Pryce Introduces Legislation To Eradicate Pediatric Cancer

Chase Meacham's Address to the Media

March 15, 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States Congress:

My name is Chase Meacham. I am 15 years old, and I am a cancer survivor. I have probably grown more this year than in my entire life. At the end of December, 2005, I noticed a small bulge on my left knee. Accompanying it was a dull pain, yet I thought nothing of it. The pain did not go away. Through January of 2006, the pain increased until I began to limp. It was then that we called a family friend, a doctor in orthopedics. I will never forget the day we went to his office. He walked into the room and simply said, “You’ve got a battle ahead of you.”

He informed me that I had a tumor on my leg. It was very rare. I could see my parents holding back tears. The term cancer danced in and out of my mind, but I dared not utter the word. To say it would be to admit it as a possibility. I was a child, and children didn’t get cancer. It was always a disease that effected distant relatives, or the grandparents of friends. I didn’t think it could ever affect me… until I got it.

I learned that what I had in my leg was a rare form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Before I knew what was happening, I was being admitted into Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, was having the braces taken off my teeth, a port implanted in my chest, and was receiving my first rounds of chemo therapy.

My diagnosis involved rigorous rounds of chemotherapy. As soon as my blood counts had recovered sufficiently, they would blast me again. I was always sick. I was always nauseous.

At the end of April, after months of chemo, it was time for my surgery. I was to have a limb-salvage operation, in which the doctors removed the tumor and replaced it with a metal prosthesis. I tried to find excitement in this as well. I was foolishly anxious to ride in a wheelchair. In the back of my mind I knew that, like crutches, it would get old fast. I tried not to think about it.

The final treatment came nearer and nearer. It was upon us. I had waited since February for this. The doctors and nurses all came in during those days to wish me their goodbyes, and congratulations. Finally, the last day came. My mother and I stood up, turned, and cried into each others arms. I had done it. After nine long, grueling months, I had finally beaten cancer.

As I walked out of the hospital, I could not help but think of all the other children there that night; all the children that would not be leaving with me. I had won my battle, but cancer had by no means lost. Cancer was stronger than ever, the children behind me knowing it more than anyone. Some of the strongest soldiers this country has ever seen aren’t even old enough to drive yet. It should not be this way.

I would like to become a pediatric oncologist. No child should ever have to suffer like that, and I would like to do everything in my power to make sure they never will. Cancer has to be stopped.

We need to find a cure. We need to find a cure for every child who’s ever screamed in pain or wept in sorrow because of this disease. We need to find a cure for that little girl, who has to watch at the side as her friends jump-rope. We need to find a cure for that boy, who will always just have to sit on the bench as his team plays. We need to find a cure for the parents of these children, who have no choice but to helplessly watch as their son or daughter fights a battle they would gladly fight in their place. We need to find a cure for the siblings of these kids, who don’t understand why their brother or sister is acting so different; why there is tension in their family, or why their parents are crying. We need to find a cure for the friends and the family, who don’t know what to say or how to act; what to do or how to help. We need to find a cure for those lonely children, sitting in bed today – a bed that is not theirs.

We need to find a cure for those children, because they may not be around tomorrow. Cancer is their fight, but it is our responsibility. I am here today to thank you for your help and support. Together, we will find a cure.

Thank you.

Back to Press Releases 2007