Growing with Gracelyn

Arkansas Children's has embarked on the largest expansion in its 112-year history. With your generous support, Arkansas Children's will offer more, better and faster care than ever before for kids like 8-year-old Gracelyn Lee.

Vibrant and Fun-loving

Gracelyn's vibrant, fun-loving personality lights up a room. This Fayetteville first-grader almost always has a bright, beaming smile on her face. She loves a good dance party, showing cows and talking about her many animals. 

The young farmer wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up and, at her young age, is already a veteran cattle showman. Gracelyn showed her first two heifers, Bertha and Jeanette, when she was just 5.

"It's something she enjoys doing," says Lauren. "It's pretty amazing to see this little girl who weighs 55 pounds taking charge and pulling around these thousand-pound cows."

A Whirlwind

Lauren and her husband, TJ, would see their little girl's confidence transfer from livestock shows to the health care arena after receiving devastating news two years ago. Lauren noticed Gracelyn's abdomen was enlarged, so she and TJ scheduled a doctor's appointment.

On a November morning in 2022, TJ took Gracelyn to their pediatric clinic while Lauren, a kindergarten teacher, went on to work. Gracelyn underwent an exam, and clinic staff told TJ they'd call with the results. So he took Gracelyn back to school.

It wasn’t long before Lauren and TJ got phone calls from the clinic that turned their world upside down.

The next several hours were a whirlwind for the family as they took in the news their 6-year-old likely had Wilms tumor, a kidney cancer that mainly affects children.

The clinic recommended Lauren and TJ take Gracelyn to Arkansas Children's Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale right away. The fear and uncertainty were palpable. Questions raced through their minds - "Why her?" "How did we miss this?"

"I was scared," says Lauren. "I grabbed Gracelyn and told her we needed to go. She said, 'Mom, I just got back to school. Why are we leaving?' I was trying not to scare her."

“And I was trying to remain calm and to calm Lauren down,” TJ adds.

On the Road to ACH

After additional testing at ACNW confirmed the diagnosis, the family was on the road the same day to Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) in Little Rock, where a medical team was already developing a surgical plan for Gracelyn.

"We thought we would have surgery that day," Lauren says. "But the doctor was amazing. She and her team wanted to really look at the tumor and develop the best plan they could for Gracelyn."

Just four days after diagnosis, Gracelyn underwent a 5.5-hour surgery to remove her left kidney, which contained the cancerous, football-sized tumor, and to have a port placed through which she would receive chemotherapy.

She spent five days at ACH recovering before returning home to northwest Arkansas. Two weeks later, Gracelyn began chemotherapy at ACNW.

Gracelyn endured seven months of treatment to remove the cancerous spots found on her lungs. During her treatment, Lauren remembers Gracelyn being remarkably positive, except for the days when she received both chemo and radiation, making her feel very sick.

The Best Hospital Experience

Lauren and TJ are profoundly grateful for Gracelyn’s resilience and the support of their care team, which is only possible because of you.

"I felt like I was at home," says Lauren. "Gracelyn got to the point where she would tell them how to access her port and how she wanted her bandages applied. She was very much a part of decisions that were made."

Gracelyn has been cancer free since August 2023 and sees her ACNW oncology team regularly for follow-up care. She's still smiling, dancing, cheering on the Razorbacks and taking care of her animals.

Lauren and TJ say this journey has been transformative for their family. It brought them closer, with a new perspective of taking nothing for granted.

"Our experience was the best hospital experience we've ever had," says TJ. "Arkansas Children's turned a horrible situation into something positive."