Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation supports young girl through three cancer battles

Morgan is a spirited and energetic nine-year-old who loves her stuffed animals and her big sister, Natalie. 

"I like playing on the trampoline," Morgan said. "I like drawing."

For most of her life, Morgan has been battling neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops in nerve tissue. 

"We could physically see the tumors," her mom Jatoe Howard said. "They were swollen glands."

It wasn't until one day when the family ended up going to the emergency room. Morgan was then transported to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where she started an 18-month treatment plan.

"It had chemo, it had transplant, it had immunotherapy, it had surgery," Howard said. "She had radiation. So she's kind of been  through just about everything."

By the time she was five years old, Morgan was doing well, cancer free and starting kindergarten. But by first grade, the cancer was back. 

"I would say for the most part, Morgan's body does adapt to it," Howard said. "She's now like going to chemo and then she's coming home asking can I ride my scooter?"

And then last summer, the family received the devastating news that the cancer was back again. Morgan began immunotherapy and chemotherapy. 

"That combination worked really well for the first relapse," Howard said. "We tried it this time and it wasn't showing anything. So we're kind of just going down the list."

A very high dose of radiation worked. Morgan is now in what's called a maintenance phase and is getting a low dose of radiation with the hope of keeping the cancer from returning. 

However, going through it all has been challenging. 

"When your red blood counts are low, you do tend to just get a little bit more irritated," Howard said. "So the moods have been a bit of a roller coaster."

That's where Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has helped. The foundation's SuperSibs program for brothers and sisters of children with cancer has been a resource for the family. 

"They were sending things for her, things that would help us maybe talk to both of them about it," Howard said. 

Morgan's family is taking one day at a time and trying to get back to somewhat of a normal life. 

Alex's sent the family to a Flyers game where she met Gritty and got the chance to ride the Zamboni.

One of her favorite players, Garnet Hathaway, wore skate covers designed by Morgan. 

"One side's cancer and one side's all winter," Morgan said while holding up her design. 

With Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, they hope to pay it forward. 

"I want to make sure the next family also feels supported," Howard said. "It can be very overwhelming. It can be very scary. So just kind of having that support, that resource there is huge."

Join CBS Philadelphia for the 20th annual Alex Scott A Stand for Hope Telethon, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Funds are being raised for childhood cancer research. To donate, visit here.