Georgia man’s sign of support for ailing wife likely saved his life

When Bud Stringer's wife, Dolly, was diagnosed with breast cancer, he shaved his head to help support her through chemotherapy.

Upon losing his hair, Bud discovered a birthmark-like mark on his scalp. A doctor's visit confirmed that the Moultrie, Georgia, man had stage 3 melanoma on the top of his head, something that would have gone unnoticed for months while still covered with hair.

"If it wasn't for his wife, and his shaving his head, he would have gone on for many months— completely unaware of this," Bud's doctor, Vernon Sondak, M.D. with the Moffit Cancer Center, told WFLX.

"By the time he would have had symptoms, it would have been too late," Dolly said. Doctors told her that her husband wouldn't have survived until Christmas had the melanoma not been spotted.

Bud underwent two surgeries and is set to start chemotherapy soon.

Both Bud, 48, and Dolly, 47, parents of two pre-teen boys, are still undergoing treatment, but have each been declared cancer-free.

The community rallied around the Stringer family, offering meals and fundraising to subsidize their medical bills.

"The outpouring of the church and the community have just been unbelievable, overwhelming at times, you know the generosity of people," Bud told WALB.
"In something that appears to be a bad situation, there's so much good that can come out of it."

"We have been changed forever in a good way. We have a lot to be thankful for," Dolly told the Moultrie Observer.

She later added, "Cancer's not all bad. It has simplified our lives."