Morgan is very shy when you first meet her but when she opens up she is super funny and talkative. Her brother makes her laugh the most. She loves Shopkins, My Little Pony, LOL dolls, Teen Titans Go, and Steven Universe. She loves to draw and paint and is actually really good at it.
n February 2016, Morgan wasn’t feeling well so we took her to the pediatrician who said that she had RSV. She has asthma and has always had upper respiratory issues so it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. After 10 days she started to feel better but she wasn’t 100%. Her face was very pale and there was no color in her lips. She was very lethargic and complained about her ankles hurting and would ask to be carried all the time. The pediatrician thought it was probably still the virus working through her system. Her pulmonologist thought maybe it was seasonal allergies. The day Morgan was diagnosed, we were out to lunch and she was very uncomfortable and whining. We took her straight to the pediatrician and he said she was definitely anemic and told us that it would be better to take her to the ER to get blood work instead of waiting overnight for results from his office. She was severely anemic, low white blood cells and low platelets and diagnosed with ALL.
The ALL protocol includes an approximately 1 month impatient stay during Induction, numerous lumbar punctures, several different types of chemo through the mediport, daily oral chemo in maintenance and monthly steroid pulses. Treatment had its ups and downs but Morgan did relatively good throughout.
There were many limitations that she faced during her treatment. She couldn’t go to a formal preschool because of her suppressed immune system. She couldn’t take any extracurricular classes because of her immune system and her mediport. The monthly steroid pulse really put her in a bad mood and we couldn’t go out a lot because of that.
Cancer changes anyone that it touches. But we have been blessed to have a great family and friend support system throughout our journey that has made it much easier for us. In addition we have met so many kind people through all the different cancer organizations that have helped us financially and emotionally. We definitely met a lot of lifelong friends who understand exactly what we went through.
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