Cormac’s Inspiring Journey From Infant Liver Cancer to Official Survivorship
Cormac Morris was just over a year old when he was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare cancerous tumor that starts in the liver. Following treatment and successful liver transplant surgery at Cincinnati Children's, Cormac, now 8, is doing great and will soon join our Cancer Survivorship Program.
Five years ago, “the bottom dropped out of our lives,” said Cormac’s mom, Beckett, as she recalls hearing the initial cancer diagnosis and all the fears associated with it.
“Of course we were profoundly sad and scared. We felt completely powerless,” she added. “There was a lot of sitting in shock, a lot of tears. Then everything else in life stood still until we could start his treatment.”
Cormac began chemotherapy soon after diagnosis. Thankfully, a donor match was found within three months and soon after Cormac underwent a successful liver transplant followed by more chemotherapy.
During every step, Beckett and her husband, Matt, were there asking questions and talking with Cormac’s care team.
“We felt like our input was listened to,” said Beckett. “As far as his overall treatment plan, we knew that the doctors knew what they were doing, so we didn’t really challenge their decisions. We felt like the staff worked with us on our day-to-day concerns.”
Beckett admits that this time in their life has become a bit of a fog when it comes to memories. Thankfully, they had family in both Louisville (where they live), and Cincinnati to offer assistance. Their older daughter, Claire, stayed in Louisville with her grandparents while Cormac received this treatment in Cincinnati. The whole family would get together on weekends.
“Looking back, I think, how did we get through all of that?” said Beckett. “We were fortunate that we had family here in Louisville. We had help on both ends. We are very fortunate that it worked out that way.”