A few weeks ago, Daniel Morgan rang the bell to signify the end of his cancer treatment. He doesn’t like to be the center of attention and actually didn’t want to have the bell ringing. But his family knew this was a milestone to be remembered, so they convinced him to do it.
It’s been a long journey for Daniel – two years, four months, and two days to be exact. It started with a swollen lymph node on his neck and a fever. Because it was a weekend, his mother, Felicia, took him to an urgent care clinic, where the nurse thought it was a dental issue. He got steroids that suppressed his symptoms for a few weeks, but they came roaring back when the medicine wore off.
He finally went to the pediatrician, where bloodwork reviewed a high white blood cell count. Further testing on June 1, 2022, revealed that Daniel had leukemia. It was the first day of summer after his sophomore year of what turned out to be a very odd high school experience.
“Daniel’s freshman year and part of his sophomore year were from home because of COVID,” Felicia said. “He could only do partial days during his junior year because of treatment and finally got to go back to school full time for his senior year. He was very ready to get back to his friends and routine.”
“He didn’t really share what he was going through,” Felicia said. “He didn’t want to be treated differently or have people feel sorry for him. When he lost his hair, it was winter, so he was able to wear his beanie to school.”
Treatment was very hard on Daniel. He was often sick and had an allergic reaction to one of the chemotherapies. Because of this reaction, he was forced to have a very painful injection in his leg. He would have to psych himself up in the morning, knowing that he was going to get the shot that hurt badly.
Despite the interruptions and difficulty of treatment, Daniel graduated from John’s Creek High School with honors last spring. He is studying computer science at Kennesaw State University. He loves creating websites and programming.
“Our family feels compelled to give back to others fighting childhood cancer now that we’re done,” said Felicia. “Daniel has done surveys about the stress of treatment and described how he handled it. We’ve been proud of his responses. His thoughtful answers showed a great deal of maturity.”
CURE has been a support for the Morgans since day one. Felicia raves about the binder notebook that is in the Tote Bag we provided at diagnosis.
“I still have my binder and continue to keep records in it,” she said. “The Open Arms meals meant a lot. They allowed us to put all of our focus on getting Daniel well. It’s been a long road, but it is great to see Daniel happy, healthy, and loving life.”
