Meg Witt

Meg is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at St. Olaf College, where she helps students through life’s challenges.

Her own health challenges are daunting. Meg has three rare conditions that affect multiple systems in her body: circulation, joints, muscle function, digestion, immune response. She gets migraines, joint pain, allergic reactions, muscle weakness and more. Meg calls it “the holy trinity” of conditions. 

“My huge goal is to stay working, manage my symptoms, and find enough balance to stay present and engaged with my family life,” Meg says. 

One condition, POTS, affects blood flow. It gives Meg debilitating migraines. She discovered that hydration helps: Whenever a spike in her heart rate sent Meg to the Emergency Department, “they’d give me fluids and then I’d feel better,” she recalls. 

Meg now comes to the Cancer Care & Infusion Center twice a week for IV hydration. She has fewer, milder migraines, plus less frequent fainting spells and episodes of spontaneous spikes in heart rate. “It’s just salty water, but it makes a huge difference in managing my chronic conditions.” 

Hydration also helps manage her symptoms from Mast Cell Activation Syndrome – and by extension, her Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: When MCAS flares, that makes EDS symptoms worse.

“It feels great to have these controlled so well with hydration,” Meg says. “It helps manage symptoms so I can be in my life more.” 

Meg’s symptoms rise and fall unpredictably. A simple shift in barometric pressure can cause a flare up. “The wind shifts – literally – and I’m dealing with a new thing,” she says. 

That makes consistent access to care crucial. NH+C’s infusion center “makes everything just so easy,” Meg says. “They make it possible for me to be there as often as I need to, which is amazing.

“From the very beginning, everyone there has been super helpful, and they all know me so well now. I joke that I see them more than my actual friends,” Meg laughs. 

“They’re such a great team, and really care about me being okay.”

Meg has a specialized port for infusions. The Hickman port suits her sensitive skin, and eliminates the need for needle sticks that take a long time to heal. The CCIC staff “has been great” about managing the port, Meg says, and helping figure out how often to get infusions. “This is an unusual disease, and a lot of medical providers don’t know much about it. It has made a really big difference to have a care team that may not fully understand it but cares enough to figure it out.”

Meg’s primary care provider recommended infusion centers in the metro, but Meg called NH+C instead. “I’m so grateful to have the resources locally. I already have to travel so much for other medical care.”

At CCIC, “it feels amazing not to be pushed to the sidelines because I’m not a high-risk patient” compared to cancer patients coming to CCIC for chemotherapy. “I think of myself as the one they don’t have to worry about.”

Meg’s advice for others managing chronic conditions: “Don’t give up. Keep asking questions and advocating for yourself. It took me 38 years to figure it out, and a long time to find the right treatment for me, which has also come with finding the right care team. It really matters to have the right team.”

That team can help make the days more . . . ordinary.