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As Megan Aune was approaching 18 months, she was developing a bit of a paunch. "She had a distended stomach," recalled her mother, Angela Aune (pronounced Ow-nee). "Everyone said she had a toddler tummy."
In reality, Megan was exhibiting one of the most common symptoms — a swollen belly — of an uncommon cancer condition. Hepatoblastoma is a rare, malignant tumor of the liver. It is so rare that not quite even one child in a million gets it, according to medical experts.
By the time doctors discovered the grapefruit-sized tumor on Megan's liver, cancer had spread to her lungs, too. Four tumors, two on each lung, were also growing inside Aune's firstborn.
"That made it a stage IV cancer, and the odds were 20 percent for survival," Aune said.
Megan beat those odds, however.
The active 11-year-old, who will be a sixth-grader this fall at Andover Middle School, survived surgeries to remove the tumors and part of her liver and two years worth of chemotherapy.
But it wasn't easy.
And it left her mother committed to doing what she can to try to help others affected by cancer.
Turning hate into hope
Before she heard her daughter's diagnosis on Nov. 12, 2001, Aune said her life had pretty much been untouched by cancer.
No family members or friends had battled the disease.
But since then, she's lost two uncles to it, her father-in-law suffered a bout with it, and a neighbor's son is battling leukemia.
"I hate, hate cancer; I hate it," Aune said. "I hate what it's done to our family. There were kids who were in treatment with Megan who aren't here."
For Aune, she's found a way to channel that hatred into hope. She's determined to do what she can to help find a cure for cancer — by leading a Relay for Life team for the past 10 years and collecting donations that fund research and provide assistance for those fighting the disease.
"I'm not a doctor or a scientist. I cannot find the cure myself," she writes in an online testimonial for the overnight fundraising walk that symbolizes a patient's journey. "So, I walk and I collect donations. It's all I CAN do. Relay is my passion."
Aune's team is named for her daughter — Team Megan — and for the past several years, it's been a top fundraising team in Sedgwick County. This year, the team's goal is to raise $9,000. They've collected more than $4,795 so far.
The Aunes also participate in a Relay for Life event in Wabaunsee County in Kansas with other members of their family.
Whenever she finds the work of running her team and volunteering for the Relay for Life events overwhelming, Aune says she starts to think about families and others who need the financial support the event provides.
"And just because Megan is a cancer survivor doesn't mean we need to stop raising money for others."
And she remembers that while volunteering and participating in the event takes effort, it doesn't compare to the fight Megan had with her cancer.
Celebration, then more chemo
Initially, Megan responded pretty well to the treatment.
By March 2002, just a few months after her diagnosis, the tumor on her liver had been removed and chemotherapy treatments had dissolved the four tumors on her lungs.
"That was a miracle," said Aune, about the tumors disappearing. "They didn't expect that to happen."
That summer, the Aunes participated in their first Relay for Life.
"It was a huge celebration," Aune recalled. "Megan led the parade as a survivor."
They tied into the American Cancer Society's tagline of "The Official Sponsor of Birthdays" with a birthday party theme for their relay celebration.
Shortly after, in August, Megan had a relapse. While her liver was regenerating — it is the body's only organ capable of doing so — malignant tumors in her lung were growing back. The two tumors, one on each lung, were surgically removed, and Megan started what would turn into 22 months of chemotherapy.
"It was stubborn as all get-out," Aune said of the cancer.
While scans showed no signs of tumor regrowth following the surgery, Megan's blood work indicated the disease was still there.
"It was floating around in her blood, looking for a place to land."
And now the chemotherapy was starting to kill her, and doctors worried about possible side effects to her vision and hearing. Her pediatric oncologist, David Rosen, recommended stopping the chemo.
"I trusted Dr. Rosen so much, but I thought he was crazy when he suggested that," Aune said.
Recently, Aune came across some photos taken around that time and was reminded of the toll the disease took on her family's health as she looked at their faces.
But the cancer never found a place to land, and the only lingering side effect Megan suffers is that enamel didn't form on her permanent teeth because of the chemo.
"We feel greatly blessed," Aune said.
'It's cool' to be a survivor
Megan now is much like any other 11-year-old — she likes to be outside, play soccer and watch TV.
On Friday, she'll be at Cessna Stadium with other survivors, family members and others interested in taking a stand against cancer.
"I walk, but I don't stay the night," Megan said.
She leaves around 11 p.m. with the other kids and husbands of Team Megan's female members.
It's the wives and mothers of Team Megan who stay to walk through the night.
Megan has told her friends about her longtime participation in the relay and her battle with cancer.
"They think it's cool that I participate and that I'm a survivor."
About Relay for Life
Relay for Life was started by a surgeon who combined his love of running with support for his local American Cancer Society. In 1985, Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma, Wash., colorectal surgeon, circled a university track for 24 hours for more than 83 miles and had his friends pay to run or walk 30 minutes with him during the event.
Relay for Life events now take place in 5,000 communities in the U.S. and in 20 other countries around the world, with more than 3.5 million participants, according to the American Cancer Society.
Four Relay for Life events take place in Sedgwick County, with the next one starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium. During the event, teams take turns walking the track throughout the night while enjoying live music, games and other entertainment.
Registration is $10 per person, and each participant is asked to raise a minimum of $100. All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. The remaining two events will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at Derby's Panther Stadium and Maize South High School.
Community members can attend the survivor lap during the opening ceremony and the luminaria ceremony at sundown that honors cancer survivors and caregivers, and to remember those who died of the disease.
For more information and to register, call 316-265-3400 or visit www.relayforlife.org.
How to donate
To donate online to Team Megan or another local Relay for Life team, visit www.relayforlife.org.
