Girl Celebrates End of Chemo with ‘Unicorn’ Ride

Published at 1:12 pm, October 17, 2014

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

WBRZ/ABC News(NEW YORK) — When Lily Raffray completed her final round of chemotherapy this month she had one not-so-simple request, she wanted “a ride on a unicorn.”

Lily’s mom, Juliet Raffray, said her reaction was basically shock, but that Lily’s nurses didn’t blink.

“Her nurses put together the whole unicorn experience,” said Raffray.

The special request was part of planning Lily’s “No Chemo” party to celebrate the end of her eight weeks of chemotherapy treatment.

Lily, 5, was diagnosed with stage one Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August and had been getting treatment at the St. Jude clinic at the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“We noticed it just as an enlarged lymph node. We were pretty shocked that it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” said Raffray.

Raffray, of St. Amant, Louisiana, said Lily managed to avoid some of the worst symptoms associated with chemotherapy, but she did end up losing all her hair.

“It formed into a mohawk and now it’s just straggles of hair,” said Raffray.

But Raffray said her daughter isn’t too bothered by her lack of hair and for her “No More Chemo” party, the 5-year-old got to wear a special headdress to complete her princess look. After getting a party with cake and decorations, Lily got to go to Wildwood farm and meet her very first “unicorn.”

While Lily was shy around some of the adults, Raffray said her daughter was just excited to meet the unicorn and get a ride.

“She walked up to that thing and was just entranced,” Raffray said of Lily.

However, on the ride home, Raffray said her daughter had a few questions.

“Afterwards she said ‘Hey mommy, that unicorn was kind of wobbly,’” Raffray recalled Lily talking about the “unicorn’s” horn.

“[I told her] ‘a unicorn is so special that their horn is not the same as a bone. …It’s magical,’” Raffray said with a laugh.

Raffray said Lily will go for a final round of testing later this month to determine if she is cancer-free.

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