Audrey Gomez
Sandy Meador, of Sweet Home, has been undergoing treatments for pancreatic cancer on and off for about three years.
Though still a little weak from her last treatment, on Friday, she made the effort to get to Rep. Peter DeFazio’s town hall meeting at the Senior Center on Aug. 24. She was able to thank him in person for his staff members’ help in arranging a visit to the White House next month.
Meador was among local residents DeFazio lingered to talk with, even after his aides told him it was time to head out to his next stop of a series of six town halls he held Monday and Tuesday in the northern part of his 4th Congressional District.
Meador’s visit to the White House is part of a 10-day trip to Washington, D.C. that her partner Debbie Lane planned for her.
“She bought a trip for me for my 70th birthday,” Meador said.
It was a total surprise, Lane said.
“I just tried to get us a nice place to stay close by,” Lane said.
As for the White House visit, Lane said she just went through DeFazio’s website to request the tour.
“I knew you had to go online to get a tour of the White House,” Lane said. “The young man got back to me right away.”
The two also plan to visit the zoo, Arlington and all the monuments, Lane said.
“Just do all the touristy stuff, as much as she feels like doing,” Lane said.
Lane scheduled the trip and paid an extra $100 to make sure the tickets were refundable in case Meador wasn’t able to stop her cancer treatments.
“It worked out good that she was able to go,” Lane said. “She’d been sick off and on.”
Meador will be able to take a break from chemotherapy.
“Her doc has given us a gap in her treatment so we can do this trip,” Lane said. “We can go and have a good time while she feels like it.”
She’s waited her entire live to visit Washington, D.C., Meador said.
Meador comes from long line of Kentucky Democrats, she added, and is particularly excited about seeing the Lincoln Memorial.
“I’m going to have lunch on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and give Mr. Lincoln a flower,” she said. “That’s my dream.”