High school senior shows you’re never too young to beat cancer

There’s a less than 0.01percent probability of getting breast cancer as a teenager. In fact, most breast cancer statistics don’t even show ages younger than 20 because the numbers are almost non-existent. But Morgan Watson, a senior at Herriman High School, knows what it’s like to go against the odds.

In August 2010, when she was 15 years old, she discovered a lump the size of a quarter on one of her breasts. Her mom immediately took her to a doctor. Usually a lump in a teenage girl’s breast is something minor, such as a swollen gland or a cyst. But for Morgan, it was the beginning of a very long and difficult battle.

Morgan was diagnosed with Stage III Triple Negative Medullary Breast Cancer, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. Over the next year, she had to squeeze in normal teenage events such as driver’s education and prom between chemotherapy, doctors’ appointments, surgeries and radiation.

Morgan began her first round of chemotherapy two days before her 16th birthday. She then went through six rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. After the chemotherapy, Morgan opted to have a double mastectomy, because she had been diagnosed with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a condition that affects the body’s cancer-fighting genes.

With Li-Fraumeni, only one copy of the cancer-fighting genes is working, so there is a small chance of Morgan getting cancer again in a different place.

On Jan. 17, 2011, three days after the surgery, Morgan received the news that she was now cancer-free. It was a huge victory for Morgan, but she still had a way to go.

After the mastectomy, she began radiation treatments, doing five weeks of treatments, every day Monday through Friday. Three months later, Morgan had reconstructive surgery.

Throughout it all, Morgan has been strengthened by the support of her family and friends. Cards, gifts, phone calls, texts, notes and meals poured in during the hard times. Neighbors decorated Morgan’s yard and the neighborhood with pink ribbons and planted pink tulips in their yards to show support.

During her junior year, Morgan was attending Riverton High School and would often be greeted when she came to school by posters showing support for her. One time, the entire football team and their coach came to her first period class and sang the school’s fight song to her. On the days when she had to start her chemotherapy, the students at her school would wear pink to show their support.

After finishing her radiation treatments, Morgan’s family took a much-needed vacation in Mexico. Mom Jana Pendleton remembered looking at her daughter sitting by the pool, along with other teenage girls, and thinking, “You would never know just looking at her, all that she has been through. She looks like a normal teenage girl.”

But ‘normal’ isn’t really the best word to describe Morgan. ‘Spunky’, ‘brave’ and ‘strong’ are the words her friends and family use to describe her. Health-wise, Morgan will never be the same. There will probably always be some scars and leftover pain, and she will always need to be vigilant in taking care of herself. But more than the physical changes, Morgan is a different person. She is a stronger, better person.

“If I could go back, I would still choose to go through it. I am a stronger person. Life has more meaning. I can touch so many more lives now. It has been such a blessing,” she said.

“Everyone has a mom, a sister, a friend...someone who has faced cancer,” Jana Pendleton said. Morgan and her mom hope that they can use their experiences to help people through these experiences and to encourage breast cancer awareness for all ages.

Morgan is currently working with the Susan G. Komen foundation to increase breast cancer awareness among her peers. She hopes to take her message to local high schools.

As she wrote in a letter sent to all the high schools in Utah, “Breast cancer is known as an ‘old woman's’ disease. I want to send this message with the great people of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to alert and notify the public that it is far from it. This disease can affect anyone; daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmas, even men. I hold myself personally responsible to spread breast cancer awareness among young people and educate them about checking themselves.”

And while it is very rare to face breast cancer as a teenager, Morgan hopes to encourage other teenagers in whatever trial they may be facing.

“The teen years are hard, but don’t give up on things. Value your experiences—they make you who you are,” she said.