Lauren Hill enters hospice, continues to fight inoperable brain cancer with courage and dignity
By Dave Andrusko
Lauren Hill
We’ve reported on Lauren, a counterpart to fatalism and despair, a number of times. The response of our readers has been what you would expect: awesome.
The family’s Facebook post reads, in part, as follows:
Monday we signed on with Hospice.
Originally this was planned to be done at the end of October or Early
November but got side barred due to the big game. We are excited to have
additional resources coming to our home. We have already been able to
get supplies to help make things easier here at home. We have had
another step down from steroids. She went from 5 mg in am and 5 mg in
afternoon to 4 mg / 3 mg and now we are currently on 3 mg/3 mg. There
has been now major changes in symptoms. Her headaches have flared up a
little more than usual and balance issues just depend on the day and how
tired she is.”
As you can imagine there was hardly a dry eye in the house when moments into the game against Hiram, Hill drove in for a layup. She used her off-hand because of the impact of the cancer on her right side. Lauren was mobbed by teammates.
What a remarkable young woman, what a remarkable family. Lauren drove with her family the entire four-hours it took to see Mt. St. Joseph play its second game of the season. “The team is part of her family,” her mom told ESPN’s Lynn Olszowy. “We knew we were coming. It was whether or not she would play or be in a wheelchair. It just depends on the day.”
Then a couple of weeks later, Lauren played briefly in the game against Bethany College and scored a basket. Olszowy wrote
The fact the layup was with
Hill’s right hand is remarkable. The play is designed to go to the left
because Hill has lost strength on the right side of her body due to the
effects of inoperable brain cancer.
But, as her mom, Lisa, said in the stands after her daughter scored: “She’s a bold girl.”
On that night, Olszowy explained, “Hill came not only to cheer on her
teammates, but to make a statement by adding two more points to her
career scoring total. ‘It was good to see her out there one more time,’
said her father, Brent.”After Hill’s first game Joe Kay of the Associated Press wrote
The school has received calls
from people around the world who are touched by her courage and
inspiration. A Layup4Lauren challenge raised money for research into the
type of cancer that will shorten her life. Hill hopes that research
will lead to treatments that give others a better chance of beating the
odds.
Xavier University donated $58,776
on Tuesday, money raised from tickets and merchandise as the school
offered its arena for the game. The NCAA allowed the schools to move the
game up by two weeks because of Hill’s condition.
”Watching her go through her
journey has been very tough, knowing she’s getting weaker at times,
knowing she needs us even more now,” Benjamin said. ”She’s not going to
be able to get out as much as she has done in the past, so now I will
have to become her voice and her teammates will have to become her voice
as well.”
Overall she has been in good spirits this week and staying busy with special projects. In a funny, goofy mood tonight.
Source: NRLC News
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