A young woman from Chattanooga faces a harsh reality as cancer could claim both of her parents' lives. Morgan Taylor's mom and dad received cancer diagnoses within just a couple years of each other.
She shared her experience in a viral post online. Taylor said her parents wish to share their story to provide others in similar situations with realness, comfort, and most of all, hope. She added that it is in her best wishes that this story honors both of her parents and their individual and unique journeys, trials, and tribulations in the best possible way.
She first shared her mother's cancer story in a viral post. She said it all started in February 2019 when she was a Junior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Taylor said she had just celebrated her 20th birthday the month prior.
Taylor shocked by her mom's triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis
She was still living with her parents at the time and vividly remembered getting a text saying that they needed to have a family meeting one night. They gathered around her parents' couch in the living room as they delivered the news that would change her life forever.
Taylor remembered her dad clearing his throat as he said with a wavering voice that their mom had a rare cancer, and it was stage 3 triple negative breast cancer. He apologized for taking a while to talk about the cancer diagnosis but explained that they had to get a second opinion before sharing the grim news.
According to Hopkins Medicine, triple-negative breast cancer accounts for about 10 to 20 percent of all breast cancer cases. It is a more aggressive type of tumor with a faster growth rate, higher risk of metastasis, and recurrence risk. That diagnosis means the three most common proteins that fuel the growth of breast cancer (progesterone receptor, estrogen receptor, and HER2) are not present in the tumor.
Dad also diagnosed with brain cancer in June 2021
Overall, her mom had three rounds of chemo and a total of 13 different surgeries during her difficult cancer journey. As if her story is not enough for their family, they received a call from her mom while she was at work on May 21 last year, telling her that her dad fell off a ladder and thought he had a seizure while fixing a light bulb.
Taylor said her father had never had seizures ever in his life, and her mother knew something was not adding up. Her mom's instinct was proven right as her dad was first diagnosed with stage 2 Oligodendroglioma Brain Cancer in June 2021. Taylor said he had a brain tumor in his temporal lobe that would need to be removed.
There was more bad news for them as they were eventually told that her father had Glioblastoma Multiforme Brain Cancer, which is terminal, according to News Channel 9. They found out that her dad had a tumor regrow back in the temporal lobe of his brain back in May 2022.
