Miracle Monday – Lily Boyce
“We thank God, Hurley, and the Children’s Miracle Network. That’s why we have our girl.”
Mark and Lorrie Boyce waited 12 long years to become parents. You can imagine how thrilled they were when they got the news their dream would soon be a reality! The magic due date was October 26, 2002. But during a Fourth of July get-away to Gaylord, that dream turned into a nightmare. Lorrie started having complications and the doctor at the hospital in Gaylord said that if the baby was born right then, it would have a 5% chance of survival and a 0% chance of being normal.
The decision was made to airlift Lorrie to Hurley. Mark made the long lonely two hour drive back to Flint. They’d never had any prior experience with Hurley but, all of a sudden, their entire future rested in the hands of total strangers.
Dr. Raymond Chan helped to ease some of their fears. He told them that by coming to Hurley – the area’s only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – the baby’s chances of survival went from five percent in Gaylord to 25% at Hurley. Dr. Chan and the NICU staff tried everything possible to postpone the baby’s arrival but three days later on July 7, 2002 Lily Grace Boyce was born, four months early! This tiny, delicate baby weighed only two pounds.
The NICU team was ready to respond to the host of medical complications facing this fragile little life. She struggled with breathing and blood pressure problems as well as reflux. An e-coli infection from the beginning should have killed her but she beat it! Gratefully, Lily had no brain bleeds which gave her parents renewed hope that their daughter would grow and develop like other little babies. With Lily, it was just one miracle after another.
Lily made steady progress amidst some setbacks and on October 5, 2002 the big moment finally arrived. Lily Grace went home … three weeks before her due date. Today, Lily is a healthy, active teenager who is a source of joy and pride for her parents! She would like to pursue a career in Early Education.
Her mom Lorrie says, “We thank God, Hurley, and the Children’s Miracle Network.
That’s why we have our girl.”