Meet Grant Recipient Lily Ramos
In summer 2017, 2-year-old Lily Ramos started losing her balance and occasionally getting sick out of nowhere.
Her family took her to a pediatrician, who referred her to a pediatric neurologist. Her family thought it would just be a virus. Perhaps an inner ear infection.
But MRI results revealed much worse.
“We received the devastating news that she had a tumor in her brain,” Mica Lambert, Lily’s mother, says. Doctors immediately removed Lily's tumor in Miami. She then began an intense chemo protocol, requiring long hospital stays. “She was admitted to the ICU for two months because the chemo was too toxic for her little body,” Mica says.
After she recovered, Lily started a less-intense protocol, but it wasn’t strong enough to kill the cancer cells, which spread to her spine. In October 2018, Lily started radiation. “We went daily for six weeks, which ended with her being hospitalized for the last week because she wasn’t able to eat or drink,” Mica says.
Lily’s radiation is over now, and her latest MRI showed stable and significantly improved tumors.
Lily, the youngest of six siblings, still receives medication and follow-up MRIs, but her journey has not stopped her from being a kid.
“Overall, she is a very happy 4-year-old who loves playing, dancing and laughing,” Mica says. “We have learned to take everything one day at a time.”
With support from organizations like Amber’s Antibodies, Lily’s family enjoys time with her a little easier.
“The donations from various foundations over the last year and a half have helped so much by easing the financial stresses of everyday life and allowing us to focus on Lily and being with her during her treatments and hospitalizations,” Mica says.
To date, Amber’s Antibodies has donated a total of $219,550 grants to 80 Southwest Florida families through its grant program. It has also donated $130,750 to cancer research.
Amber’s Antibodies is 100 percent volunteer-based. To donate to the nonprofit organization and help local families like Lily’s fight cancer, visit https://www.ambersantibodies.com/donate.
