Megan's Fight Against AML

Please help the Cagigas family as they vow to BEAT AML!

Donate now to ENSURE that Megan continues to receive the long-term cancer care she needs.

Dear family and friends of Megan, 

In early October we were all shocked to learn that our dear Megan was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive blood cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML.  As many know, she went to the doctor on Monday not feeling well and by Friday she had begun intensive chemotherapy treatments meant to destroy her cancer. She didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her two boys before she was admitted to the hospital as the situation was that critical.

Megan has just completed the first 30-day round inside the hospital with good results and is staying her typically strong and positive self and the family now has a better idea of the road map forward. Several more intensive rounds with extended hospital stays are imminent and due to a specific genetic mutation referred to as 11q23, a transplant is on her horizon.  We should all be confident there will be a cure for Megan, but there is no question the road will be a long one and will take every ounce of fight.

So, today we begin to raise funds to help the Cagigas family offset the costs of the up-to yearlong (or more) battle Megan will face. During treatment it will be impossible for Megan to continue to work and she will remain largely in isolation due to a total lack of an immune system (AML takes over the blood, so the treatment burns down the entire house, repeatedly, to get rid of the rapidly spreading invader).  And while all options are being exhausted to make up for loss of income for the next 7-14 months, we are raising 30k to fill in the gap and help cover just some of the income and medical expenses so Megan, Adrian and the kids can focus on beating this horrible disease. Megan was the insurance provider for her family, and Adrian was already on reduced schedule due to COVID, so our goal is to cover the insurance costs for 2020 and 2021. 

As someone who has faced down this disease in my own family, with my five-year-old survivor son, I can tell you that there is great reason to hope. But I want to impress that the right care, quality of care and maintaining insurance is absolutely essential to defeating an aggressive cancer like AML. A top-notch team, familiar with any advancements, is critical to the overall prognosis.  Megan is certainly in fantastic hands at OHSU where Dr. Drucker and his team have established the BEAT AML master trials.  And we believe that already the care at OHSU and their attention to genomics and precision medicine is turning the tide in her favor.

I would like to speak personally to the hardship and uncertainty, financially and emotionally, that AML creates for a family. I stopped counting when our bill reached 2 million dollars 4.5 months into treatment. Luckily, in our situation we were able to maintain coverage through our employer and have uninterrupted care, which was key to our sons survival. These next few months are going to be filled with many ups and downs as they try to navigate this new reality. I kindly ask that we lift this family up on their journey and reduce their burden so they can focus on loving each other and getting Megan cured. 

Megan has impacted so many of our lives in such a positive way, and continues to emote her trademark up-beat attitude, so let’s show her we believe in her, her cure and that we are fighting with her, Adrian, Kai and Cruz.  

You got this girl!

For more info on AML and the BEAT AML initiative click HERE

p.s. If you’re a cancer survivor let us know when you donate. Let’s surround her with positivity.