Meredith McGee

Howdy friends! To start off with, here's the back story (as told by my loving husband who is writing this for me)-


Meredith was first diagnosed  with Stage 3a Triple Positive (HER2+,ER+,PR+) Breast Cancer in September 2017 in Savannah, Georgia. She was 36 years old at the time. She went through 5 rounds of heavy chemotherapy, then suffered through a botched DIEP Flap reconstructive surgery that she never actually recovered from.  Following this surgery, it was determined that she also needed 28 radiation treatments. Although the radiation ruined any opportunity for the reconstruction to remain viable, it turned out to be the easiest part of her treatment. She also had a full hysterectomy and hemithyroidectomy during this time to limit the effect that hormones played in feeding her cancer. Her IV Chemotherapy lasted through October 2018. At that point, we moved to Atlanta to seek better care at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University Hospital. She was immediately started on endocrine therapy to further suppress her hormone levels. 


Meredith has spent the last three years fighting through the pain and terrible side effects to find some semblance of normal. She ultimately went through five more reconstructive surgeries. Following the first of these surgeries, she had severe internal hemorrhaging which caused her blood pressure to plummet and she had to be rushed back into surgery to save her life. Ultimately, all of these surgeries resulted in a full bilateral mastectomy which, in hind sight, was what should have been the first surgery given that radiation would be required.  After tons of medications, physical therapy, and exercise, things were beginning to look up. Earlier this year, Meredith was accepted into a Master's program that would allow her to provide much needed psychological support  to individuals and families going through similar traumas as an LMFT. We were finally ready to move forward with life plans.


Then, everything changed. In June 2021, the doctors found 3 tumors in her bones. She was quickly diagnosed with Stage 4 Triple Negative (HER-,ER-,PR-) Metastatic Breast Cancer. The primary areas of concern are in her lower back (L4) and right hip. There is another tumor in her skull, although thankfully it has not permeated the brain cavity. Ten palliative radiation treatments have been prescribed so far to help with the pain in her lower back. This time, radiation has been quite difficult. Soon she will start on an oral chemotherapy drug which will hopefully keep her cancer at bay long enough to enjoy some luxurious trips with me and our beautiful fur babies. Needless to say, graduate school is no longer in the cards.


Our wish for this site is to keep family and friends updated on things. Although we love hearing from each of you individually, sometimes it's just too exhausting to be asked "How are you doing?" over and over again. Hopefully, we'll be able to use this site to share some of our wonderful and exciting experiences as well. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Please know that we are not asking for any donations. Caring Bridge is a free outlet for us to use to communicate with you, and it may prompt you for a donation to the site itself. If you choose to make a donation, it goes to support Caring Bridge itself and is absolutely not necessary. Peace and love ✌🏻❤️