About a month ago, our dear friend, sister, girlfriend, bird lover, and angel of a human being Megan Hedley found a lump in her breast. She quickly scheduled a mammogram, later followed by a biopsy. Her family and friends hoped never to face a situation like this again after her sister finished her own cancer journey, but here we are. Like her sister Becca, and her aunts before her, they all unfortunately have the BRCA gene. Megan’s mammogram was confirmed to be cancerous on August 21st, 2026, and confirmed Stage 2B via biopsy a few weeks later, which poses an extra layer of uncertainty moving forward in terms of surgery alone being successful.

She was fortunate to get surgery scheduled with a renowned oncology surgeon and fantastic reconstructive surgeon at Queens on Oahu (no option did exist for her on Maui, but we are grateful nonetheless). On September 25th 2026, shortly after announcing her diagnosis, with her Mother, Sister, and partner Lou at her side, Megan had a double mastectomy. We are happy to announce that her first surgery has been successful and she is finally settled in at home recovering. In about three months, pending no chemo or radiation before then, she will undergo a second surgery with reconstruction so that she can feel beautiful and confident in a very stressful and traumatic stage of her life.

Her family and friends are coming together to help raise funds for Megan in this difficult and arduous marathon of a recovery. With pending pathology reports, we have no idea if she will need chemotherapy or radiation to attack any cancer that has already spread throughout her body. If this treatment is needed, it will require more flights, transport, and miscellaneous costs to ensure she has the best care available. Every trip to Oahu requires a means to get to the hospital, fresh food and groceries, and arrangements for lodging if needed. This, along with copays and deductibles, adds up quickly.

The medical healthcare system is also wildly unpredictable, with bills sometimes sneaking in weeks and months after treatment, and insurance does not always cover all procedures or aspects of care. The goal is to help Meg with her regular life expenses, travel, meals, time off work, etc and to alleviate the stress of financial uncertainty during an already challenging and tumultuous period of her life.

We encourage all women to complete routine checks, schedule mammograms, be an advocate for your own health, and remember that you are NEVER ALONE! We are asking both her Ohana on Maui and on the mainland to come together and help Meg through this tough time in her life. If you know her, you know she would absolutely do the same for you without hesitation.

We want to see Megan smiling with her birds again, living her best island life, with less hardships and uncertainty to get there! Any donation, small or large, or share is GREATLY APPRECIATED. Let’s give back all the love to Megan that she blesses us with.