Megan's Stage 4 Cancer Fight

Spoiler Alert! This story will probably make you cry, and that’s totally okay. But it should also make you laugh which is even better because after all, laughter is the best medicine.

Whether you know her as a tireless autism advocate, loyal band mom, or as the world’s greatest unknown standup comic, Megan Misegadis is an extraordinary person.

And she needs our help.

In January 2018, Megan was diagnosed with colon cancer. It’s unimaginable, right?

Not Megan. Not the Misegadis family. This can’t be happening.

Fraught with anxiety and worry for her family, Megan did what Megan does. She comforted everyone around her as she prepared to undergo surgery. Just days after the diagnosis, Megan had a right hemicolectomy to remove the cancerous tumor, as well as surrounding lymph nodes. The night before surgery, she coaxed Jack to sleep and worried that Emma was taking on too much of the family’s responsibilities. She cried and panicked quietly so as not to disturb her precious family. Thoughts of “what if…” invading her imagination.

She came through surgery like a champ, and even though her bum was super numb from all that laying around, her pain was manageable. I should mention that about a week post-surgery, her biggest complaint was sore stomach muscles from a severe giggle fit. That’s our Megan. Smiling, laughing, finding humor even in the very darkest times. But then her pathology came back.

The cancer spread to her liver. Stage 4 cancer. 

Not Megan. This can’t be happening to Megan.

Megan and Mike are mom and dad to Emma and Jack. Twins, born almost 2 decades ago. Jack has autism, Emma does not. Recent graduates of Lincoln East High School, they have grown into outstanding young adults. Emma is a freshman at UNL majoring in nursing, and Jack is participating in a Transitions Program through the Lincoln Public Schools, and will eventually take classes at Southeast Community College. The twins are everything to Megan and Mike. The Misegadises (Misegadi? Misegadis’s?) are a close family who love to laugh and be together. In fact, that same night before her surgery, they cried together. They held each other tight, cried, giggled a little, cried some more, then one by one they finally fell asleep.



This can’t be happening to this family.

To be clear, Megan is lucky. Her doctor is optimistic that the liver is treatable, and she will receive chemotherapy. But cancer sucks.

I want to be honest with you. I want to write about Megan and her family for days and days. I want to tell you all the things – how she has served as President of the Autism Society of Nebraska (ASN) for more years than she can count, and has done it with grace and kindness. I want to tell you that she and her dear friend Jaimie volunteered to drive the marching band truck TO AND FROM SAN FRANSCISO. How she schlepped all over the Bay Area with a fractured foot. I want to share that she obsessively drinks Arizona iced tea and covets fancy school supplies. I want to tell you all these things and so much more.

But here is what I need to tell you – the elephant in the room (err…website?). Cancer is expensive. Even with the very best insurance, it is a hardship that most families simply can’t afford. Tests, surgeries, treatment, more tests, labs, scans, meds.  Who can actually afford these things while being sick, not able to work, oh and by the way still struggling with normal household expenses?

Not Megan. Not this family.

So let’s raise the money for them so that Megan can focus her energy on recovering and thinking up really, really bad puns. In fact, she said she’s gonna kick cancer square in the teeth, but then got herself all distracted by saying she’d never actually kick anything because she’s too nice and probably too short but she would really do it if she could, as long as no one got hurt.

If we all pitch in, ask our friends and networks to support them, we can do it. We just gotta do it.

She would do it for us.