Meet ASK kid Lillie

In March of 2018, then two-year-old Lillie Agyeman took a family trip to Charlotte, NC to celebrate Easter with her grandparents. Lillie didn’t seem like herself, not wanting to play or walk, and began running a low-grade fever. When they returned home, she had a simple blood test and within minutes, her mom, Stacie, received the phone call that she needed to go the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. Lillie was diagnosed with pre B acute lymphoblastic leukemia and referred to the pediatric oncology/hematology department at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond.
 
“The diagnosis came out of nowhere,” remembers Stacie. “I thought she had a stomach flu, so leukemia was the last thing on my mind.” Within days, Lillie began her almost three-year treatment, starting with a steroid regimen, then lumbar punctures, and finally chemotherapy. Now, almost four years old, she is more than half-way through treatment and is back to her old self.

“She thinks she’s the center of attention wherever she goes, and she usually is,” continues Stacie. “Lillie loves to hold hands and waves to everyone. I’m not sure she understands that having chemo is not normal, and she’s actually happy in the ASK Clinic.”
 
Lillie’s keen observation of the doctors and nurses at clinic feeds her imagination and she loves to play doctor and give pretend medicine to her stuffed animals and baby sister, Zoe. She even helps administer her own saline when receiving chemotherapy treatments.  But the real fun happens when Katie Barber, ASK’s Child Life Specialist, enters the room. 
 
“Katie has been invaluable to our experience at the ASK Clinic. As a mom, I’ve been so consumed with diagnosis and scheduling appointments and paying attention to all of the details that it’s been hard to think about anything else. Katie has enhanced Lillie’s clinic experience by playing, giving her toys and games, and providing things we didn’t even know we needed, like an extra change of clothes. So many people have been such a positive influence for us, but Katie gets the biggest smile from Lillie! Thank you to everyone at clinic, and all of the ASK donors who make all of this possible!”