Megan is my daughter. She was diagnosed in April 2020 with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at the age of 16. At the time, Megan was finishing up her sophomore year of high school. Due to the pandemic, school was virtual, and even though she had a month and a half to go, she finished with straight A’s while receiving chemo. She would go on to have four cycles that included 16 rounds of chemo. Her cancer was still not completely gone, so a 21-day regimen of radiation was administered. Megan would start her junior year virtually but was able to have a hybrid schedule, some in class and some online. Remission was announced in December of 2020, and Megan continued to maintain a 4.0 GPA.
However, that remission was short-lived. Megan’s cancer relapsed, and she was diagnosed once again with stage 2 HL in April 2021. This time her team of doctors wanted to give her better odds to beat this disease. Megan would go through two cycles of chemotherapy and immunotherapy before having stem cell retrieval. In July of 2021, Megan was set to go through yet another scary experience to beat cancer. She would receive six days of intense chemo to completely wipe her immune system out before receiving her own stem cells back to rebuild a whole new immune system. This kid never once played the “poor me” card and did everything in her power to maintain her strength and be well enough to go home and recover. After three weeks straight in the hospital, Megan was released to go home.
With her senior year starting the following month and her not being allowed to be around people because of her weakened immune system, Megan had to start school virtually once again. The first day of her senior year was spent in the hospital receiving her first of 16 immunotherapy treatments. And I must say, as determined as Megan was to not let anything stop her senior year experience, she got up, got dressed in her first day of school outfit, opened up her chrome book, and worked. That is a proud parent moment and a testament to how much she wanted to still learn and how much appreciation she had for educators. Megan continued virtually until January 2022 when she was given the okay from her oncologist to attend in person.
Megan would start her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) class for the semester, and this would change the course of her future. She decided at the end of her first diagnosis and treatment that oncology nursing is what she wanted to study in college. This CNA class showed her the beginning steps of her future in nursing. Megan was selected as the student of the month in Health Sciences for her skills and attention to detail with the residents during clinical sessions. She would go on to graduate with the highest honors. She has been accepted into Weber State University. She will be attending this fall, focusing on pursuing her degree in nursing. Megan currently works as a CNA for the veterans’ home in Ogden. I can’t be prouder of how at 16, when the worst card of life was handed to her, she turned it into a path for her future.
Written by family member.
Megan
Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)
