On February 7, 2007, at the tender age of five months, Meghan Norris was diagnosed with a large tumor in her cerebellum. The pathology revealed it to be PNET, also commonly known as, medulloblastoma.  Due to her young age, Meghan's treatment options were severely limited and she was given less than a 20% chance of survival.  As you could imagine, our world utterly collapsed as we simply could not fathom losing our beautiful little girl.  After ten months of grueling treatment and a total of seven surgeries, including three brain surgeries, six rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, Meghan emerged from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with "No Evidence of Disease."  The harsh treatment, however, has had many side effects, including widespread developmental delays, as Meghan lost almost a year of her life during a critical developmental period.  She also developed hearing loss in both ears. Since then, Meghan has attended feeding therapy at CHOP in order to learn to eat by mouth again, she attends physical therapy twice a week, and is participating in the New Jersey Early Intervention Program.  The road ahead will be difficult and filled with many challenges, however, we freely accept them, as the alternative is unimaginable.  What is truly amazing to our family is that the most brave person we have ever met is our 2 year old daughter.  Her courage and iron will are something to be experienced and cherished.

Meghan is now 7 ½ years old and enrolled in CHOP’S childhood survivor clinic.  This consists of meetings with a team of doctors every year and a routine follow up MRI every 2 years.  Meghan has steadily continued in her development, however, she still faces challenges every day due to affects of the brain tumor and the harsh treatment she received.  Regardless, Meghan embraces and enjoys life and loves her family completely.  She especially loves her dog “Chuck” and her now  6 month old brother Colin who was born in October 2013.  Meghan attends the Joseph Capello School in New Jersey, which is a special needs school, and is currently in the first grade.  Meghan’s future development is a mystery to all of us, however, none of us doubt for one second that she will confront every challenge in her life with courage, tenacity and hope.   She truly defines the term “Warrior”.

Update 2026: It has been a long time since an update. Meghan is soon to be 20  years old! She graduated from High School and is in the TOPPS program at Central Bucks East.  She is busy working on finding a future career and is living life to her fullest. Her most favorite place in the world is Sesame Place. Meghan has suffered from the effects of her treatment, but she is a happy and loving girl who will talk your ear off and will always make you laugh. We love our little warrior. She is a true inspiration and we are all proud and blessed that she is part of our lives. We love you Meghan.

Please visit our journal for any future updates.

Written by: Paul and Claire Norris
Updated May 2026