Morgan is a huge tomboy and doesn’t like anything girly. She is very feisty. She loves superheroes and Paw Patrol. She loves to play soccer. Her favorite colors are blue and green. 

About a week and a half before Morgan was diagnosed, she started complaining that her belly hurt and was having trouble passing a bowel movement. Her parents tried just about everything and finally discussed taking her to the doctor. Labor Day weekend, her parents noticed a lump on her side and decided not to wait and took her to the ER. They did an x-ray and found a mass. She was sent downtown to Kosair Children’s Hospital. Two days later, Morgan was in surgery having the mass removed along with her kidney. After the surgery, they did a biopsy on the mass and 48 hours later they told her parents "your child has cancer."  

Morgan received chemo for about six months: weekly for the first 10 weeks and then every three weeks until her last treatment on March 1, 2016. 

Morgan’s mom, Denise hopes in the future that she is not diagnosed with a secondary cancer from the chemo she received, that she has no health problems later in life and that she can lead a normal life. Today, Morgan is keeping that hope alive. She is doing well and remains cancer-free.

Morgan is Denise’s hero because she watched her child go through something she doesn’t know if she could handle. She watched Morgan get stuck with needles, lose all of her hair, watched her get sick and held a bucket while she puked. Denise held back tears while Morgan screamed and cried when her port was getting accessed. She watched Morgan take medication for almost a year now that she says is nasty. She’s woken up to Morgan screaming in pain because her legs hurt as a side effect from a chemo. She had to listen to her child ask, “Mommy I'm not sick, why can't I go to the park?” She watched Morgan be pulled out of kindergarten, having to do schoolwork at home with her teacher coming to the house twice a week. She still finished kindergarten in the top three of her class. 

Denise wants others, who may have recently received a cancer diagnosis, to know to keep your head up and stay positive. She says, “Morgan's diagnosis changed our lives not just for the bad but also for the good. We have learned so much and met so many great people.” Watching your child suffer is not fun. But there is support out there. You are not alone and no child fights alone. 

“I got this.” – Morgan’s response to help when she was knocked down.

Information provided by Denise Villanova, Morgan’s mother
Updated March 2020