Susan Morris refers to it as her “worst week” in a year of many difficult weeks.
The 64-year-old long-time Tsawwassen resident had already endured radiation and chemotherapy, following a cancer diagnosis in Summer 2023. In November, her oncologist told her the tumours had shrunk. It seemed Morris was on her way to fully reclaiming her health.
But then, in February of this year, a PET scan revealed not only that the cancer had returned but had metastasized to two of her vertebrae and her femur. There were also spots on her liver.
And yet there was more devastating news to come. Only a few weeks later, veterinarians discovered that her beloved horse, Joey (Morris took up equestrianism at 57, and purchased Joey in 2019), had a serious infection in her coffin bone, located inside the rear hoof. In horses, this condition is considered like cancer. Joey’s prognosis was so poor that it was suggested she be put down.
Morris’s “worst week” was still to come, however. In April, her employer told her she had been inadvertently overpaid and was expected to reimburse the excess funds. As well, her employee benefits were to be discontinued. (She receives partial long-term disability support from the Provincial Health Services Authority.)
“I was already financially devastated,” says Morris. “So many things had happened. You really feel like life is telling you, ‘You shouldn’t be here.’”
Meanwhile, her husband, Paul Walters, 71, was thrown into “a spiral of depression,” says Morris.
The good news: Following a series of costly surgeries, as well as therapy involving “medicinal maggots,” Joey has returned home and has a good prognosis.
But Morris has yet to be so lucky. She had to endure another series of radiation treatments and is currently undergoing her fifth of six months of chemotherapy. Her cancer has been deemed “incurable,” but doctors say immunotherapy medications may help to extend and improve her quality of life.
However, these medications don’t qualify for coverage from the Medical Services Plan and are exorbitantly expensive. One such drug, Pembrolizumab (also known as Keytruda) needs to be administered every three weeks at a cost of more than $11,000 per dose.
Faced with the possibility of having to sell their home, Morris and Walters felt there was no other option but to create a GoFundMe page, the proceeds from which will pay for Morris’s immunotherapy drugs.
Asked if Joey’s recovery has helped her feel more optimistic about her own future, Morris's voice becomes racked with emotion.
“It means everything. Everything,” she says. “She’s keeping me going. I supported her and now she’s supporting me. Paul and I, we’re not out of the woods yet, but the fact that Joey is doing well, that makes me feel good.
“Cancer patients, especially in my case — the only thing I want is time.”
View Susan Morris’s GoFundMe page here.
