#GetWellMeechy! An Update on Meechy Monroe and How We Can Help

 

The news hit the natural hair community pretty hard. Beloved natural hair vlogger Meechy Monroe, one half of the dynamic Monroe Sisters, revealed that she’s battling a rare form of brain cancer. In the course of her illness, she has suffered multiple mild strokes and aphasia – a disturbance in the delivery of language. She is on the road to recovery, surrounded and uplifted by the love of fans, friends and family. And she’s still blogging – check out her sweet thank you post! 

Watching the video that explains what she’s been through this year honestly brought tears to my eyes. I don’t know Meechy well personally, but every time I’ve been in her presence she’s been sweet and gracious and lovely. She’s a genuinely nice person, and she’s going through a tough time. The natural hair community is rallying around the Monroe Sisters to help – click here to donate to their Give Forward campaign, to contribute towards her mounting medical bills.

I reached out to Ms. Vaughn to check in on her and Meechy, because I know so many of us are wondering how they’re both doing in light of all this. It can’t be easy.

Afrobella – How is Meechy doing now? How is her recovery going?

The good news is that Meechy is doing great and her tumor is expected to reduce as planned! She’s already finished week 1 of her radiation and chemo therapy relatively smoothly. We are extremely hopeful! Her doctors opted to put her on oral chemo instead of the intravenous alternative so thankfully the side-effects are much less severe. Her overall spirit is high most of the time and she’s extremely focused on spiritual balance, faith and recovery.

Afrobella – This must be really difficult for you as well. How are YOU doing?

Ms. Vaughn – It’s extremely difficult for myself and all of Meechy’s loved ones but I’m personally doing well and staying busy. I’m focusing my energy on Meechy’s comfort and normality, helping my parents, and exchanging as much information with her doctors as possible. By default, I’ve also allowed myself to become sort of the unofficial spokesperson on Meechy’s behalf and I’ve been helping to facilitate fundraising efforts for her. She’s gotten a LOT of support from the Natural Hair Community and she and my parents are literally overwhelmed with relief and gratitude! I’ve implicitly chosen to be strong despite myself because that’s what’s going to have the most positive impact on her recovery. Meechy’s emotional state is extremely important so as a family we all have to make positive adjustments when interacting with her. I’ve chosen to continue YouTube-related projects because it is something that Meechy and I have worked so hard building together. It is my responsibility to continue thriving so that when she is better, she has something to return to.

Afrobella – What have you learned from all of this that you’d like to share with anyone else who might be going through the same kind of thing?

Ms. Vaughn – When Meechy first learned of her condition, the first thing she said to me was “Vaughn don’t ever take your health for granted.” This has been a huge scare for myself and our family, but it has given us all a chance to really connect both spiritually and holistically. The bottom line is that this can happen to anyone and I’m happy to be in a position to be able to help create awareness around Meechy’s condition and cancer in general. My sister was an otherwise healthy woman with a clean diet and an active mind and lifestyle. Even her doctors are baffled as to why such a rare tumor began growing in her brain. The key to overcoming health events like this, that seem so unfair, is to appreciate every moment that you have been fortunate enough to experience. We all needed to take a couple steps back and simply appreciate all that there is. My advice to anyone out there, whether experiencing a tough time or not, is to keep your loved ones close and don’t hesitate to make the most of your life because life-changing events have an unpredictable agenda.

Afrobella – We love the Monroe Sisters and so many of us in the natural community have your back and are praying for you guys. What else can we do to help and support you?

Ms. Vaughn – Thank you guys so much for the amazing levels of support, well wishes, prayers, gifts, donations, tweets, emails and cards! Meechy literally spends hours on her computer reading through the hundreds of daily emails from you guys and it really makes a huge difference for her. You can continue to help support Meechy’s costly recovery by donating to her GiveForward fundraiser at www.giveforward.com and searching #GetWellMeechy. You may also support by attending the Curls for a Cause benefit event sponsored by Cantu happening in Chicago on September 20, 2014 from 6-8:30pm at The Backroom. For tickets and more info please visit www.iamteamnatural.com One hundred percent of the proceeds will help my parents fund Meechy’s hospital and recovery expenses.

To learn more about Meechy’s diagnosis and recovery updates, please visit her website at www.meechymonroe.com.

I will be participating in the panel discussion at the Curls for a Cause benefit, and I hope to see you there! Click here to buy tickets via IAmTeamNatural.com, and click here to go straight to the Eventbrite link. If you can’t attend but still want to support, click here to go to GiveForward.com and donate whatever you can to the #GetWellMeechy fund.

Get well, Meechy! We all love you <3