Meghan’s Journey: The Story of Meghan Redenbach: The Teenage Girl Who Showed a Community How to “Man Up” in the Face of Cancer (14 page)

Thursday, November 12

Meg slept right until the surgical team came in. Meg loves these doctors. She finally passed gas yesterday. They came in and pulled the tube while they were here. Meg said it felt like spaghetti coming through her nose. Her stomach feels like she did a hundred sits ups. She is hanging out in bed today for a while waiting to go for her walk. The physical therapist came up and took Meg for a walk around, it wasn’t easy.

(Mike writes)
Dad relieved Mom at about 1:00 p.m. so mom could go home and get some rest. Meg and I went for a couple of walks around. She did really well. She is getting very uncomfortable. Hunger pains? It’s going to be a long night.

Friday, November 13

(Mike writes)
At 2:30 a.m. Meg is very uncomfortable. She threw up and she just can’t get comfortable to get some rest. Meghan is telling me that she can’t do this anymore. It’s so hard to see her in such pain. I feel helpless. I feel like I can’t do anything for her. I get so mad when we can’t get any answers from the doctors (or students)!!

She did finally pass gas. Meg and I laughed about it. All she said was “Dad” and we both burst out laughing. It was like in the movie “Elf.” (Did you hear that?!) Meg finally fell asleep about 3:15 a.m. and got some rest. I was so mad about how the night went, but it was better after I talked to Dr. Y. I like him. He seems real. They are going to start fluids and maybe soft solids for lunch. Meg seems to feel a little better with the news of food!!
J
After the doctors left, Meg let another bomb go! It was so good to hear her pass gas—we both laughed. We had some apple juice and a popsicle; so far so good. When she feels good, I feel good. But man, I get so pissed off sometimes. We went for a walk at 11:30 a.m. Meg is still uncomfortable, but she is being very strong. Meghan finally went poo (like it was her job)!!
J
She can’t wait to tell her friend, Bridget - LOL. Time to get some rest, Meg. Daddy loves you very much.

(Nancy writes)
Mom took over around 2:00 p.m. and Mike hung here until 4:30. Meg threw up again and has had to run to the bathroom a million times with the runs. She feels yucky today. She has bad cramps but the doctor said that is a good sign. She is very tired. Grandma is coming to visit tonight. Meg didn’t eat her dinner. After Grandma left we watched the hockey game. Meg had a few Honey Nut Cheerios that stayed down, but she still has the runs. She had a hard time falling asleep because her bladder hurts when she pees. Kristin gave her some Lortab and she was out like a light. She was afraid to take medicine all day fearing it would make her throw up. She slept like a baby all night. She got up around six to go poo again, then back to sleep.

Saturday, November 14

Meg has not been peeing as much as she should, so they gave her more fluids over a two hour period. It has been almost two hours and she hasn’t peed. She is sleeping very soundly. The doctors came in around 8:30 a.m. and said Meg could go home today as long as she eats and drinks on her own. They want her to stay through lunch. Meg had frosted flakes, pudding, donuts, tater tots, and a couple of spoons of soup. She still has the runs but they are testing her stool to see if she has a bacteria from the antibiotics that sometimes irritates the bowel. If she has this bacteria they will call us and give us another antibiotic to get rid of it. We will be leaving here around 2:00 this afternoon.

We got home around 3:30. Meg said it felt good to be in her own house. Meg was feeling pretty good and we watched the hockey game. Bethany came over and of course brought dinner again. It was delicious. Meg slept on the couch because it was more comfortable for her. She slept very soundly. She only needed two doses of pain medicine.

Sunday, November 15

Meg woke up and was feeling pretty good. She got in the shower which made her feel even better. She pretty much laid around all day and watched football. Bethany came over around 2:30, and Caryn, Bridget and Erin Snyder came over around four in the afternoon. Bethany played games with Meg. Caryn, Bridget and Erin bought Meg a two hour training session with Rocco from the Niagara Frontier Volleyball Club. This was from the whole volleyball team. After they left it was a quiet, enjoyable evening at home. Meg is going to sleep in her room.

