANNAH, Georgia (WJCL) — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to honor survivors and those who help them heal — inside and out.
At Gents of Savannah, a local Savannah barber shop, plastic surgeon Dr. Patrick Buchanan sat in the chair Monday for the first time in nearly a year and a half. But this visit wasn’t about his own appearance. Buchanan donated 10 inches of his hair to help patients who’ve lost theirs to chemotherapy.
“Seeing patients come in with chemo and knowing their hair is going to be lost — I don’t have the best-looking hair, but I was able to grow it,” Dr. Buchanan said.
The Georgia Institute of Plastic Surgery doctor said he grew his hair out for 17 months — against his wife’s better judgment — before deciding to make the cut. Surrounded by family, Buchanan smiled after his haircut and said he felt “like a million bucks.”
That’s a feeling he hopes his patients share. Many of the people he treats are breast cancer survivors working to regain their confidence after surgery.
“We just want to make you feel whole again,” Buchanan said. “One of the best things is when a patient comes in and says, ‘Dr. Buchanan, I feel like myself now.’”
One of those patients is Megan Steckler, a breast cancer survivor who credits Buchanan and his team for helping her through a whirlwind year.
“I got a call on Valentine’s Day first thing in the morning,” Steckler said. “The next week I met Dr. Bennet, then Dr. Buchanan. On March 6, I had a double mastectomy.”
Her cancer was invasive and fast-moving — fueled by hormones. Steckler said catching it early changed everything.
“If I had waited another year or two to get scanned, it would have been a completely different story,” she said.
Now in recovery, Steckler said she finally feels like herself again — the same message Buchanan hopes to pass on through his donation.
“I’m glad my patients could experience this with me,” Buchanan said. “I’m human, they’re human — we’re all in this together.”
Gents of Savannah said this was the first time they’ve helped a client donate hair. Buchanan left with a bag of his own hair, ready to ship it off to Locks of Love.
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