[av_textblock size=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” font_color=” color=” id=” custom_class=” template_class=” av_uid=’av-koudihne’ sc_version=’1.0′ admin_preview_bg=”]

Osteosarcoma Survivor Focuses on Living her Dreams After Beating Cancer

Written by Rachel Wood, Director of Marketing

After what was thought to be a knee injury while vacationing in Florida, Lily went for an MRI after the pain continued to get worse.  A 14cm high-grade tumor in the tibia of her right leg was discovered. The week after Thanksgiving in 2019 Lily was diagnosed with osteosarcoma during her Senior year at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, NC. Fortunately, the disease was localized and had not spread.

Lily went through surgery to remove the tumor and salvage her leg.  Surgery removed the piece of her shin bone that was affected by the tumor and attached an internal prosthetic to the remaining portion of her tibia, a prosthetic knee joint that attached to her femur.  

In 2020 Lily was declared cancer-free and through all the treatments, side effects, learning to walk again… Lily completed her schoolwork to graduate with her class.  She recently had her routine scans and checkups in February, and everything looked great!  Lily is currently in the Survivorship Program at Levine Children’s to help manage the transition (mentally and physically) from a fighter to a cancer survivor.

From her time receiving treatment at Levine Children’s, Lily aspires to become a musical therapist.  Music therapy helped her so much during her cancer fight and she felt called to work with kids dealing with sickness and to help them in the same way!  Lily just finished her first year at York Tech and is working to transfer to Queens University to get her Bachelors in music.  

Lily beat cancer.  She has grown her hair.  And she is living her dreams.  This is exactly why we exist and why your support is so important!  Donate today to childhood cancer research.

We featured Lily and her Mom, Betsy, as we celebrated remarkable moms for Mother’s Day.

Celebrating the Power of Mothers:  Being a Mom Through Cancer (Betsy, Lily’s Mom)

Celebrating the Power of Mothers: Osteosarcoma Survivor Writes a Love Letter to her Mom

[/av_textblock]