YOUNG Swan Hill girl Meika Gordon is back in the fight of her life after the return of a rare form of cancer, requiring life-saving surgery to remove her left eye.
The 12 year-old is now undergoing aggressive chemotherapy, and requires an echo every couple of weeks to check that it is not effecting her heart, in the hope that she can settle back in to day-to-day life with her school, her friends and her three siblings.
Meika previously spoke to The Guardian back in 2019, when the then 9-year-old had six weeks left of radiation to help battle with a rare form of cancer, Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.
But after two years of remission and living life as a happy, healthy 12-year-old, the family received the dreaded news that cancer had come back.
“The results were taking a bit longer to come through, and I already instinctively had a bad feeling for no reason but they call that scan-xiety so I put it down to that,” Meika’s mum Tegan Hare said.
“Meika’s oncologist told me the bad news that unfortunately something has shown up on the scans and we need to investigate. My reply was a numb ‘ok’.”
Ms Hare said when they received confirmation of the cancer’s return in Meika’s eye, they just couldn’t believe it, and thought it must have been a mistake.
“There were tears, and our complete world shattering again… How much heartbreak can one kid take.”
Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is a malignant soft tissue tumour that forms from embryonic skeletal muscle tissue. While this form of cancer is not that common in itself, Meika’s cancer was also a mutation, making it extremely rare.
In order to save Meika’s life, on November 4 2021, she had to undergo an exenteration of her left eye, which is a complete removal of the orbit area.
“A date I will never forget,” Ms Hare said.
“I know deep down it’s a bit upsetting (to lose her eye), but also it saved her life, so it’s a little bit of a trade-off.”
Ms Hare said her daughter is managing the chemotherapy quite well.
“It’s been surprising, last time that she was on chemo she couldn’t walk out of the hospital, we had to get the wheelchair and we stayed there at Ronald McDonald house for nearly the whole time,” Ms Hare said.
“This time she walks out, just really completely different, but it’s a harsher chemo which is strange.”
As an example of Meika’s strength in the face of something so terrifying, she recently had an emergency flight to Melbourne because she had no neutrophils, meaning she had no ability to fight any kind of infection, and she came down with a temperature.
“She loved it. I was like next time we are just going to drive, but she’s like ‘no I’m flying’,” Ms Hare said.
“I felt like a tourist. It’s been years since anyone could fly and I was like in an aeroplane, it was so fun.”
With the chemo set to finish at the end of May, and Meika’s 13th birthday also around that time, Ms Hare is currently planning a “big bash” to help celebrate both milestones.
“We’re hoping after the next four rounds of chemo that it will just all die down and it can go back to normal and she can do the rest of Year 7.”
Meika’s stubby holders have been distributed around Barham, Koondrook, Cohuna, Swan Hill, Mystic Park and Moulamein to help raise funds for the family. People can also message Tegan on their Facebook page, Meika’s Fight Against Rhabdo.
On Saturday, March 19, the Moulamein Bowling Club is holding a karaoke night fundraiser for Meika, while donations can also be made directly to Meika via her Facebook page.
