AYA

My Social Work Story

Morgan and her closest friends during a “night out.”

My social work story began in 2014 with a decision to go back to school. Little did I know, I was to be diagnosed with cervical cancer during my second semester. The diagnosis disrupted my life and turned it upside down. I was your typical “social” 24-year-old who loved going out with her best friends; a young professional working full-time as a dental assistant; and an ambitious nontraditional student attending school full-time.

Looking back, I really don’t know how I managed it all but in reality, I think it’s what kept me going.  I had something to look forward to in the future and helping people was my reward. Unfortunately, my cancer story didn’t end there. Nearly a year after my initial diagnosis, I was given a second cancer diagnosis. This time it was metastatic recurrent cervical cancer in my lungs. Even though the chemo was heavier and my body was impacted more, I did not quit.

Morgan cuddled up to her dog, Sassy, after a long day of classes.

I finished my treatments and graduated with my Associates in Liberal Arts just two weeks shy of entering the bachelor’s program at the University of Iowa School of Social work. I was terrified that I wasn’t going to be able to retain the information, but I proved myself wrong rather quickly. In the program, we were trained rigorously. We dove deep into the biopsychosocial aspects of humans. We were required to have a deeper knowledge in cultural competence and were faced to see our own implicit biases. After, we would process through as a cohort to understand why and have the opportunity to learn from each other.

Morgan posing with Herky on the University of Iowa Campus in Iowa City, IA.

After two years of a fast-paced program, I graduated with my Bachelor’s in Social Work. Then I immediately entered the Master’s program with the University of Iowa School of Social Work. When I started the program, I had the passion to be a medical oncology social worker. I wanted the opportunity to work with cancer patients and their families. I wanted to give back after getting through my own experience, however, after being in a macro-level program, it shifted my mindset on how I could still work with the population of my choice while advocating and creating change in the cancer community.

            It’s no secret that I fell in love with advocacy and what it is on a day-to-day basis. You see, I found Cervivor and attended a Cervivor School in the summer of 2017. I learned how to use my voice as a patient advocate and it only amplified as I became an educated social worker. It led me to becoming the 2018 Cervivor Champion Award Recipient, the 2019 Advocate of the Year for the Iowa American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, and the 2020 Advocate of the Year for Above and Beyond Cancer.

After accepting the Cervivor Champion Award at the 2018 Cervivor School in Cape Copd, MA.
Volunteers with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network during the Iowa Day at the Hill event in 2019.
Dr. Richard Deming and Morgan filming the award segment for Above and Beyond Cancer in 2020.

My love for advocacy, cancer prevention, and macro-level social work falls right into place within the nonprofit world. We know nonprofits are vital to communities and often help build resiliency skills, raise awareness to specific issues, and make change happen. Social workers are a common thread amongst nonprofits and are community-based professionals. We assess the needs of the communities we serve, identify existing barriers, and develop sustainable programs or resources.

As I am stepping into the Community Engagement Liaison role for the organization, I look forward to serving our community. I intend to emphasize the importance of the word community and what it means to us as a whole. To listen to the needs of our community and bring support, resources, and programming to fulfill those needs. And last, but certainly not least, to continue raising awareness about our greater mission: “Ending cervical cancer is within our reach.”

Morgan is a metastatic cervical cancer survivor, Cervivor Ambassador, and a 3x award winning patient advocate. She lives in Iowa and is currently in the last two months of finishing her Masters in Social Work with the University of Iowa. She continues to advocate tirelessly in hopes her story can help others.

Giving Voice to our Young Adult Cervical Cancer Community

During National Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Awareness Week (April 6-10), we want to shine a spotlight on the many young adults who have played such a key part in shaping and supporting our Cervivor community.

AYA Cancer Awareness Week focuses on 15 – 39 year olds who are affected by cancer. As cervical cancer is most frequently diagnosed in women between the ages of 35 and 44, there are many Cervivors in this “young adult” cohort of women, who face unique challenges facing a cancer diagnosis at a time in their lives. 

Let’s give voice to young adults and the isolation they face:

When treatment experience in and out of the hospital can be particularly isolating for young adults. The average age in a (non-pediatric) hospital is 60, and the average age of a cancer diagnosis (across all cancers) is 66. Young adults fighting cancer, and young women fighting cervical cancer,  can find themselves alone with no one their own age to connect with. Then, many have to self-isolate at home as part of treatment due to a weakened immune system. Generally, the top psychosocial issue for young adults battling cancer is social isolation.

