Morgan F.

She finished treatment in January 2006

Morgan was a normal 15 year old girl excited about being in junior high, loved to be with her friends, and trying out for the soccer team when her life changed forever. One night in February 2005 after practice, she noticed a lump on her groin; we thought it was a pulled muscle, the next night she was limping from back pain. I had a sick feeling in my stomach, the next morning we were at the doctor and they ordered a CT scan. A mass the size of a softball was found low in her pelvic cavity around the colon.

The next day Morgan was in for a biopsy, the first surgery of many to come. The initial diagnosis came back as a blue cell carcinoma; the final diagnosis would take a few more days. We were told to go to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver, where she would spend the next two weeks running a gamut of tests. During her stay we had consultations with the two oncologists that were taking care of Morgan. The picture they had painted was grim. Morgan had rhabdomyosarcoma, and she had the worst type called “alveolar, stage 4, the most aggressive type. Only about 180 children get this type of cancer a year. One of the doctors told us, “because this cancer is so rare there is no money for research like there is for leukemia and breast cancer, the more common cancers.” Her treatment was randomly selected so she started her 42 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation. They gave Morgan a less than 5% chance of survival. There seemed to be no hope.

Morgan endured endless chemotherapy, radiation, infections, and numerous surgeries. She finished treatment in January 2006 and started to enjoy a normal life again. Unfortunately, on July 26, 2006, the cancer returned in her breast. So she began again: weeks of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries with multiple complications and hospital stays.

Twice we have been told the cancer was back and she continues to prove them wrong.  Morgan continues to fight and her doctors are amazed by her will and determination. She is the girl that they never thought would see Christmas of 2005.

Morgan continues to thrive! Read Morgan’s story in her own words here.