Six months ago, Lilly Linton was a happy, healthy 12-year old girl. She was an active tumbler who loved her family, her friends, and her pets. When her ankle and foot started to cause her pain, her mom Larissa had her evaluated. A CT scan ruled it was a non-cancerous (benign) osteochondroma tumor. Hooray! Prayers Answered!!
However, as the months progressed, the tumor grew causing her ankle to swell and increasing Lilly’s pain. They returned to the doctor, hoping to schedule an elective surgery to remove the tumor in March. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the state of Texas canceled all elective surgeries and therefore Lilly's could not be scheduled until the quarantine was lifted.
In May, Lilly was sent for an MRI which came back with "concerning features", requiring further investigation through a biopsy. It was a painful procedure, but Lilly is tough and was walking again in just a few days while we waited for the results.
Preliminary results took over a week and came back as likely cancer, but further investigation was still needed. The Mayo Clinic was sent all of Lilly's records, meaning even more anxious waiting for results.
On Thursday, June 4th, Larissa received the call and heard the words no mother should ever have to hear. She learned Lilly has a rare type of bone cancer called Chondroblastic Osteosarcoma. She would need to begin an aggressive chemotherapy regimen immediately in hopes of shrinking the tumor so that it can be surgically removed.
Larissa is herself a cancer survivor and also knows the devastation of losing a child to this disease. She lost her first daughter to Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the age of four. A loss that would leave many unable to do anything, instead set her into motion and she co-founded Heroes for Children sixteen years ago. More than 6,200 families of children with cancer have received support because of this amazing charity co-founded by this amazing mom.
