The topic of my hair is often the subject of conversation -- and is a constant reminder that this brown curly hair I have covering my head is nothing like the straight blond hair I was born with, grew up with, was known for. Because my little boys have white blond hair, I am consistently asked by strangers, "Where did your boys get that blond hair?" "From me," is what I want to say because it's the truth -- but that would make no sense to anyone who does not know me, anyone who does not know that my hair -- that once looked much like my boys' hair -- was lost to chemotherapy and returned shockingly different. So sometimes I just chuckle in wonder with these strangers who may not expect an answer anyway. Or I tell them the story -- if they seem to really want in on the details of the mystery. Most people are surprised that my hair grew back like it did. I am not surprised -- I was warned that it might happen -- although it is still a startling discovery each time I look in the mirror, each time I look back at photos, each time I see gray hairs emerging through my dark hair -- gray that only slightly showed up in the midst of my blond locks.

The memory of my blond hair keeps popping up. My husband told me the other day that he had a dream about me -- I was in a restaurant, at a table, by myself. He was walking toward me. And I had blond hair. The rest of the dream is insignificant. The blond hair is significant. And the other day, I pulled my brush out of my purse. It hasn't been used in more than a year -- because I don't brush my curls at all -- and at the base of the brush, wound around the bristles, were long blond strands of hair. My blond hair. My old hair. The same hair I showed my friend who visited from Ohio last week -- the hair that was once on my head, was cut off in preparation of the great fallout, and is now kept in a ziplock bag.

I like my brown hair. I like my curls. But I miss my blond hair. I am sad that I no longer match my children, that I don't look like the bride in my wedding photo, that I will attend my 20-year high school reunion in two years and will wear a photo name tag that looks nothing like me. I like the familiar -- which is why I never wanted to show my bald head, why I covered my head with blond wigs and hats to keep my appearance as close to normal as possible. And then in a strange turn of events, my hair grew back in an unfamiliar fashion -- and somehow the question, "I see where your boys get that blond hair" flip-flopped into "Where did your boys get that blond hair?" It is all still new to me. I know one day it will become familiar and normal and not such a big deal. Some day. I hope.

We have been following the story about a potential cancer cluster that has caused thyroid cancer in teens living within a few miles of each other. The parents have been seeking help and answers to determine if there is an environmental cause. The parent group stated they had approached the state and county and felt they were being ignored in the request to have the water in the area tested. Last week, the city stepped up and offered to investigate.

After the story came out about the Trenton teens, one of the parents said the parent group has been contacted by six other people in the area with thyroid cancer.

In a new development, Cincinnati News 5, who is following this story closely, and investigating information as it becomes available, recently aired an interview with Dr. Peter Rickards of Idaho, who has been investigating other thyroid cancer cases in the Pacific Northwest linked to radioactive fallout from nuclear tests.

According to Dr. Rickards, drinking milk from cows who grazed in dairy fields contaminated with radioactive iodine-131 has been linked to increased cases of thyroid cancer in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr. Rickards suggests the parents and investigators in Trenton look for a fresh source of radioactive iodine in the neighborhood.

Dr. Rickards went on to suggest that they need to take a look at how medical incinerators and cancer clinics have been disposing of iodine-131, perhaps incorrectly, and that might possibly be a source of contamination. He doesn't say this is the definitive cause for the unusual number of young people being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in Butler County -- only that it might be a good place to start looking for answers.

You can watch the Cincinnati News 5 news report video Expert: Contaminated Milk Possibly To Blame For Cancer Cases here.

Earlier this week, Greenpeace and 52 scientists issued a study stating that the long-term cancer effects of the Chernobyl disaster have been grossly underestimated by the International Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum, and released an independent report highlighting the grim realities. In another study, called The Other Report on Chernobyl, known as the TORCH study, two British scientists report that 20 years after the nuclear explosion, in what is referred to as the world's worst industrial accident, leukemia, breast cancers, bladder cancers, and kidney cancers in people exposed to the radiation fallout continue to be diagnosed in countries as far away as the UK.

Torch claims that more than half of the fallout from the explosion landed outside Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, contaminating about 34 per cent of the UK's surface. It reveals that there are still restrictions on 374 farms covering 750 square kilometers and 200,000 sheep in the UK. The Other Report on Chernobyl, TORCH, is a 91 page study available online as a PDF document. Its comprehensive information, including an explanation of why the figures have been downplayed, makes for a compelling read. We live on a very small planet, and what affects one area of our planet will eventually have an affect on other parts of the planet. The winds and weather patterns carried the Chernobyl power plant disaster worldwide.

"There are two compelling reasons why this tragedy must not be forgotten. First, if we forget Chernobyl, we increase the risk of more technological and environmental disasters in the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering every day." -- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General 2000