"A fourteen-year-old is supposed to have more on her mind than this stuff," says Conner. Megan Conner's left leg began bothering her early last year, when she was still in the eighth grade. An active child, Megan was a cheerleader and had taken dance lessons for nine years. But something was wrong.

"My leg would swell real big, and it was hot and discolored," Megan remembered. "Sometimes it hurt." She went to the Health Center on the Loris High School campus, and was told to see her doctor, who misdiagnosed a stress fracture.

By the first of March, Megan's leg was constantly swollen and extremely hot. Betty Conner decided to take her daughter to Dr. Richard Ward in Myrtle Beach. Ward examined Megan and immediately sent her to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, where she was seen by Dr. Sean Scully, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sarcomas and carcinomas of bone and soft tissue.

The doctor discovered that a tumor had ruptured through Megan's fibula, a bone in her lower leg. "The bone was actually eaten in two when he found it," said Conner. "It had penetrated into the flesh."

Megan was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a fairly rare form of cancer that arises from the cells which produce bone. Osteogenic sarcoma and other malignant bone tumors count for about 6% of all childhood cancers.

Dr. Scully began standard aggressive treatments for Megan right away. First, she received large doses of potent medicines which would destroy any cancer cells that might have metastasized, or spread, to other parts of her body. Then, the tumor was surgically removed – and with it, some of the nerve in Megan's leg, and a large portion of her fibula.

Over the next 15 months, Megan would receive an additional series of chemotherapy cycles, to ensure the cancer was eradicated. Megan was told that she would lose her hair within two weeks of receiving chemotherapy; the Conners went home. On the 14th day, she locked herself in the bathroom and wept for the loss of her curly blonde hair, which had begun, right on schedule, to fall out.

Megan's brother Nicholas, then a high school senior, shaved her head. "It was so traumatic," remembered Betty Conner. The teenager began wearing a wig, which became increasingly uncomfortable in the record high temperatures of early summer. "I told her that when she got ready to throw the wig down, I'd shave my head, too, so she'd be comfortable when she went out in public," said Conner.

Two weeks ago, Megan decided that she didn't need the wig anymore. Betty asked Nicholas to perform, once again, as the family hairstylist. Within moments, the mother's head looked a lot like the daughter's.

"I did it for her," said Conner.

These days, the Conner family's life is getting back to normal. Megan will go back to school in August, as a sophomore. Her father, David "Shorty" Conner, has modified her four-wheeler so that Megan can continue to ride it. She's eager to get her driver's license. Betty plans to return to work at Shorty's Grill, which she and her husband have owned for 21 years.

And their hair is beginning to grow.

Childhood cancers

According to the American Cancer Society, cancers in children are often difficult to recognize. Parents should see that their children have regular medical checkups and should be alert to any unusual symptoms that persist. These include:

• an unusual mass or swelling
• unexplained paleness and loss of energy
• sudden tendency to bruise
• a persistent, localized pain or limping
• prolonged, unexplained fever or illness
• frequent headaches, often with vomiting
• sudden eye or vision changes
• excessive, rapid weight loss