Joan Marie Morrison

Hi everyone! My name is Joan Marie Morrison and I am 56 years old. I have three beautiful daughters.  My first born is 28 years old. Her name is Nardia Morrison. Second daughter Mckayla Morrison is smart beyond her age, which is 15. She is going to be a sophomore in high School. Then there is Hannah Morrison who is very special to my husband Charles Morrison and I because she came into our lives at a month old and that day when I picked her up from the hospital, I knew she would be part of our family forever. She is sweet, loving and one of the kindest
of little girls. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of 2011, it made me think that I had done the right thing in completing our lives with three beautiful daughters.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of 2011. I was 49 years old. I had missed the previous year of getting an annual mammogram. The following year I scheduled a mammogram and that is when they found the tumor. It was really devastating, not only for me but also for my husband and oldest daughter who accompanied me to see Dr. Christie at the Women’s Center of St. Francis Hospital. But since Dr. Christie is also from Jamaica as I am, it made me feel very comfortable; however, it was still really, really hard and I was afraid to hear the news.

It was a bit of a struggle in the beginning for my husband and hard to make the right decision regarding whether to remove my breast so I could be here for the girls and to watch them grow as I passed through the worst of my treatment. I thank God every day that I’m still alive to watch them grow.

I had surgery (a mastectomy) in September 2011 and I know I made the right decision. I started chemotherapy in November 2011. The support I got from my husband and my three daughters was all that I needed in my life. “Thank you” to my family – my girls and my husband who is always behind me, supporting me and asking all the right questions to make sure I do the right thing; and I did make the right choice because of him.

Thank you Charles Morrison. I love you to the moon and back; and to my beautiful girls thank you for all the support, especially to McKayla Morrison for being a role model and volunteering to be a spokesperson at a breast cancer event.

Love, Joan Marie Morrison.

has been seven wonderful years of survival and I couldn’t be happier!