Leah Messer (left), Adalynn, 12.Photo:Teen Mom/Instagram
Teen Mom/Instagram
Leah Messeris explaining something difficult to her three girls.
During the Thursday, March 13 episode ofTeen Mom: The Next Chapter, Leah learns that her father is facing cancer. As she helps him navigate his medical needs, she decides to wait until she has significant information before sitting her three daughters down to share the news.
“Now that we have more answers, we know what my dad’s treatment plan will look like, and that he told me that he’s committed to his recovery, I’m ready to have that conversation with my daughters,” she explains in a confessional before the sit-down.
Leah goes into the bedroom and tells Aliannah and Aleeah, 15, and Adalynn, 12, “I wanted to get all the answers and figure out what was going on, but about a month ago, they diagnosed grandad with cancer.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Leah explains to the girls that their grandfather has kidney cancer and they did testing to see if it had spread to his colon. The testing found there wasn’t any spread.
“They’re going to do an ablation, where they burn off that spot of his kidney, and then he’ll just have a treatment plan after that to keep checking on it to make sure it doesn’t grow back or spread. It was very scary.”
Noting that they’d been estranged from Leah’s dad until recently, Aleeah adds, “He just started coming around and then, now he has cancer.”
“I know this seems scary, but I do want you guys to know that granddad’s okay.”
Ali asks if the illness “could have been from where he didn’t really take care of himself.”
“You guys know the door is open if you have any questions, if you want to see him, whatever that might be,” Leah assures them. “Whatever you might have on your heart, on your mind, just let me know.”
source: people.com