Meghan Bennett, a 12-year-old Bellefonte girl, will be in the spotlight Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3, when she will be featured during Geisinger’s 2018 Miracle Kid Celebration Weekend.
The event is being held at various locations in the region, including Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Geisinger Woodbine Lane in Danville and DelGrosso’s Amusement Park in Tipton, as well as in Binghamton, N.Y.
Sometimes, a routine test at the doctor’s office can reveal a bigger problem that needs to be examined more thoroughly. Such was the case with Meghan.
At age 5, while getting a physical for kindergarten, Meghan failed her eye exam. Her parents, Amy and Brian Bennett, followed up with an ophthalmologist at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.
The ophthalmologist took a closer look and noticed that something was affecting Meghan’s vision in her left eye. An MRI of her brain revealed a prominent mass on her optic nerve and a second mass near her pituitary gland.
“They had to keep a close eye on the tumors and she had scans every six months,” Amy Bennett said. “A scan a year later showed that the tumors had grown in size and we would need to consider treatment.”
Although Meghan’s tumors were benign, their locations made surgery impossible for removal and she was referred to the pediatric oncology team and Dr. Jagadeesh Ramdas, director of pediatric hematology/oncology at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.
Ramdas explained to the family that the treatment for these types of tumors is very long and takes a full year. Meghan would need to be given low-dose chemotherapy once a week in the outpatient clinic. Her parents decided to have her treatments on Fridays so if she got sick from the treatment she would have the whole weekend to recover and wouldn’t have to miss too much school.
“Starting in September 2011, Meghan began chemotherapy and she continued until October 2012,” Amy said. “We would go to Danville every Friday, get treated and come home. It was lot of traveling. She was able to keep up in school because she only missed when we were off for the chemo treatments.”
Although Meghan would only receive a low dose of chemotherapy, it could still cause side effects, such as low blood counts, nausea and risk of sickness.
“There were times when we drove down and she wasn’t able to get treatment because her white blood cells were too low but it only happened a few times,” Amy said. “We had to be careful when we were out. She had to wear masks sometimes when we were out places — especially when her counts were low. They would say, ‘Just go home and don’t go anywhere, because you don’t want to catch a sickness.’”
The once-a-week treatments lasted approximately four hours, a long period of time for a 6-year-old girl. During her treatments, members of the Child Life Department would provide Meghan with lots of activities to keep her busy.
“Child Life was able to help her through this difficult time,” Ramdas said. “Each time she was here, I would see her in the waiting area doing an activity. That gave her something to look forward to while in the clinic. It helped her forget about her underlying condition and made the journey less difficult.”
Ramdas repeated an MRI scan after two months of treatment and it showed that the tumor was already starting to shrink in size. The ophthalmology team was also pleased with her progress in correcting the vision problem she was having with her left eye.
Following the entire treatment, the tumor that started off about the size of a grape had been shrunk to the size of a pencil head. It has been five years without growth of the tumors.
“It is still in there, and they watch it by giving her MRIs every year to watch it and make sure it doesn’t grow,” Amy said. “It has been stable since 2012.”
Although Meghan still has the tumors, she doesn’t really worry about it. “It is kind of scary. I thought the tumors were dead,” she said. “It is kind of scary but not too much, because I know I can beat it.”
Her parents continue with her follow-up appointments with pediatric oncology and endocrinology.
“Hearing the word ‘tumor’ was really scary. It was a devastating blow,” Amy said. “They watch it and if it grows again, we are right back into the same cycle.”
Meghan visits endocrinologists because the tumor near her pituitary gland has affected her growth — she is not the height of an average 12-year-old girl. However, she cannot be given any kind of growth hormone because it could make the tumors grow.
“She is not too far behind now,” Amy said.
“I’m 4 feet tall, Mom,” Meghan replied.
“You’re like 4-feet-11 or something,” Amy said. “They said she should probably be my height by the time she is done growing.”
“I can drive in 2 inches,” the 12-year-old said. “Being tall would be better, because sometimes I can’t reach stuff at the top of the cabinet.”
For now, Meghan is enjoying her seventh-grade year. She enjoys art and is involved with the art club at school. She likes to create things out of clay and paint them. She also is a key member of the Chain Reaction Club at Bellefonte Middle School.
“It is a community outreach club that she is involved with every Wednesday,” Amy said. “They visit the elderly folks in the local retirement home, Centre Crest. They play games with the residents.”
During the past several summers, Meghan and her older brother Eric, 14, have enjoyed time at Camp Dost, a program of the Ronald McDonald House of Danville. The special camp allowed Meghan and Eric to be with kids who have gone through treatments for illnesses like Meghan had and offered them more understanding and time with kids with similar experiences.
“Both Meghan and Eric absolutely loved going to Camp Dost for the past several summers and looked forward to it all year,” Brian said. “They made so many lifelong friends and memories there.”
Ramdas is very happy with Meghan’s progress and feels very good about her prognosis.
“Right now, she is doing very well — but it is something that always needs to be monitored,” Ramdas said. “As long as she is monitored carefully, what remains of the tumors will not impact her.”
In addition to Meghan, the other featured 2018 Miracle Kids include Allyson Tebin, of Schuylkill Haven, Amelia Woody, of Scranton, Drew Chesney, of Lewistown, Ella Bianchi, of New Milford, Ellie Ritzman, of Lewistown, Elio Parsons, of Altoona, Emma Straub, of Selinsgrove, Rylee Bond, of Bloomsburg, and Ryan Cappel, of Orwigsburg.
The author, Mike McMullen, is a corporate communications specialist for Geisinger.
