Joy in the Morning: Cancer survivor Lauren Morris shares the journey to her wakeup call

By: Ashley Daniels

Lauren Morris turns 52 next month and, as a double cancer survivor, she celebrates that and beyond. “I remember being terrified of turning 50, but then I was like, ‘This is awesome,’ because I’ve lost my filter and I’m turning 50 and had cancer. I don’t give a f#*k. I do not,” Morris says with a laugh, after she turned down a Taylor Swift tune during our phone interview, explaining that she is a self-proclaimed, late-in-life Swiftie.

Morris, originally from Northeast Philadelphia, is a mom of two sons here at the beach, works as the strategic marketing manager at Coast RTA, and is a true testament to the adage, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

In 2022, her father-in-law, who had been living with her family for the past seven years, had just passed away. Her son was a senior in high school. And, that same year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It was a terrible time – not that it’s ever a good time,” says Morris. “I’m always very diligent about my scans and proactive about my health because my mother died of [lung] cancer. Cancer runs in my family, although they haven’t found a genetic link.”

She says that it was not abnormal for her to return for a more in-depth follow-up ultrasound after her annual mammograms because of dense breast tissue.

“Honestly, it happened so often that I became nonchalant about it, so when I got called back a day and a half after my father-in-law died to go back for another scan, I said to my husband, ‘It’s no big deal. It happens all the time,’” says Morris. “When I went there, and I sat there, and they said, ‘Dr. Kelly wants to see you now,’ I said, ‘Oh, is that Liz? She’s a friend of mine.’ And they said, ‘Yep.’

“That’s when I knew,” she continues. “I’m in the business of working with people, and I knew.”

Morris shares that the next step of her stage one breast cancer journey was flipping into survival mode and powering through without telling her sons because of the trauma they had just experienced – until she and her medical team decided that a lumpectomy was the best treatment option for her.

“I felt really confident in my surgeons,” she says. “I felt really confident in my team. And I ended up having the lumpectomy 10 days before my son graduated from high school. …  I am so fortunate that I have a great boss and a supportive team, which helped me get through all of that, that I work from home, and I have that flexibility. I don’t know how women can do this without that.”

After about five weeks of radiation and hormone treatment, Morris says she began having GI side effects, so her provider recommended a colonoscopy. The results: a blockage and tumor showing she had stage two colon cancer. That was when, she says, she realized she needed to make some lifestyle changes.

“I had to reevaluate how I was living my life,” she says. “I already had a strong faith, and this was the big show. Everything I had studied, all my devotions, my time, everything, this is where I really needed to lean on it. And I was glad that I did. I think that having that faith was a really big help for me. … And you have to have a sense of humor because you’re going to lose your mind otherwise. You have to find that joy because there’s always a joy. I really believe that there are blessings in the mess. … God is with you in every moment.”

So, what did Morris change up in her life? She downshifted from going full throttle as a mom, wife, caretaker, and successful career woman.

“I’ve noticed that, especially with women my age, we bought the lie that you can have everything,” she says. “You just can’t have it all at the same time. We can’t just have a career. We can’t just have a family. I pushed through, and I’m here to tell you that you can’t do that. You really have to take time for yourself. You have to rest. And I did none of those things. I just kept going and going and going. And I thought that that was what we were supposed to do. I don’t think that contributed to my cancer, but I don’t think it helped. I think it created an environment.”

Morris says, ultimately, it’s OK to admit you’re not OK – and it’s OK to put yourself first. Find joy in something, even if it’s small.

“They say cancer is a teacher, and you have to let it teach you,” she says. “It will show you what you need to do if you pay attention. You have to breathe. I don’t think any of us can thrive in that constant state of high throttle. I think that’s where we start breaking our bodies down. For me, it was breaking down my mental wellness as well. Your mental wellness, your emotional wellbeing, and your physical wellbeing are really the important things.”

Today, Morris is three years breast cancer-free and two years colon cancer-free, and continues to get MRI- and CT-scanned several times a year in addition to blood tests to closely follow her genetics. She is also highly involved in the annual Ignite Women’s Conference, held on October 25 this year and hosted by the Myrtle Area Chamber of Commerce.