Suzette Simon is surprisingly enthusiastic about getting her haircut today. Usually, losing your hair because you're going through chemotherapy is no laughing matter, but it is for Suzette.

"It's peeling off. It's like I'm a striptease already. Here we go. Snip, snip," she joked while the hairdresser started cutting off the strands. 

Suzette is a stand-up comedian. Because her hair out was falling out in huge clumps, she decided to come to Eli's Hair Design to get her hair completely cut and shaved off. It may seem traumatic, but she doesn't seem fazed.

"My hair, the ends of it look really soft. I hope it grows back nicely. I was ready for this breakup with my hair. I think I saw it hanging out by the drain anyway. I think there was something going on," she said with a light laugh.

What You Need To Know

  • Comedian Suzette Simon was diagnosed with breast cancer in January and has shared her often comical take on social media, going live on Facebook from chemotherapy appointments

  • Suzette lost her own mom to breast cancer and wants to honor her by raising awareness about breast cancer and the disparate outcomes Black women face compared to white women

  • Suzette let us film her as she had her head shaved, saying it was time to let go of the hair that seemed to be from a different life

  • Suzette posts funny and inspiring videos under the handle #StrongBlackBoobs and even has had the words painted across her bare front and back

And even looking at herself in the mirror completely bald, she's philosophical.

"It wasn't hair. It was strands of something that like, strands of an old life. Every day with this cancer, I just feel like a new person, and that was just kind of holding me back," Simon said.

At the salon, everyone's interested in Suzette's social media account, including Leila, who is a breast cancer survivor and underwent a double mastectomy. As she watched Suzette's comical takes on everything from chemo to breast reconstruction, she wishes she could've found some humor back then.

"I mean, this girl, I see she has a very good karma. She has a very good spirit. She takes this very well. And I love this kind of person because it's a really, difficult time," Leila said.

Suzette is quite funny, posting under the handle under the handle @strongbackboobs. She's raising awareness about breast cancer and the fact that Black women are 39% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. In fact, Suzette lost her mom to breast cancer, and Suzette herself underwent a double mastectomy in June. And she's not shy to share very raw powerful photos of that procedure, or her comedic take on it.

"The thing is, I'm very positive about it. I've gone through this experience with my mom, and the thing is, I really want to honor my mom's legacy. It's like, my mom died without insurance, you know. She didn't have reconstruction on one breast. She was disfigured. She had like one goofy boob and like no breast, and I'm sure her self-esteem suffered. And I have a great girl squad, I have friends that are supporting me, and I don't think, I kind of feel guilty myself. I felt like I was not as strong as I could've been for her, and so all of this is for my mom," said Suzette as her appointment was completed. 

After that, Suzette threw on a brand new blonde wig and headed to her next round chemotherapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where she says she is happy to have found a great medical team. But before she goes, she grabs her phone in one hand and a big clump of cut hair from the ground in another and begins a new video.

"It's OK, it's OK, OK? So I will see you next year. You be good!" she said.