entering my Smooth Era

Entering my Smooth Era 👨🦲

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2025

Today marks the end of my first cycle of chemotherapy, and also the beginning of my smooth era. 

My hair started falling out this week - starting with the sides of my head and beard but the rest will continue to fall out bit by bit. I expect the hair loss to continue for the next week or two until very little hair is left (if any) and I have fully transitioned into Smooth Matt™.

The hair loss, in a way, is actually a good sign. It’s a sign that the drugs are working, and that the cancer cells are turning over too. With that bigger goal in mind, I’ll gladly put up with losing my hair and beard for few months.

One beautiful thing about beards, though, is how perfectly they hide and disguise a mustache.

The secret truth beneath every beard is that there is a mustache waiting, lurking in the shadows, hiding just below the surface for the perfect time to strike and reveal itself.

Now is that time.

The mustache has been surprisingly resilient to hair loss, and seems to be holding up a little longer than the rest of my facial hair, so I am choosing to listen to the ancient wisdom of my body and let it hang on a bit longer 🧘.

I also feel my new mustachioed look fits perfectly with the latest hat fashions arriving every day from around the world, as I'm sure you will agree:

ABOVE: a few new hat arrivals with Matt in various states of smoothening

As far as treatment goes, so far so good 👍

This first round of chemo wasn’t always easy but overall things went smoothly with few road bumps beyond the expected side effects.

Things are looking good to keep going with the start of a new cycle next week. 

Right now I’m feeling good, well rested, and am hoping to enjoy the surprisingly nice weather this weekend here in Wisconsin while also gearing up for a big treatment week ahead starting on Monday. 

Wish me luck with the next treatment cycle, and stay tuned for more hat updates soon.

💜   Soon-to-be Smooth Matt