Powered By Lily
Lily's Story
There is never an easy way of starting a story like this. Three year
old Lily Rankin received her first cancer diagnosis at 18 months old.
There were never any huge warning signs leading up to Lily's cancer
diagnosis. A week leading up to this, Lily started to experience
stomach pain and constipation. It got to the point where Lilys' mom
took her to the ER. At first they were told it was just constipation
but in reality it was much worse. Three days later Lily went back to
the ER. The doctors finally did some imaging and that's when they
found a large mass in her abdomen. That is the first time Lilys'
parents heard the word Neuroblastoma. At first it was unclear that
what Lily had was cancer. It would be about a week later that reality
would set in for her parents and life became very different.
Neuroblastoma cancer is a cancer of immature nerve cells and can grow
anywhere in the body. For Lily, this was in her abdomen. Lily then
underwent 6 rounds of inpatient chemotherapy, 1 resection surgery, 2
bone marrow transplants, 12 rounds of sedated radiation, and 6 rounds
of immunotherapy. Included in all of this was weekly blood draws,
fevers, regular illnesses, and numerous scans. In September 2025, Lily
was officially done with treatment and was considered to be in
remission.
Just 2 months later, November 2025, Lily relapsed with Neuroblastoma.
This time it was located in the right frontal lobe of her brain.
Leading up to the second diagnosis Lily was experiencing headaches
that would wake her up at night. With Lilys history, her mom and dad
brought her into the ER where they immediately did more scans. That's
where the found the mass. About two weeks later Lily underwent brain
surgery to remove the tumor. The amazing Neurosurgeons at Children's
Hospital of Colorado were fully able to remove the tumor. Lily is now
receiving a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy which will
be administered over the course of 6 rounds with a 6 day hospital stay
each time. Following this Lily will receive up to 20+ rounds of
radiation to her brain and spinal cord.
Despite having extreme health difficulties Lily continues to be a
light in everyone's life. She is full of love, light, spunk and sass.
She always makes people smile wherever she goes and she doesn't let
life slow her down. Lily is "spicy" but also extremely loving and
kind. She enjoys running around, making new friends everywhere she
goes, and playing. Lily is a shining example of bravery, strength, and
resilience. She is constantly inspiring people to keep going; even on
the hardest days.
