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>> i ABOUT 200-;300 CASES ARE DIAGNOSED EACH YEAR:IN CHILDREN 'AND'YOUNGADUETS,

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than MSU, every time Matt answers
his door or his phone or turns on his
computer his friends are there. They
include Josh Sklar, Danielle Tobias,
Corey Lehman, Susan Eng, Rachel
Bachrach, Michael Barnett, Jay
Mentzel, Brandon Finkel and Laura
Lazar, all of Farmington Hills. "They
have been just great," Matt says.
Perhaps the greatest showing of soli-
darity came from within Matt's East
Lansing home — the apartment he
shares with best friend Jeremy Manson
from Farmington Hills.
"I decided to shave my head because
I knew I was going to lose my hair
anyway," Matt says. "I went into the
bathroom and my friend Mike Canner
(of West Bloomfield) shaved my head
for me. After he was finished, Jeremy,
said, 'I'm going to do it, too' and
Mike shaved Jeremy's head next. It
made me the happiest I have ever
been. It's probably the nicest thing
anyone ever did."
Jeremy says he did it to divert atten-
tion away from Matt.
The next day, Matt says he and
Jeremy were together having dinner.
"My other great friend, Jeremy Wolf
(from Farmington Hills) walked in ---
and he had his head shaved, too,"
Matt says.
"When the three of us are together,
people look at us and try to guess what
we stand for," Jeremy Manson says.
For Manson, a shaved head will
become a twice-a-week ritual. "I plan
on doing this until Matt's hair grows
back," he says. "This is not just a nice
one-time gesture."
Three other male friends and Matt's
girlfriend also considered shaving their
heads, but Matt convinced them their
offers were support enough.
For Manson, support didn't stop
with shaving his head. "Cancer was
not in my life before," he says. "But it

is now. It's not just in the back of my
mind. It's in the front of my mind."
Jeremy's mom, Marcia Manson, says:
"Right now, Jeremy makes his plans
around Matt. He is standing by Matt for
the year." The two plan to be room-
mates again next year, along with Jeremy
Wolf and another longtime friend Jesse
Bernstein of Farmington Hills.

What Friends Are For

Matt understands how words aren't
always necessary between friends, when
actions can be so intensely strong.
"When I was in the hospital for my
chemotherapy, my friends visited me
every day," Matt says.
Some even missed classes to be with
him. His brother Jason was there with
him, too.
"I went to see him at the hospital,"
says Matt's girlfriend Suzy Sidote of
Sterling Heights. "It was like he was a
movie star. You had to wait to see him.
There were so many people there."
And they weren't going to let him
miss out on the fun things in life just
because he was hospitalized. "My clos-
est friends, Jeremy Manson, Jeremy
Wolf, Jesse Bernstein, Erik Silver and
Mark Isler, came over and we held a
Super Bowl party in my hospital
room," Matt says. "They brought in
pizza, drinks, candy and video games,
everything. They were just great. My
friends have been perfect."
After his first treatment, Matt
returned home to find his roommate
had been busy. "Jeremy Manson cleaned
the apartment to make sure this place
was as clean as it could be because of
my vulnerability to germs," Matt says.
A walking cast worn since December
has hampered movement, but Mates girl-
friend has been there to help out by
cleaning, doing laundry, bringing food.
Suzy has been an emotional uplift as well.

