I apologize in advance about this coming to you as on my blog; there are a lot of people who we need to tell but honestly, repeating the same story over and over again every day isn't very fun. Please know that you can call or e-mail me any time you want, but this is the easiest way for us to let everyone know what's going on.

Megan has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She found a mass in her breast last week. Being the responsible adult that she is, she went to the doctor and had a mammogram and a biopsy done. Our surgeon got the results of the biopsy on Tuesday and unfortunately has diagnosed it as cancer. The tumor is approximately 2.1 cm across which is on the line between Stage I and Stage II cancer. Megan gets annual mammograms every July, so this tumor has rapidly grown in the last 8 months.

The surgeon and the oncologist have come up with a plan for treatment and it will begin on Monday. Megan will undergo 8 rounds of chemotherapy over the next 16 weeks, with 1 treatment every other week. Her medication will be administered through a blood catheter that will be inserted in to her arm tomorrow; this is so that she won't be continually stuck with needles for the weekly blood tests and bi-weekly treatments. Because she is so young, the oncologist is putting her on very aggressive chemotherapy. Her hair is going to fall out within two weeks. She will be tired most of the time, will lose her appetite, and will feel progressively worse as the treatment goes on. She won't feel sick all the time, but she will have more bad days than good days. Fortunately, her work with the US House of Representatives has provided her with a very supportive staff that has worked out a plan for her to continue working, even if it has to occasionally be from home. Their understanding and willingness to pick up some of her work has been a huge blessing for her.

At the end of the treatment cycle, Megan will have surgery to remove the rest of the tumor. The surgeon has said that the surgery may come in the middle of the treatment cycle depending on how the tumor is responding to the chemo, but more than likely the surgery will be in the June/July time frame. Because it doesn't look like the cancer has spread to any other part of her body, Megan will probably have a lumpectomy to remove the tumor. A lumpectomy is basically a removal of the tumor and a small amount of the surrounding tissue. They would only have a mastectomy or double mastectomy if her breast MRI or Pet/CT scan show cancer in her other breast. She may also have a mastectomy in the future if the cancer comes back. However, because Megan doesn't have a family history of cancer or any risk factors for having cancer in the first place, the chances of her having any form of a mastectomy are very low.

Our doctors are very positive about Megan's condition and the oncoming treatment. They expect her to make a full, 100% recovery. She will lead a normal, cancer-free life after the treatment is complete. We have had a very difficult week so far, but as we arm ourselves with knowledge, the situation certainly isn't as bleak as it first seemed. Megan is meeting with a breast cancer survivor on Saturday and we are going to look in to finding a support group next week. We certainly aren't excited by any means about going through chemotherapy and the eventual surgery, but knowing that Megan will be healthy again in five months gives us something positive to look forward to.

I certainly can't stop you from forwarding this around, nor am I asking you not to, but I do ask that if anyone has questions or wants to pass along a message to please contact me rather than Megan. She would love to hear from everyone but right now she needs to focus on getting better and being bombarded with a million e-mails and phone calls would be very distracting. Please understand that this isn't filtering or screening, just a way for her to stay focused on the task at hand. I will make sure she sees and hears all of the kind words of encouragement sent her way.

Thank you for your support,

Joe McClendon