# @alexslemonade on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DX2sjHwlYuS
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64905980-alexslemonade-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3f06c51fdf.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-02T23:25:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (@AlexsLemonade) — https://gondola.cc/AlexsLemonade

## Caption

"Eighteen years ago, when my daughter Lily was diagnosed with a brain tumor, I knew nothing. I guessed that brain tumors in 14-month-old babies were rare. I knew this diagnosis would devastate us, but I didn’t know if her tumor was “cancer” or even really understand how cancer worked. I didn’t know there were treatments and, if there were treatments, if they would leave Lily severely disabled. I didn’t know there were other families like ours, some just down the hall in the PICU, facing the same grim, terrifying diagnosis. 

And I didn’t know if my daughter would survive. 

She did, though. Today, Lily is 19 years old. This May marks 18 years since her diagnosis with a malignant pediatric brain tumor called ependymoma. It also marks the end of her freshman year in college. 

The year Lily was diagnosed, 2007, the five-year survival rate for her tumor type was 75%. I know that sounds like the odds were in her favor. But, at the time of her diagnosis, I had a different perspective: there is a 25% chance my baby will die. 

And for kids diagnosed, today, with one of the hundreds of other pediatric brain tumors, five-year survival rates are the same now, as they were on that day in May 2007 for Lily.

According to data collected by the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), the survival rates for children with brain tumors have not changed significantly over the past 45 years despite major improvements made in the treatment of other cancers. As a result, brain tumors are both the most common type of pediatric cancer and the deadliest in children ages 0-19. 

Every May, while my family marks the anniversary of the day Lily was diagnosed, the childhood cancer community also marks #BrainTumorAwarenessMonth. It’s a month when you will see gray ribbons in your social media feeds, and you will see Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) share brain tumor facts, exciting and hopeful breakthroughs, and inspiring stories of children who have and are battling brain tumors."

Read key facts about brain tumors, linked in bio.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 226
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

braintumorawarenessmonth

---
Copyright (c) Gondola