Megan Pharo, A Cancer Survivor
By: Jackie Oimoen

Meet 15-year-old, Megan Pharo, a kind of quiet teenager who will be a sophomore at Mount Horeb High School. Originally diagnosed with cancer at the age of five, Megan has been named this year's Honorary Survivor for the upcoming Relay For Life of Mount Horeb. She is the daughter of Mike Pharo and Brenda Pharo and a sister to Cody, Ryan and Allison.

Megan's cancer journey began in the summer of 2008 when members of the Mount Horeb Lions Club visited her daycare, Hearts and Hands Children's Center, to conduct their annual preschool eye screening. Parents receive notice of the screening and are required to sign a permission form in order to have their child's eyes tested. Megan's mother, Brenda, said “I never had my sons go through the screening as they had their kindergarten wellness checks around the same time. For some reason, this one time I decided to do it.” Following the screening, the Lion's Club suggested that Megan be seen by an optometrist.

The result of the first 1-1/2 hour visit with a fidgety five-year-old resulted in a suggestion that they come back in three months as they weren't sure she needed glasses. On the way home, Brenda didn't have a good feeling about waiting, so she called the clinic the next day. Soon after, they met with an ophthalmologist who looked in her eye and scheduled an immediate MRI. All Megan remembers is “I had a little thing to hold onto and push in case I wanted out.” She was scared and crying but they got enough of an image to see a tumor.

Megan was admitted to the UW Children's Hospital so she could be sedated for a more thorough MRI. There was a tumor in her head that was affecting her vision. According to Brenda, “We knew we were in for a battle.” Megan had a slow growing tumor which was located on the optic nerve which affected her left eye. It's possible that Megan had the tumor since she was two or three years of age, but was too young to realize there was an issue and just adapted to the gradual deterioration in her vision. Surgery was not suggested because of the risk of losing sight in both eyes.

The following week, Megan started a two-year every other week regimen of two chemo drugs which were administered with a syringe. Her hair thinned, and she became nauseated and would vomit after every treatment. But then she felt fine, and went back to school on the same day as her treatment. “I liked school and didn't want to miss it,” said Megan. Brenda refers to it as “strong willed.” Six months into the treatments, there was good news that the tumor was shrinking and that Megan's peripheral vision was improving. Possibly the optic nerve would regenerate and there could be some improvement in her vision.

Then, Megan went into respiratory failure, an allergic reaction to one of the drugs, during one of her treatments. That resulted in coming up with a new treatment plan and starting the two-year regimen all over. Every Tuesday for over two years, Megan went to the UW Children's Hospital for an IV drip chemotherapy which took about 2-1/2 hours in addition to staying longer after the treatment to be sure there was no allergic reaction. Although the tumor didn't shrink as fast, there was no hair loss nor did she become nauseous. In fact, Megan remained very strong as told by her doctor when Megan was asked to squeeze the doctor's hand as hard as she could.

Megan received her final treatment at around age 8, and she continued to live life with impaired vision in her left eye. Until 9:00 a.m. on one morning in 2016 when Megan was sitting in history class and noticed that her left eye got more blurry than normal, followed by no sight in that eye, blurriness again, then no sight. She thought her sight would come back so she didn't tell her Mom until that evening.

The following day, a trip to the ophthalmologist and an MRI showed no change in the optic nerve. They decided to prescribe a steroid in the event there was inflammation squeezing on the nerve. After no change in one week, they met with two oncologists who did not know why Megan had lost sight but indicated that “time is of the essence.” Either the nerve was constricted by something which could be treated by another regimen of chemotherapy or the nerve had “stroked”, meaning that there was nothing they could do. Megan's parents decided to let Megan, at age 14, make the decision. Megan chose to do additional chemotherapy from November 2016 through April 2017. Unfortunately, the treatments did not work; and Megan remains blind in her left eye.

Megan continues to live life as a normal teenager and has her driver's learning permit. She recently met with an occupational therapist who is trained in evaluating people for driving and passed all of the tests with flying colors. When asked if she thinks about her tumor, she replied, “I think about it all the time. I worry about what lies ahead.”

Megan is a huge fan of the Wisconsin Badgers Women's hockey team and has been attending their games for the past three years. Megan received a huge surprise in January 2017 after her brother, Cody, contacted Badgers Give Back. It was a dream come true as she sat on the bench during warm-up, met with the team after the game, received a signed jersey, and rode the Zamboni. The relationships that she has developed with several of the players have given Megan an emotional boost during her struggle with cancer. Megan attends all home games and some away games and was fortunate to attend Frozen 4 games in St. Louis and Minneapolis.

As this year's Honorary Survivor, Megan will lead the survivor lap at the Relay For Life of Mt. Horeb on July 20. Relay For Life of Mount Horeb will be held on Friday, July 20 from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. on the upper track located by the pavilion at Grundahl Park. Additional information is available at www.Relayforlife.org/mthorebwi or you can contact Theresa Buechner at (608) 225-4386. If you, a family member, or a friend has questions regarding current or past struggles with cancer, you can contact the American Cancer Society at 1 (800) 227-2345. A volunteer is available to speak to you anytime day or night.