For Tamika Felder, the founder of Cervivor, that profound feeling of isolation ultimately led to action:  “I was 25 when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I wasn’t married. I had no kids. I was excited to finally be finished with college and living independently and kickstarting my career. I was focused on setting my long-term life goals, and on everything I wanted to achieve. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, I had cancer. My future looked totally different, especially with the loss of my fertility. It felt like a complete loss of myself,” said Tamika.  “I felt totally isolated and alone. I felt at that time that it was an embarrassing and ‘stigmatized’ cancer to talk about.” Feeling totally alone, Tamika started reaching out and building a network of cervical cancer survivors. From that, Cervivor was born.

“I felt very alone during the first year after treatment because I didn’t know any other young adult cancer survivors or cervical cancer survivors,” said Emily Hoffman, who was diagnosed at age 30, shared in her Cervivor story. She speaks about her loneliness and isolation, and the empowerment and support of finding women her own age who had been through what she went through, in her video “Hey Girl.”

Let’s give voice to catastrophe of losing your fertility as a young adult:

“I mourn the ‘normal life’ that cancer ripped away from me,” wrote Sarah Thibodeaux in her blog on Cervivor, Young Adult Cancer Survivorship. Sarah was only 29 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer and lost her fertility as a result of her treatments, “Now I am now at an age where a question that I tend to get from people is whether or not I have any children. When I tell them that I don’t, they usually follow up with the question ‘Well, why not?’  It’s in that moment I always have to decide just how in-depth I want to go about my situation, and it can be an awkward experience for both of us.”

“Nobody deserves to lose their chance to have a biological child.  Fertility is a loss so great that it cannot be put into words,” wrote Megan Tanner in her blog Fertility, Family & Cancer. Megan was diagnosed at age 32. “Sometimes, I feel like my body failed me twice (cancer being the first fail), but I have to remind myself it wasn’t me, it wasn’t my body – it was the treatment that did this to me.  The odds were against me, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault, especially my own.”

SPOTLIGHT: Several members of the Cervivor community have joined with other young adult cancer survivors to serve as vocal, active advocates for state and federal coverage of fertility-saving procedures as part of cancer coverage. “Young adult cancer patients have already had to sacrifice a lot to their disease – their chance at future parenthood needs to be valued and protected. We think one of the best ways to do this is by expanding access to fertility preservation, like sperm and egg freezing, through better insurance coverage,” says Joyce Reinecke, Executive Director of the Alliance for Fertility Preservation. 

“Over the last few years, we have worked with other nonprofit organizations and patient advocates across the country to call for this coverage, and we are thrilled to report that ten states have passed laws to protect this option for cancer patients. This has brought coverage to over 30M people who previously did not have this coverage!”

Let’s give voice to financial hardships that young adults face:

 “Being a young adult cancer patient was tough,” shared Morgan in her blog Creating Patient-Provider Synergy. “I turned 26 and I was essentially booted off of my mother’s insurance. I was paying a hefty premium, co-insurance, hotel and gas in order to receive the care I never had before. It became unfeasible and at the time I didn’t know where to turn for resources.”

Let’s give voice to those who share their voice:

Let’s give voice to the many Cervivors who were diagnosed when they were young adults, and who have become shoulders of support and advocates and educators for HPV vaccination, HPV screening and Pap testing. 

Like Cervivor Ambassador Karla in Honduras, who let us know on Facebook that she led a cervical cancer prevention and HPV vaccination information session at her work. Like LaTasha, a Cervivor Ambassador in Florida who was diagnosed at age 32. Like Amy, a Cervivor Ambassador who was diagnosed at age 24 and who now is applying her Cervivor School 2019 advocacy training at home in Australia. Like Tessa, who was first diagnosed at age 28 while in medical school, or Katie and Taylor, who were both diagnosed at age 27. Like so many others.  

Resources:

There are a number of organizations addressing the unique needs and challenges of young adult cancer survivors: Stupid Cancer, the Alliance for Fertility Preservation,  and the Ulman Foundation.