Meghan’s Journey: The Story of Meghan Redenbach: The Teenage Girl Who Showed a Community How to “Man Up” in the Face of Cancer (17 page)

Family time

Nick and Meg getting ready to take off

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Well, today is the day that I took Meg to our regular doctor, because she hasn’t felt well for the past three or four days. She was very thirsty and can’t keep her eyes open. I was thinking she was dehydrated. We saw Dr. N and he said she is not dehydrated, but added some more tests to her blood work tomorrow when we go to Roswell. The tests were for thyroid and anemia. He tested her sugar while she was there and she is not a diabetic. He also felt her stomach that is rock hard, and he didn’t like what he was feeling. He wanted me to have Dr. R examine her too. Meg insisted it was her rock-hard abs. Now I was getting nervous because of the extra tests and because Meg is so tired.

Wednesday, August 18

Today we arrived at Roswell around 9:30 a.m. for Meg’s blood work and the check-up that Dr. Nick wanted her to have. We stopped downstairs to have blood work done and then went upstairs to pediatrics. They took one look at her and knew something was going on. We chatted with Terri, Pat, Jean, Kristin, Brandee, Dr. H and Dr. Y. After about an hour and a half of waiting, Dr. H came in and told us that Meg’s calcium levels were through the roof at 19, and normal is between 7 and 9.2. This is why she was feeling yucky. And yes, her stomach did have something going on in there. So, what we had to do was call the ambulance to come to Roswell and take her to Children’s; she would be put in ICU until her calcium level would be under control. Mike and I were ready to hit the floor while Meg was more interested in riding in the ambulance, because she never got to do this before. The doctors were unsure why her calcium levels were so high.

Of course, it was crazy once we got there. We waited for all of the doctors to evaluate her, which took a few hours. Meg’s CA125 cancer tumor marker was out of control. It was 859 and as you know, normal is 0 to 32. Something is definitely going on. Meg will have to have a CT scan, but she can’t keep anything down. They waited until early evening and tried again to keep the liquid down so they could do the scan. They finally got it around 10:00 p.m. They started Meg on aggressive IV fluids which will help to bring the calcium level down. Once it levels out, and if it is still high they will give her a drug called Pamidronate. The scan showed that Meg’s cancer is definitely back and more aggressive. It is now in her liver. There are seedlings in her intestines, and nodules are all around her abdominal area. She also has a mass the size of a baseball. This was definitely news we didn’t want. I stayed with Meg overnight in ICU.

Thursday, August 19

Not a very nice night of rest for us as they were really poking her a lot. Meg improved a little today, but not much. Her calcium level is coming down, but very slowly. We had a lot of visitors. We stayed overnight again.

Friday, August 20

Meg is coming along, slowly but surely. She is asking for a little food. It was a long day for her, sitting around and not doing much of anything. If she improves a little they will move her to a regular room. That will be a little more relaxing for her, but the service won’t be as good.

Saturday, August 21

Meg is doing better today but she is still very tired. Her calcium level is coming down. Dr. R was in to see her and chatted with her about the pic-line that had been put into her arm. Meg told him how she had a panic attack, and the doctor that put it in was nasty to the nurses that were helping him. Mike went with her for this procedure and said she was a wreck. Not because it hurt, but because of all that was going on around her. Dr. R also explained to Mike and me that Meg is a very sick little girl and that the next medicine they want to try is not a guarantee. He told us to let her do things she wants and not to take her most precious thing away from her—VOLLEYBALL. He basically was telling us that Meg’s chance of fighting this was slim. We were very sad, but had to put our smiles on our faces for her. We made an appointment with Roswell to discuss the next steps.

Sunday, August 22

Meg’s calcium is finally at a level to where she can be moved to a regular room for a day. Around three o’clock in the afternoon they told us what floor and room she would be in. They gave her a huge room. Lots of her friends were there, so they all pitched in and helped us move. Meg did great all day. Around 8:00 p.m. she started to not feel so great. We were both tired so we went to bed.