Monday, November 16

Meg slept awesome in her own bed last night. She got up around 10:30 this morning. Grandma came over and I ran to the bank and to Tim Hortons for Meg. Meg has been doing a good job of eating and drinking. She still has pain when she goes pee. I called for an appointment to see the surgeon on Wednesday. Dan and Debbie stopped over to visit Meg and bring her a gift. We took Meg to Sean Patrick’s for dinner. She just wanted to get out. When we got home Brittany called and wanted to bring her a gift. It was so cute. She brought her a Sponge Bob pillow and blanket. Meg went in her room about 8:30 and watched TV for the evening. She called me around 3:30 a.m. to give her a pain pill. She just couldn’t get comfortable.

Tuesday, November 17

Meg had a good night’s sleep. I called to get her a hair appointment, and they could get her in around 11:30 today. Her guidance counselor will be stopping to drop off homework. Mr. and Mrs. Holahan are stopping around 5:00. Courtney is going to come over after cheerleading practice. Amanda is also supposed to come today.

Well, there was a change of plans. We decided to go to the Alumni Sabres vs. the Faculty game. Meg needed to get out and see her friends. We all had a good time. They gave Meg a shirt with #21 on it with the teal ribbon on the arm. The faculty also wore these shirts for the game. Mr. and Mrs. Holahan dropped off dinner—it was awesome! She also brought brownies that were perfect, and banana bread. Mr. Holahan made videos of a couple of games that Meg played in and also a copy of the Sports Awards. He brought her trophy, varsity letter and certificates. She also received a volleyball pin.

Wednesday, November 18

Today was Meghan’s visit with the surgeon and then to visit the radiation doctor. Meg got a good report at Dr. C’s office and has to go back on January 5
th
. From there we went to Roswell. This wasn’t a very good experience. The doctors were very good at explaining everything until it came to the part about how many weeks she would have to do radiation. She was led to believe two weeks from Dr. B, but it is going to be five weeks, Monday through Friday. Meg had a very bad meltdown. She broke down crying and said she is not doing that. It took about an hour to calm her down. She then went in and had her scan done so they can work up her program. This will take about a week to ten days. As soon as we walked out of the hospital she was all smiles. Meghan was like a different little girl. She said, “I needed to get out of there before I flipped out.”

We took her to the Anchor Bar for lunch. Jeff, from Make-A-Wish, came over around 4:00 and brought Meg a cheesecake with strawberries. We had to tell him that we needed to cancel our trip to Hawaii, as Meg’s radiation schedule would conflict with the dates of the trip. They said they could work around it, but we don’t want to take any chances with her health. She isn’t too upset about putting it off. Jeff said there is no problem with it. After he left we were all mentally exhausted. It was a very trying day for all of us.

Thursday, November 19

Meg went back to school today. I took her in around 8:00 a.m. I talked with the nurse and her guidance counselor. Meg was so excited about getting an elevator key. I told her to call me if she needed to come home early.

Around 12:30 she called me to come and get her. Her back was sore and she was very tired. Nick was on his way home from school so he picked her up. She came home and rested. Later on Bridget and Caryn Shanahan came over. Bridget and Meg played cards and we visited. In the evening Miss Maclam arrived to help Meg with her homework. She got a lot done. Nick got home from work after ten, and then his friend Dylan stopped by. He is home from the military for about ten days. When Meg heard his voice she was done with homework. Miss Maclam left. Mike and I went to bed. Nick, Meg and Dylan watched a movie until 2:30 in the morning. Meg knew she wasn’t going to school. She needed to stay home and rest.

Friday, November 20

I went to work and so did Mike. Meg stayed home and slept in a little. She got up and got right to her homework. She laid around most of the day. I only had to work two hours and then I ran a lot of errands. Mike went to the Sabres game with Gary, and I went with Meg to Amanda’s birthday party. After we got home Meg was tired.

