Oakland woman battles rare cancer Faith and healing spirit of friends, family, strangers all part of her journey

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A young Oakland woman who is fighting a vicious battle against a rare cancer finds great comfort in her faith and the support friends, family and strangers have extended.

Tara Hayes Lilly, 32, a Milo native and mother of four young children ages 6 and under, was diagnosed in April 2007 with neuroendocrine cancer, which has spread to her liver.

Because the rare, fast-growing cancer is not studied extensively in the United States and five rounds of chemotherapy did little to stop it, her faith community, family and strangers alike are helping Lilly get a new treatment offered for the cancer in Basel, Switzerland.

Lilly already has received one treatment, which cost 9,200 francs or nearly $8,000 plus airfare and overnight lodging before and after the operation. She will go for the second treatment later this month with her husband, Ryan, and a final treatment is scheduled in December.

Concerts, walks and public meals have been held in both the United States and Switzerland to help with Lilly’s expenses.

More events are planned, including a public concert by the Willing Hearts Trio of the United Baptist Church of Dover-Foxcroft at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, and a Christian Music Night offered by the Mama of Hope on Oct. 20 in Basel, Switzerland.

“I am constantly humbled and inspired by this amount of support,” Lilly said. “It inspires me to give and give back. Sometimes it’s harder to receive than give.”

Lilly said she would love to thank everyone individually but recognizes that is impossible.

It was in mid-March that the woman, who was tiring easily, discovered a lump in her right side. The lump rapidly changed and eventually was so large it made Lilly appear as if she was pregnant. Soon afterward, she learned she had cancer.

“It was, of course, a shock; cancer almost always is related to death,” Lilly said. She said she had always eaten a healthful diet, exercised regularly and never smoked. “It doesn’t make sense unless there is a higher purpose,” she said of her diagnosis.

Lilly said God is leading her entire journey with the cancer, from the treatment, to the money, to a cure. “I believe he’s kind of the engineer and we’re on a train,” she said. She also is optimistic she will be healed thanks to God’s love, the prayers she has received, and the support from all of who have touched her life.

“Ryan and I have never asked for help and people just gave,” Lilly said. “That just shows the healing spirit.”