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This is Lilah. She is a charismatic and bubbly 4 year old
girl who was born in Toronto, Ontario in April 2004.
Like all parents, we could brag on for some time about how amazing
our daughter is, perhaps because of her early ability to count to
10, the way she welcomes each child into her daycare class, or even
her ability to speak in full sentences (even if she does mix in some
Spanish and Hebrew along the way). For anyone who has met her,
you'll also know about her huge brown eyes and gorgeous smile that
are almost certain to light up any room. But as parents of Lilah, we
have so much more to be proud of because Lilah is a survivor of
neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that affects the sympathetic
nervous system.
Lilah's tumor, which was the size of a golf ball in an 8 lb baby,
was found on her first day of life due to a not-so-routine
ultrasound. The ultrasound had been scheduled right away in order to
have a look at her solitary kidney, which we had learned about
prenatally. As a result, we were sent to SickKids almost immediately
for diagnosis and treatment.
Our oncologist's initial diagnosis of neuroblastoma was quickly
confirmed and surgery to remove the tumor and adrenal gland followed
shortly thereafter. After a week in the hospital to recover, we were
sent home with a good prognosis and told to return next month for
routine follow-up and scans.
While the first scans were fine, the second round found
neuroblastoma clusters growing on her liver. As a result, we found
ourselves back at the hospital in August of 2004 discussing
immediate chemotherapy and surgery: a 5-10 month plan of treatment
for a child whose cancer wasn't expected to return. Thankfully,
Lilah's treatment had the desired effect and so only 4 rounds of
chemotherapy were required. The whole process took 5-6 months and
involved many scans and blood tests, numerous surgeries and
countless check-ups.
Throughout all of this, Lilah continued to smile and touch the
hearts of the people that she met, whether it be her nurse Mary, her
oncologist Dr. Irwin, her surgeon Dr. Gerstle, her ICU friend
Brittany, or any one of the countless children and parents that we
met during this time. As you can see, she continues to do so today,
over 3 years after her last round of chemotherapy and several
weeks after her last hospital visit.
Lilah is now thriving at daycare and she continues to smile and
touch the hearts of everyone she meets. |
