Kidney Tumor, Cancer
On a normal day in March little did I know that a Mom's worst nightmare would come true. My daughter Lexy a 2 year old is going about her normal day, playing, running and laughing when she falls on a play toy that she and her sister is playing with. When Lexy fell, little did we know that all our lives were about to change. When Lexy fell she immediately started crying as a 2 year old would, but all of a sudden she passed out and began vomiting at the same time. Her father and I freaked out and did not know what in the world was happening to our precious daughter. We immediately rushed her to our local E.R. and the local doctor did not have a clue as to what might even be wrong with Lexy. From there she was rushed to Dothan to Flowers Hospital. There they ran a C.T. Scan and found a hematoma on her left kidney. Little did they know the hematoma was hiding a tumor in it. She stayed in Flowers for two days until we finally questioned why Lexy was not getting any better. A pediatrician finally came to us and said we think your daughter has a tumor and we are going to transfer her to Children's Hospital in Birmingham. We were shocked. This was not happening to our daughter, she was a very healthy and active little girl. When we arrived at Children's we were scared and frightened as to what they were going to do to our daughter because we did not believe there was anything wrong with her, we just wanted to go home. The doctors there were very knowledgeable about Lexy's case and came to talk to my husband and I and told us that Lexy had a tumor on her left kidney and it was cancer, and the tumor had ruptured when she fell causing all the cancer cell to spill into her abdomen. This was not very favorable but not impossible. The doctors answered all of our questions and talked to us to make us feel more comfortable with Lexy's surgery and the years that we would be facing. The physicians were all wonderful, but the one that meant the most to our family was Dr. Lee Hilliard. She was wonderful and caring and her staff was very supportive when Lexy went through eight months of Chemo and seven sessions of radiation. We are very fortunate to have Children's Hospital and people like Dr. Hilliard. I thank God every day for the Children's Hospital and for all the children that they help, and for all the physicians who do such a wonderful job. Thanks to them Lexy has been in remission for four years now and as a mom I pray that another mother never has to see their child go through what I saw mine have to bear. It means I have my daughter to look at every night. There are miracles that occur there everyday. Another child's life will be saved. On March 23, 2004 that day was Lexy Rugg's day for a miracle to happen in her life.
