EPITOME OF BRAVERY
Family, community rally support for terminally ill high school student
Friends and family are raising money and showing support for a Shepherd teen with terminal cancer.
Josh Morgan, 18, a junior at Shepherd High School, was originally diagnosed with cancer in March of 2019 after a tumor was discovered in his brain.
He had surgery shortly afterwards and the tumor was 100 percent resected, according to his mother, Theresa Morgan.
However, Josh lost the ability to speak and much of the peripheral vision in his right eye.
After undergoing rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids he regained his speech and the ability to complete simple tasks, while simultaneously undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
Josh’s condition continued to improve through outpatient rehabilitation at Mclaren Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant.
In January of 2020 he was finally able to return to classes at Shepherd High School.
But in June doctors discovered two new tumors had started to develop in Josh’s brain. He began a new round
of radiation and an infusion treatment to help shrink the tumors and by the end of July an MRI showed the tumors were nearly gone.
However, things once again took a turn for the worse. In January, tests revealed there were now three tumors. The previous two had grown back and a third was found in his frontal lobe.
Josh’s symptoms, difficulty swallowing, vision loss and increased weakness, have continued to worsen.
A Gofundme page has been established with a goal of raising $2,400 to assist with expenses.
“We have known from the start that there was no cure for Josh’s cancer,” his mother wrote. “The goal has always been to make his life as good as it can be for as long as it can be. We live in moments and just hope we can have as many of them as we can, even if there may not be as many of them as we had hoped.”
As his health continued to deteriorate his oncologist requested the family begin discussing Josh’s wishes moving forward.
Even though the doctor had found another medical trial that would target the mutations in his tumors he decided it wasn’t worth enduring more chemo, clinic visits, taking medications that made him sick and dealing with other side effects with no guarantee that the new treatment would work.
Josh is now enrolled in an in home pediatric hospice care program.
“Josh stayed with his original decisions and has chosen to give his body a rest, not to pursue the new trial and to stop treatment,” his mother wrote in a Facebook post. “It’s been two long years for him and we will probably second guess this decision everyday, but we of course will honor his decision. Thinking on it now, it was questionable whether or not his body could have endured the side effects from a long chemo regimen as he has slid downhill quite rapidly.”
The community has already come to the family’s assistance. With the help of the Shepherd Police Department, Tri-township Fire Department and Mt. Pleasant Fire Department a new ramp has been installed at the Morgan home making easier for Josh to get his wheelchair outdoors.
And as of Tuesday morning 29 donors had pledged $1,575 on Josh’s Gofundme page.
Donations for Josh are also being accepted by the Shepherd Police Department and at the Village Office.
More information is available at the Josh Morgan Support Group page on Facebook.