Monday, August 23

Meg woke up feeling yucky, like she was going to throw up. We weren’t quite sure why. We hung around until about 1:00 p.m. so she could make a trip home without throwing up. She slept right up until then. Discharge was so unorganized that we ended up pretty much leaving before the nurse came with the wheelchair.

Tuesday, August 24

We got an appointment at Roswell for Friday, August 27
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. They were waiting to hear from the surgeon and from doctors around the country to see what they may have experienced with this aggressive type of crap.

Wednesday, August 25
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and Thursday, August 26

Meg is getting stronger every day and glad to be home. She is eating a little better and has more energy. Friends have been visiting.

Friday, August 27

We arrived at Roswell around 10:00 a.m. We talked with Dr. R and finalized the next step, which was a chemo pill twice a day, and once a week she will get chemo through her pic line. We decided to start the chemo that day. Her chemo pills would be delivered, because they had to be approved by the insurance company. Surgery was not an option, because the results would leave her with a poor quality of life. Insurance approved her medicine which costs $30,000.00 for a three month supply. WOW!!

Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29

Meg took her chemo pills and didn’t do too badly with them. She was a little queasy. She started to not feel well in the evening. She was also sleepy. Maybe she had too many visitors.

Monday, August 30

Meg felt yucky all day. I kept taking her temperature every couple of hours. Around 11:00 p.m. her fever was 102 and she was throwing up, so I called Roswell and talked with the nurse. The rule is anything over 101 and you have to bring the kids in. I called Bethany and she drove. Meg threw up on the way. They took blood from her and gave her some fluids. We got back around two in the morning. They said they would call us if there was anything going on.

Tuesday, August 31

Meg went to volleyball practice tonight with Mike, she was feeling terrible. She ended up throwing up at practice, but always refuses to give up. She came home and went right to bed.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I had to go back to work today, but it was just for orientation. I had Mom come and stay with Meghan. Well, I was at work for ten minutes and Mom called me and said we had to bring Meg back to Roswell ASAP because her blood work came back with some sorts of unknown infections; it is puzzling how she got them. So I left work and called Mike to come home too. We explained to Meg that we needed to get her back to Roswell. She didn’t even argue because she was so sick. When we got there they admitted her right away and started fluids and very, very strong antibiotics. Meg also has very bad diarrhea.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

This whole mess has been going on for a week now and Meg was sad she missed the first day of school. She is getting very frustrated with not feeling better. The dietician came to talk to her and said she needs to start eating or she will be on a feeding tube. Meg thinks that she is going to get better overnight. The infection she has is nasty.

September 10-30, 2010

Finally the day came in the middle of September for her to come home. She begged the doctor to let her out because there was a volleyball game, so it was right from the hospital to volleyball. I believe it was “Dig Teal Night” in honor of Meg. The rest of September was slow going. Mike and I had meetings with her teachers to let them know where Meg was as far as sickness and that she is upset about missing school and homework. They were all very understanding. Meg was taking her chemo in a pill two times a day and in an IV every week. It made her very sick. She still went to practice but didn’t participate much. She still wasn’t eating well.

October 2010

Meg made many trips to Roswell for different reasons, mainly because she was not feeling well, blood checks and scans. Dr. R said to let her play volleyball as much as she wanted. Meg had not really been going to school much. She had been doing the Skype thing with Mr. Smith in Global. Mrs. Holahan had been coming over to help Meg with English. Meg had lost a ton of weight. She was down to about 105 pounds. Meg continued to go to volleyball all month, played very little, but didn’t miss a beat. We stayed home on Halloween because Meg was sick. Peyton and Kayla came over to “trick or treat.” Meg also went shopping with Olivia and Bridget for dresses for homecoming. I went with them. What an experience! They all came out with dresses.

November 2010

Meg had a lot going on this month but was really under the weather. The volleyball team made playoffs. They played a game in Falconer, but we drove Meg there and back as she was too sick to ride the bus. It was sad that they lost. Meg did get to play at the very end. We stopped at Pizza Hut on the way home to join the team for pizza, but she ate nearly nothing. We were all sad that volleyball was over. There were many doctors’ appointments to try and help Meg feel better. Thanksgiving was at my sister’s house. Meg’s cousin Joe made her plate.

