Who is Gabby?

On New Years Day, 2011, I brought Gabby to urgent care – she was lethargic, not eating or drinking. Urgent care told me I should take her directly to the ER. I brought her to the ER, and the nurse on duty took one look at her, and cleared a bed and brought her back. 5 minutes, from door to bed.

Within 20 minutes, she had a chest X-Ray, blood draws, and IV's. Shortly after, the doctor came back in, and said, "There are some abnormalities in her blood. I've been on the phone with the children's hospital. They are sending a transport ambulance for you now. The Oncology ICU is waiting for her."

Four days later, we received her official diagnosis – Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). We spent the next 3 weeks in the pediatric oncology unit at our local children's hospital. Since her treatment began, Gabby has taken every pill, every needle poke, every procedure, without complaint, and with nothing but smiles and hugs for our nurses.

Gabby lost her hair within the first month. She was treated with a pill nicknamed “The Red Death”. She’s undergone several surgeries, lumbar punctures, and bone marrow biopsies. All of these are standard treatment protocols for ALL. These are treatments that have not changed in over 20 years.

She's vibrant.

She really likes her sisters...

She's fearless.

Gabby's diagnosis is HERE.

She is currently in maintenance, and expected to finish treatments in March, 2013.

You will never, ever see something more BEAUTIFUL, courageous and heartbreaking than a child undergoing treatment and still smiling, still loving, still playing.

Gabby goes for treatments regularly. Her exact schedule changes based on what cycle she's on, but she can count on a few (or a lot) at home meds a week, a couple lumbar punctures, and several treatments through her port every month.

I don't know about YOU? But if that were me, I probably wouldn't manage to pull off this smile on a daily basis...

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