ALL SMILES ... Lily has finally kicked cancer Perth girl (10) gets the all-clear
Little Lily Douglas travelled to America for pioneering treatment last weekend with a big smile on her face - as she was told she is officially cancerfree.
Lily (10) from Perth, who has captured the hearts of residents all over Perth and Kinross, was given just a five per cent chance of survival when she was diagnosed almost exactly a year ago.
But she was given the all-clear from Ewing’s Sarcoma by doctors on Friday, April 13, and on Saturday, Lily and her family travelled to Jacksonville in Florida to undergo 10 weeks of proton therapy, which will help make sure there are no “rogue” cancer cells left in her body.
Lily’s mum Jane said: “We got the news on Friday morning to say the scans are clear, which is great news.
“She has three little nodules on her lung, but they remain the same, so they are dead. It’s like if you had a spot - you are left with scar tissue but there is no doubt they are dead cells.
“It is just amazing to sit for a minute and think she is cancer-free.
“We have waited so long to hear it, it’s the wonderful news we have been waiting for.
“It’s nearly a whole year to the day when we were told she was very sick and we thought her cancer had spread. She only had a five per cent chance of surviving. To know she is cancerfree is amazing, the chemotherapy has worked.”
The world-leading treatment Lily will now receive in Florida will blast her body with protons, allowing her to get a stronger amount of radiotherapy, but with less harm to the body. According to mum Jane, the proton therapy is the best treatment Lily could possibly receive.
She explained: “We go off to the States for 10 weeks. It is the best treatment for her, and the doctors were delighted when she got accepted for it.
“Unless she gets an infection, she shouldn’t have anymore overnight stays in hospital.”
She added: “It was the worse news ever on April 28 last year. We had to go to the Edinburgh Sick Kids’ Hospital because she had a tumour, and we knew then it was bad news.
“But what a difference a year can make. I can’t believe it has been a whole year.”
Since being diagnosed with stage four Ewing’s Sarcoma in April last year, talented dancerLily has undergone 118
Lily Douglas before she was diagnosed with cancer last year intensive chemotherapy treatments, and had major surgery to remove her shoulder blade and surrounding muscles, including having an operation while awake.
She has also had to fight off seven major infections, as well as receiving a number of blood and platelet transfusions and having her eggs frozen.
But, the future now looks bright for the Douglas family, who say they now want to concentrate on making memories and living life to the full rather than worrying about Lily’s cancer treatment.
Jane continued: “Lily is so excited about going to America. We have had plenty of bad news over the past year, but that is the end of it now.
“We want to make memories now, so we will be doing some nice family things in Florida as well.
“We can look at the next steps now. It will be strange to send her back to school, because as much as you want her to go back to school, you don’t want her to be away from you either. But it is about getting back to normal now. You will always look over your shoulder now, but we need to take this good news and celebrate.
“There may be bad news around the corner, but right now it is great news, the doctors are delighted.”