Young mother of four fighting brain cancer
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Listen to East Idaho News Reporter Mark Richardson interview Meichelle Johnson and Chelsea Murphy in the clip above.
IDAHO FALLS — Mother’s Day will be bittersweet for a Bonneville High School graduate, her husband, and their four children.
Meichelle Johnson, 29, is fighting brain cancer and is about to undergo six weeks of intense radiation. She was diagnosed in March after experiencing severe headaches and nausea.
Her husband, Blake, serves in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Korea at the time. Meichelle was living with their four children at Langley Air Force base in Virginia.
Doctors ordered Meichelle into surgery immediately and, within days, Blake was able to return to be with his family in Virginia – cutting short his year long deployment.
Meichelle’s surgery went well but now she’s re-learning how to walk, talk, and care for her young children. Her case is complex so she’s being treated by some of the best brain surgeon’s in the country at The John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
This week Blake returned to work at Langley so Meichelle’s mother, who lives in Idaho Falls, quit her job and is staying with the Johnson’s.
Meichelle will begin radiation soon and may need to undergo chemotherapy.
Chelsea Murphy, one of Meichelle’s friends, has started a launched a Facebook page to raise money for the Johnson’s. It’s called “Mothers for Others: Make Meichelle’s Mother’s Day.”
Chelsea encourages supporters to donate to a GoFundMe account and substitute mother’s day gifts for donations to the Johnson’s.