Supporting Meghan Miller

Meet Meghan. She is our beloved daughter, sister, aunt, cat lover, and friend. She has dedicated all of her professional career as a social worker to helping many kids in the Milwaukee area that are caught in the bureaucratic chaos of dysfunction. She is fond of a message from Mr. Rogers, told to him by his mother, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people that are helping.” That is who Meghan is…one of the helpers.

Meghan had never missed a day of work until a fateful Monday in early March of 2022. Severe stomach pain kept her from a day of work and on to the emergency room. It would be midnight before we heard the shocking initial diagnosis. “You have some type of cancer, but we are not sure where.”

The following days and weeks were ones of multiple invasive tests and endless waiting. It wasn’t until the end of March, on the other side of a major surgery, that this beast would be given its official name…mucinous ovarian carcinoma, an extremely rare form of ovarian cancer. Overall survival rates, we were told, or maybe Googled, were usually pretty good. As long as there is no recurrence.

Sadly, it was less than a year later that cancer decided to rear its ugly head once again. With this news came the quiet background voice; it is no longer considered curable. More tests, more major surgery, more waiting and now on to the indignities of chemo. Meghan is the sole breadwinner in her house…those darn cats just don’t hold a job. She is determined to work as long as she can to continue to support herself and keep her insurance. Another roadblock came as she was beginning chemo. Her insurance provider has changed and now she is facing a new mid-year deductible.

We all have our sad moments, yet Meghan’s spirit is incredible. She is grateful for what she has today, yet a constant knowing that as her nieces experience many life “firsts”, she may be experiencing her “lasts”. She hopes she will live long enough for her nieces to have memories of her. It is a humble and precious way to embrace life.

The request we are making today is to invite you to be one of the helpers. As Meghan does what she can to buy more time, any donation that you can make toward offsetting her new $3,500.00 insurance deductible will help relieve one of the stressors in her life. If you are unable to donate, we are accepting all kinds of positive energy and good vibes! Thank you for your support. And don’t put off living life to the fullest!