Nurse Pat and Brandee came to Meg’s school to address the kids about Meg’s sickness. Meg felt it was time for this because she had heard kids saying that she just comes to school when she feels like it. This presentation was very informative. Meg came with me to school for this assembly. She needed a wheelchair as she was very weak. She also made her own little presentation to the kids and staff for helping her and our family get through this difficult time. It was very emotional.

Meghan’s speech:

Hi Everybody,

I just wanted to say a few things before we end the program. I want to thank Nurse Pat and Brandee for coming out to our school to expose (you to) a little bit more of the cancer world. I also want to thank all of you, and especially my best friends for always being there for me. If it weren’t for all of you and the staff here at Roy-Hart, I don’t know where I would be. You all have helped my family and me in so many ways, and we can’t thank you enough.

Whenever I can go to school I love to go, because all of you make me feel like I’m not fighting this alone.

Thank you again to the staff and kids here at Roy-Hart. There’s no other place I could imagine going to school and getting the same care.

December 2010

December started out with Meg being very tired and definitely not feeling well. On December 7
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we took her to Roswell to be checked out as she could barely keep her eyes open. When they did some tests they found that her calcium counts were through the roof. This kept Meg in Children’s Hospital in the ICU. Meg was more interested in the ambulance transport, and she had the same drivers as her last ride.

Meg had a lot of visitors, but she was barely awake. Mike and I took turns staying over. Meg was now a very sick little girl. She couldn’t wait to be transferred back to Roswell, but couldn’t go until they got her calcium under control.

Finally, on December 10
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she was allowed to be transferred back to Roswell. That made her day. Meg stayed at Roswell trying to regain her strength. Every day was a chore for her to eat the littlest thing. We tried to get her to eat anything.

On December 17
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, we took Meg home for the afternoon to see her dog and to go to the girls’ basketball game. Meg rested all day, but was unable to have enough strength to walk, so we got her a wheelchair. She saw all her friends that night, and everyone paid extra attention to her. We didn’t stay for the whole game, as it was too much for her, and we still had a long ride back to Roswell.

We got Meg back and tucked into bed, and Mike and I both stayed with her.

This was a “Teal Event” game: The hallways and gym were decorated with teal ribbons, balloons, and posters in honor of Meghan. Most were wearing “Man Up” t-shirts or other “Meghan” shirts that had been created by various teams and community groups. Friends, volleyball players, other athletes, and coaches were also there in support. The basketball team presented Meghan with flowers and hugs before the game.

Before Meghan left the school that night, she had her father wheel her through the halls of the first floor to take one last look around the school she loved so much.

Meghan’s close friend, Jesse DeWaters, remembers it being a very special night. In addition to the theme of the evening, Meg was still thinking of others. It was the first game Jesse was able to complete a “back pass.” After the game, Meghan had her father text Jesse to tell her how awesome it was.

On December 18
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Meg got a phone call from her favorite NBA player, JJ Reddick of the Orlando Magic. She was so excited!

After that Meg started to sleep more and more, and her calcium levels started to rise. She barely stayed awake for long. She had a lot of visitors through the days. Doctors told us to let her have as many visitors as she wanted. Her friends from school visited, so did volleyball teams, Nick’s friends, Mike’s and my friends and family.

Once Meg was really not communicating or getting out of bed, they brought in a special bed for her. It was a sand bed that was heated and air generated. This kept Meg from getting bed sores and would make her more comfortable.

On December 23
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Meg had taken a turn for the worse. Mike, Nick, and I had been taking turns staying for the last week and a half. Mike and I stayed this night, and Nick went home. Meg’s heart rate was slowing down, and we knew that we were close to losing our little girl. With just winks of sleep over the last two weeks—this was tearing our hearts out.

On December 24th—Christmas Eve—Meg took her last breath at 6:30 a.m. Mike and I held her as long as we could, and we were in shock that we had lost our daughter…