Grant Megan's Wishes! xoxox

FIGHTING  AND CHEERING
FOR MEGAN!  XOXOXO
Megan Curry is a High School Senior and state championship-level varsity cheerleader. Due to debilitating complications from a stem cell transplant, Megan has missed her entire senior year, Christmas, her 18th Birthday, and Senior Prom.  She is currently bed-ridden, unable to even sit up without help.

News stories: 
Bringing cheer to Grassfield Senior fighting for her life
Grassfield cheerleader fights through blood disorder

In November 2013, Megan was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health with an extremely rare genetic disorder referred to as “GATA2.”  This condition results from a mutation on GATA2 gene, which is a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplasia (MDS), mycobacterial infection, and severe vulnerability to viral infections.  This diagnosis followed several years of recurrent illness during which Megan had been followed closely by the Pediatric Hematology Department at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.  After consultation with several specialists, the decision was made for Megan to undergo a Stem Cell Transplant at Duke. 

Megan with Jeff Foxworthy at Duke:
After conditioning with chemotherapy and radiation, Megan received the transplant in March 2014.

Transplant day:
Following transplant Megan progressed relatively normally, but she suffered several serious setbacks including severe allergic reactions and a minor stroke.  Additionally, she had recurring events of Graft Versus Host (GVH) disease, where the transplanted cells attack the host body.  Through the summer of 2014 Megan was hospitalized several times as her condition began to deteriorate.  On December 1, Megan was taken by ambulance to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Portsmouth Naval Hospital.  She remained there until December 23, when the decision was made to transport her back to Duke’s Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Ward by air ambulance, where she remains hospitalized to this day.

Boarding a Citation V:

Megan has been diagnosed with an autoimmune pancytopenia, meaning she has low red blood cell, white blood cell, and platelet counts that result from her body making antibodies against her own cells.  The treatment for this ailment has included several chemotherapy drugs that have so far not worked.  Megan has been in tremendous pain during much of this process and her body has been ravaged by the effects of the steroids needed to keep her alive.  It has been confirmed that she will require a second transplant, which will occur mid-May 2015, if she can get her strength up.  Basically, she will begin the process all over again.

Megan’s wish is for 2 things- She would like to repay the $12,000 her family had to borrow for the freezing of her eggs since insurance did not cover this and secondly, she would like a pool in her back yard.  The pool will be great therapy for Megan when she comes home, she is utilizing a wheelchair now and must regain strength to walk again.  We hope this will give her the incentive she needs to keep fighting!

We continue to pray for her and her family during this extremely uncertain time!

Thank you and God Bless!
Friends of Megan