On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, our sweet Lucy Hannah was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. Medulloblastoma. It all came on so quickly that she only presented symptoms for a few days before things started spiraling out of control. Upon an MRI, we learned that Lucy had a total of 3 tumors in her brain, one in her spinal column and a sugar-dusting of tiny tumors up and down her spine. In a whirlwind of events, she was in a 9 hour surgery 2 days later. While the surgery was largely a success, the doctor was unfortunately not able to remove all the tumors and found another one in the front of her brain. Lucy will begin a 6 month treatment plan of high risk chemotherapy and radiation mid-March. She suffered a setback several days after surgery when she contracted bacterial Meningitis. Lucy is a fighter and we have faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, that she will beat this evil disease cancer and that He will heal her body. Thank you for following our story and we covet your daily prayers for our sweet Lucy.
Lucy's formal treatment stopped in November of 2011. However, that's just when the hard work on our part began. Once Lucy was removed from TPN (total parenteral nutrition) things got ugly. Lucy had not eaten food on her own since the end of March and had lost a lot of weight. Over the course of several weeks, Lucy lost down to 25 pounds (at 6 years old) and was extremely malnourished. To make matters worse, she had to be treated with 3 different rounds of antibiotics for C-diff. In January of 2012, we made a decisions, under guidance from our very trusted doctor, to insert a feeding tube (G-tube). As of April 3, 2012, Lucy had had 4 minor surgeries related to this feeding tube and still struggled has her body constantly tried to reject it. This feeding tube would soon cause our lives to turn upside down, once again.
In June 2012, Lucy contracted Meningitis again, leading to febrile seizures and a very grave prognosis. The doctors were convinced that she had days to live and a EEG showed very little brain activity. After nothing short of a true Lazarus moment, Lucy spent time at Children's Hospital of Atlanta in their highly esteemed rehabilitation unit. Her time there was cut short, unfortunately, due to a major setback that took us back to St. Jude. After two more surgeries, Lucy was thankfully declared cancer free.
Since June, Lucy has continued to make progress and is back in school full time. While everyday presents its unique challenges, Lucy's strong personality and perseverance shines more each and every moment. We are so thankful for how far she has come and we know that each day brings us one step closer to the 5 year remission mark.
