File:Meghan Davidson with her Mother, Katie Davidson, December 15, 2019.jpg

Summary

Brunswick girl hopes to spend Christmas at home after months in hospital By Heather Mongilio for the Frederick News-Post, December 15, 2019

Photo: Meghan Davidson with her Mother, Katie Davidson

As Meghan Davidson slid into the first booth at the Silver Diner on Buckeystown Pike, she was transfixed by the mini-jukebox against the wall. She wanted to know if it worked. It did. Soon, music, mostly older pop songs or some Disney tunes, crooned out of the jukebox as she fed her quarters into it. Meghan, 12, then ordered an ice cream sundae. Chocolate fudge, no walnuts. Ice cream for lunch might seem a bit unorthodox, but Meghan’s mother, Katie Davidson, wanted her to eat. Ice cream has fat and proteins, something she needs, Davidson said. Because while Meghan, who is from Brunswick, appears to be a typical pre-teen girl, with a shimmery eyeshadow and perfectly applied mascara, most 12-year-olds do not have acute myeloid leukemia. At the diner Thursday, Meghan was enjoying a bit of freedom after the most recent 20-day stay at Children’s National Hospital, in Washington, D.C., where she receives her treatment. She would be back at the hospital for a biopsy. If the biopsy showed good results, she will likely get to celebrate Christmas at home. Meghan was diagnosed with leukemia in July. She was on vacation at the beach when her parents noticed bruising on her legs and little red pinhole marks. The bruising could easily be explained away, Davidson said. After all, Meghan was an active 12-year-old girl who liked to ride go-karts and play with her 7-year-old sister Ashlee. Davidson took Meghan to the doctor after vacation, and while the doctor thought Meghan looked healthy, she decided to do some blood work as a precaution. Within hours, the doctor called Davidson, telling her to take Meghan to Frederick Health Hospital for more blood tests. Meghan had far too few platelets in her blood, which are the components of blood that help with clotting. The bruising on her legs was the result of bleeding under the skin that could not clot, Davidson said. From Frederick Health Hospital, the Davidsons were sent to Children’s National Hospital, arriving in the early morning hours. There they learned that Meghan had leukemia. “We were all broken,” Davidson said. “Never did we expect it, and lots of tears. There’s not words. You just can’t describe the sadness.” Meghan began chemotherapy treatment, after more tests, which included intravenous chemotherapy and one orally. She stayed at the hospital for the first and second cycle, a total of 103 days. “One hundred and three days is a long time for a kid,” Davidson said. Throughout the time at the hospital, Davidson worked to allow her daughter to be just that — a kid. They decorated her rooms with fairies and Christmas lights. She made an art studio where she paints. Meghan said she likes acrylics. And everyone loves the paintings she does, Davidson said. She has a famed turtle painting, a blue painting of a turtle approaching the top of the ocean, at her house. Everyone wants it, she said, but she will not give it up. “All of [the nurses] fight over her paintings,” Davidson said. Outside of her room, Meghan will paint in the healing garden at the hospital, which is an open space overlooking D.C. sights. She paints from there, sometimes on canvases, other times on rocks. “The cancer blows, hard,” Davidson said. “It’s even harder to take their freedom away.” It is a different world for the kids, she said. But she tries to make sure Meghan gets to have some fun, even at the hospital. During the most recent stay, she had a go-kart that she would zip through the halls in. She is a true night owl, staying up until 3 a.m. and sleeping in the day. The night time is quieter, Davidson said, so she can have more of a run through the hallways. “It makes you take a step back as an adult and realize what’s really important in your life and what’s not, and what used to be stresses are no longer stresses in my mind,” Davidson said. At Children’s, they try to provide kids with entertainment, from trivia games to bingo nights. Even if a kid is in isolation and cannot leave their room, interactive televisions allow them to participate, said Meagan Davis, assistant director of marketing and communications. They allow visitors, although it is now flu season, meaning those under 10, like Ashlee, cannot visit. Instead, Meghan and Ashlee talk on the phone and through FaceTime when she’s in the hospital. Her dad stays home with Ashlee, while Davidson lives with Meghan at the hospital. But they FaceTime every day, Davidson said. “I don’t know how parents did it back in the day,” she said. For Thanksgiving, which Meghan spent in the hospital, her family, including extended family, came in so that Meghan could have the traditional Thanksgiving meal she would have with her family any other year. That meant all of the fixings for the turkey and many pies and other desserts. Many of the nurses were sent home with the leftovers, Davidson said. Over Thanksgiving, she got to speak with actress Ashley Benson, who played Hanna in “Pretty Little Liars.” Benson also sent her an autographed gold iPhone 11 pro. When Meghan is not in the hospital, she likes surprising her friends. This time out, she got to see the Christmas trees in D.C. and attended a basketball game with her team. She is an honorary player this year. Her favorite part about being home is sleeping in her own bed, she said. That and seeing her dogs. She has two dogs, and when she returned home on Dec. 6, they were crying because they were so happy to see Meghan, Davidson said. She is looking forward to Christmas, she said, and the chance to see her friends and family. She did not have too many items on her wish list. She wants a laptop case and a wireless mouse. Her dad, Ricky Davidson Jr., accidentally let it slip that she was getting a laptop for Christmas. She also wants a giant, 6-foot sloth stuffed animal, currently sold at Kohl’s. Katie Davidson had repeatedly told her no, as the sloth is bigger than her and she would have no idea how to even get it to the hospital, she said. “It’s the size of me,” Davidson said. “Where are you going to put that?” Christmas is Meghan’s favorite holiday. She is looking forward to a baking frenzy planned at their house as they bake and decorate Christmas cookies. But before Christmas comes, Meghan first has to grace the stage as a guest at the Jingle Ball, hosted by iHeartRadio in D.C. Through a partnership with Children’s, Meghan will get to see the show from the first row with her mom, aunt and other guests. Someone will be doing her makeup before she attends. She is looking forward to it, she said. “It’s going to be my first concert,” she said. Right now, it is fingers crossed that Meghan gets to spend her favorite holiday at home. Then, it is back to the hospital for more treatment and tests.