Monica was very active in so many things, from volleyball and basketball to hippology (the study of the horse), horse judging, 4-H Girl Scouts and raising money for the local children's hospital. She never had a bad thing to say about anyone and did her best to help those in need.

Monica was diagnosed with cancer after having a cough for six months that eventually led to difficulty in breathing normally. Her local doctors diagnosed it as a form of pneumonia and sent her to a heart and lung clinic to be treated. Her tumor was found during an MRI and her left lung was removed three days later. She was diagnosed with Hormone Resistant Alveolar Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcoma. At the time of diagnosis she was asked by the surgeons if she was scared about having cancer. She responded calmly with, “You have to face your fears or they take over. Now that we know what I have, I can face it and not let it win.”

Monica bravely started treatment four days after surgery and was given chemotherapy weekly for six months. She was then given a NED clearance. At her one-year checkup her cancer had returned, to almost the same spot. She then started chemotherapy again with radiation daily to be followed with surgery to remove the remaining portion of her lung and diaphragm. Three months into the new daily chemotherapy regimen she developed a bacterial blood infection and pneumocystic pneumonia and ended up in ICU on a ventilator and high dose antibiotics along with several antifungals. She was in a coma for six weeks. When she woke the doctors did more testing and realized the tumor had shrunk. They did surgery to remove the rest of the cancer and started radiation. Monica was declared NED again, but sadly it did not last: within six weeks, routine bloodwork showed that the cancer had returned and was in all her organs.

Heartbreakingly, she was told that there wasn't much left to do. She told the doctor that she wasn't ready to give up so why was he. They tried all sorts of experimental medications but after three months there was no change. She then decided to live every day she had left to the fullest.

Monica is a hero because through her entire battle she never let her cancer stop her from doing what she loved. She continued to play volleyball and basketball, even when she had radiation burns and chemo sores. She continued with her academics and her community organizations, and continued to quilt and buy gifts for the kids at the children's hospital stuck in the hospital on holidays. Monica’s mom, Karen, promised Monica she would continue this work.

Hero Quote: Monica said it best and her family still lives by her words today. One thing she always said was "I have cancer, it doesn't have me." The other was "Live each day as it comes to the fullest, because God never promised anyone tomorrow. Life is too short to have regrets about what could have been, should have been, or didn't do."

Information provided by Karen Hatch, Monica’s mother
December 2014