Support John Morgan's Battle Against Tongue Cancer

Hi everyone,

This is Taylor Morgan, daughter of John Morgan, and I am making this to share my dad’s story on his ongoing battle with tongue cancer.

The past 16 months have been an unimaginable time for my dad, John, and our family. In June of 2023, my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 carcinoma of the tongue. He was never a smoker or drinker; his doctors called it his “bad-luck” cancer. At the end of August 2023, the time had come for his surgery where the surgeons ended up removing 40% of his tongue. After the removal, they then had to reconstruct that 40% of his tongue using skin from his left wrist and thigh. Shortly after this surgery, he was placed on a grueling chemotherapy and radiation schedule which took a huge toll on his body. During the treatment, he was in extreme pain, discomfort, and was lucky to get an hour of sleep in a given day. After those 30 radiation treatments and chemotherapy, the doctors said he had a clean PET scan and was declared cancer-free in April of 2024.

Unfortunately, less than 2 months later, my dad had to have another biopsy done. This time due to new sores popping up on the other side of his tongue. When the results came back from the biopsy, we found out he was diagnosed with yet another cancerous tumor. This news was extremely devastating to all of us. We had the false sense of hope that we had gotten through the worst of it, so hearing we were back to square one completely shattered that. Fast forward a few months to August of 2024, he is back in the operating room having yet another surgery. During this surgery, they took about 50% of the tongue on the other side of the mouth, now leaving only about 10% of his natural tongue. They of course had to reconstruct again, this time using skin from the opposite wrist and thigh.

Having this operation two separate times, a year apart, and having 90% of his tongue removed has led to a drastic lifestyle change and one that has not been easy to navigate.

A few weeks after the second surgery, we had a follow-up appointment to see how he is progressing. Sadly, during this visit, the surgeon informed us that my dad still had positive margins, meaning they did not get all the cancer. It was devastating to hear this, and that after all of the surgeries, treatments, and complete lifestyle change that the battle is still not over. Just two months after this surgery, he is already experiencing pain in the remainder of his tongue and had a biopsy done this past week to determine a diagnosis.

Treatment plans are scarcer this second time around, due to him already doing chemo and radiation. His current treatment schedule is immunotherapy every 3 weeks, and he has also just been approved for proton therapy that we are awaiting consultation on.

As his daughter, this has been an extremely difficult thing to watch my dad go through. Seeing all of this first-hand and experiencing this as a family has truly been life altering. Never in a million years did we expect for this to happen, and in such a short amount of time. Throughout all of what he has endured this past year, he has never once stopped fighting and I am constantly in awe of the perseverance and strength he has shown.

Due to all of this, my dad has only been able to work roughly 2 of the last 16 months, and with the news we just received of positive margins, the treatment plan he will need to have and the recovery, we are unsure of if/when he will be able to return to work and the last thing I want him to worry about is making it month to month financially. I am sharing this to help relieve him of some financial stress so he can focus on beating this cancer and finding happiness again. We have been super grateful for the support we have had thus far from family and friends and are appreciative of the continued support as he continues to battle this.

Sincerely,

Taylor Morgan