Lily’s parents like to playfully think of her as a sour patch kid. She is the perfect balance of sweet and strong-willed all wrapped up in a 3 year old. Lily likes to march to the beat of her own drum, so she’s been fighting high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia on her own terms.

Her fight began when she was having difficulty sleeping. Even with the help of her mom, Amanda, sleeping beside her at night, Lily would end up randomly falling asleep throughout the day. Soon, Lily refused to walk or even move without assistance. Lily’s parents knew something was up with their usually independent little girl. When they noticed strange bruising on her legs, they were able to start piecing it all together. The pediatrician knew Lily’s bloodwork would yield abnormal results just from the looks of her and sent her to the hospital. That day, Lily was diagnosed with cancer.

Since then, Lily has been receiving chemotherapy and will be entering the interim maintenance stage soon. Her treatment will last about two and a half years total.

Once that time is up, Amanda dreams for a happy and healthy future in which her daughter may be whoever and whatever she wants to be. She hopes that this experience will make Lily even stronger and allow her to give herself grace when things don’t go her way.

Seeing how strong Lily remains during treatment gives new strength to the people around her every day.  Lily has demonstrated a level of bravery that goes way beyond her three years of life. Her parents think of her as their little superhero.

For families with children who share Lily’s struggle, Amanda advises that the journey is not going to be easy, so accept all the support you can get. The key is to take everything one day at a time.   

Lily’s family finds it encouraging to know that there are organizations like Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation out there. It means everything to them, knowing that there are people standing behind these kids through all their struggles.

Information provided by Amanda Dietrich, Lily’s mom
Updated June 2020