Dear blog and email friends,
Lillian Grace is 7 and 1/2 months — 226 days — old and doing very well. She’s been off of oxygen support for over 3 weeks, can roll herself over from back to stomach and (usually) from stomach to back. She’s trying to crawl, but without success — yet. She’s almost 14 pounds and has plenty of good baby fat.
She went yesterday and visited some of her earliest and dearest friends, the NICU nurses and staff at Memorial Hermann Southwest. She had a great time and smiled and showed off for them. They in turn admired how she has grown and were thrilled to see her without tubes or wires: where Lillian is today is in no small part due to their love and superb professional care.
After that visit, Ashley, Lillian’s mom, went to see the surgeon who, a few weeks ago, removed a growth from her back. Although not long after Lillian was born she had had a biopsy of the growth which indicated it was benign, her surgeon had this re-biopsied and the biopsy revealed that it was a melanoma.
Ashley went to see an oncologist today. She has a level 4 nodular melanoma, the most aggressive form of melanoma. As of right now, her cancer is considered to be at Stage 2. She will have her lymph nodes tested next week to see if it’s spread. At the least, she will have additional surgery to remove another 2 cm or so of tissue around where the melanoma was removed; if tests determine that the cancer has spread, she’ll have additional therapies.
Right now, she’s a little shell-shocked, but overall pretty positive: she thinks she’s got a good oncologist and they’re going to tackle this aggressively.
We’ve been sustained by your prayers and support throughout Lillian’s trials and humbly ask for them again for Ashley, her wonderful husband Josh, and for Lillian as they meet this new challenge.
Some of my best friends: NICU staff at Memorial Hermann Southwest
More of my best friends: NICU staff at Memorial Hermann Southwest