Day of Hope co-ambassador delivers ‘little miracle’ after beating cancer

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. - Day of Hope co-ambassador Meghan Wells is delivering hope to those battling cancer with her inspirational story of courage and recovery.

Wells is a cancer survivor who recently became a new mother. She's sharing her experience to help promote the Day of Hope, the annual fundraiser that supports local patients at Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria and Arroyo Grande.

The 11th Annual Day of Hope will take place Wednesday, Aug. 21 in the Santa Maria Valley and Five Cities from 7 a.m. to noon.

Wells is more than just a cancer survivor and the co-ambassador to this year's event, joining fellow co-ambassador Eileen Hongo. She is also an employee at the facility, serving as an infusion nurse in Mission Hope's Arroyo Grande center.

Not only has Wells worked at Mission Hope the past three years, she has also been a patient there, first coming to the cancer center in 2020 while she was working as a nurse at Marian Regional Medical Center.

"Out of the blue, kind of felt something," said Wells. "Felt the lump in my breast. Got it checked and it turned out to be breast cancer, so that's when I came to Mission Hope to get treatment."

The diagnosis was a big surprise to Wells, who was young and living an active, healthy lifestyle.

"I never suspected that the lump I felt would turn out to be cancer," said Wells. "They kept calling me back to do an ultrasound and to do a biopsy, and the whole time I was thinking it's going to be nothing. In the back of my mind, being a nurse, you worry about those things, but I thought no, being so young, having no family history, really anything like that."

The diagnosis however was not only cancer, Wells added it was also an aggressive form of the disease.

"My cancer was triple positive, which is not as common," said Wells. "We had to really get moving quickly with things. Mission Hope was great about really being on top of everything, making sure that we felt comfortable with everything going forward, and also just making sure to get me seen really timely and not having to wait on anything." 

For the next several months, Wells went through a rigorous treatment process that included chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and immune therapy.

"I think that we caught it so early and the doctors knew exactly what the best treatments were," said Wells. "I was fortunate that everything responded really well. It's was big sigh of relief and we're so grateful that everything worked."

Several months after completing treatment, Wells went from patient at Mission Hope to employee, taking a position in the Arroyo Grande center.

"It's incredibly rewarding," said Wells. "From my perspective, I've been in the chair getting the treatment myself, and so I think the patients have some reassurance knowing that I understand what they're going through. To some degree, everyone's journey is different, but it's really nice to be able to relate to them on that level. I just like to be able to give back and be there for them in that time where someone was there for me and hopefully get back a little bit."

In the years following her recovery, Wells and her husband had the dream of becoming parents someday, but were unsure about the potential due to everything she had gone through.

"It's hard that three years, you really don't know what's going to happen," said Wells. "You're hopeful that it's a possibility that you can have this baby, but you know, that it may not happen, and it doesn't always for everyone, which is which is hard. "It's also kind of uncharted territory. Having cancer so young is pretty rare, and then to be able to go on and try and have a baby after is it's kind of a new thing, so luckily there were there's been a couple, sort of trials or patients. They looked at young patients that have babies after treatment. That was really helpful and reassuring to me, knowing that it was possible and that everyone was healthy and safe afterwards."

Wells said after receiving reassurances from her oncologist that it was possible, she felt comfortable with moving forward.

In April this year, exactly four years after she was first diagnosed with cancer, Wells came full circle, as her dream came true when she became a mother giving birth to her daughter Lana.

"I feel like she's just a little miracle," said Wells. "I think having her and other people being able to enjoy her, I think the biggest thing is just having that hope and I hope that she spreads hope to others, and things that you didn't even know were possible can happen, and there's still a lot of great things to look forward to in life after a cancer diagnosis. She really has brought that for us and brought so much joy into our lives."

Now four months old, Lana is healthy and happy, and so too is her mother Meghan.

"She's probably a pretty typical four month old, but happy and smiling, and we're super happy. We're feeling very blessed to be able to be in this position. They still watch me closely. I actually just had my mammogram last week, just checking to make sure everything's still looking good, and so far everything's been great. We're all just very happy that Lana's doing well and I'm doing well."

With such an inspirational story, Wells has been chosen to help promote the Day of Hope as its co-ambassador. She says it's extremely meaningful to be selected for the position.

"I was so honored that they asked me," said Wells. "I really want to spread the message of hope with Lana and with us getting through this whole journey that there's just so much still out there after cancer treatment. It is hard, but being able to utilize the resources and the staff with Mission Hope and everyone really helped us figure out how to get into that next chapter and a much happier part of our journey."

On Aug. 21, the Day of Hope will start at 7 a.m., and will feature hundreds of volunteers located throughout the Santa Maria Valley and in South San Luis Obispo County at dozens street corners, intersections, parking lots, schools, churches and other highly visible locations.

Team members will wear bright orange colored vests and will be selling special edition $1 Santa Maria Times newspapers.Proceeds specifically helps the cancer center provide patients with a myriad of complimentary programs and services.Donations also allows Mission Hope to purchase new state-of-the-art equipment, allowing the center to remain on the cutting edge and forefront of cancer treatment.

The event will conclude at noon and also include a community car parade that will travel down Broadway and Main Street in Santa Maria before finishing at Mission Hope, near Marian Regional Medical Center.

The 11th Annual Day of Hope is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024 from 7 a.m. to noon.

For more information about the Day of Hope, or to make a donation, click here.