Saturday, November 21

Today is “opening day” for deer season, and Mike went hunting in the back woods. Meg and I slept in. When we got up we decided we wanted to go to the movies and see “New Moon”. It just came out the day before. We went to the Flix Theater in Lancaster, and Meg took Jordan. Mike’s friends from work gave her $60.00 in gift certificates and we spent $56.00 of it. The price of movies and snacks is crazy! The movie was AWESOME! Meg and Jordan loved it. I even enjoyed it. We didn’t do anything at night. Meg was tired.

Sunday, November 22

Very boring day today. Meg did homework all day. We watched the Buffalo Bills game and that was about it. We watched the American Music Awards. Meg is going to try to make a whole day at school tomorrow.

Monday, November 23

Meg went to school today, and it was a very long day. Mike picked Meg up at the end of the day and we went to meet the Niagara University Hockey Team. They dedicated the game to Meg and had a presentation about her, and it was awesome (Jeff Weber, one of NU’s coaches, was Meghan’s Make-A-Wish coordinator). They had a sign made that said “Man Up!” and they are hanging it up above the hockey sticks in the locker room. Also, they each received one of Meg’s hats that will be part of their attire before games. The captain presented Meg with an NU jersey that had her name on it. They also gave her a book that had pages about each player and they all wrote her a message. They took lots of pictures.

Inside the Niagara University hockey players’ locker room

Tuesday, November 24

Meg stayed home today. She did homework all day. They called from the radiation department at Roswell. They will be starting her treatment on December 3
rd
. She has to go on December 2
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for a trial run. I will not be writing again until her trial run on December 2
nd
. Everyday Meghan grows a little stronger.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Today we went to Roswell at 4:40 p.m. for Meg’s trial run. We will be scheduled every day at this time. They just put her on the table and made sure all the measurements were right. We were in and out in thirty minutes. Also, our friends were at it again. Meg has 26 radiation visits and there are 26 letters in the alphabet, so every day when we get home from treatment, they will leave something with the letter of the day. Today was “A” for Apple crisp.

Thursday, December 3

Today was Meg’s first day of radiation. We got there around 4:30 p.m. and we were out by 5:10. Meg brought Bridget with her. They were like partners in crime. We went to dinner with Cathy and Phil Ratzel at Sean Patrick’s. They had a box filled with Penn State apparel. Meg was so excited! Meg and Bridget looked at all the items for a while. Meg looks forward to seeing who leaves what for each letter. Today was “B” for Bath time.

Friday, December 4

Back to Roswell. We saw Kristin and chatted with her. We also went to the boys’ basketball game. During the day Deirdre called me at work about her test results that came back to see if she has breast cancer. Sadly enough, she does. It was a very sad day. “C” is for coloring and cookies. Day two of radiation.

Sunday, December 6

Today Meg and Bridget are going to Kissmas Bash at HSBC Arena in the suites. Meg is supposed to be going backstage to shoot a commercial. They are so excited.

Meg spent the entire concert backstage and Bridget stayed in the suite. We felt bad about that. Meg made a commercial with Jason Peruli and met all the other acts that were there. She had the best time. We didn’t get home until around 10:30 p.m. She was exhausted.

Monday, December 7

Meg stayed home today and did lots of homework. She was tired. We have noticed that her energy level has gone down, but today is day three of radiation and “D” day. She received a stuffed Christmas dog and a ten dollar Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. She still feels pretty good. We went to her first night of club volleyball and she didn’t do much. I am waiting to hear back from Dr. C to see when she is cleared to play. Meg really hopes he lets her play.

Tuesday, December 8

Meg went to school today and it is day four of radiation. She is still feeling good. Today is “E” day and she received a $25.00 gift card to eBay. All she thinks about is shopping. We went to the boys’ basketball game after her treatment. She is still very tired.

Wednesday, December 9

This is the one year anniversary of when we found out Meg had cancer, and it is also day five of her treatment. She is still feeling good but tired. We stopped at Grandma’s house on the way home because she just got home from Florida today. Today was “F” day, and Meg received Flipz, Fritos, Fuze and Fudge brownies. Meg loves this part of the day. We have fun trying to guess.