With the help of friends and family, we sprung into action. Researching, making connections, trying to find out what was our next step. Over the course of the next few weeks/months, Abby would endure surgeries for port placement, multiple hospital stays for symptom control, Radiation, Chemo, and needle-sticks galore. The steroids required to keep symptoms manageable caused severe weight gain, personality changes, and, looking back, obvious depression. Abby would allow her close circle around her but no one else.
There were fleeting moments of joy and happiness during those months. We were so thankful to Wish with Wings for sending us to Disney. Even though Abby hated princesses, she tried to enjoy each day. There were many family game nights which was always a highlight for her, especially since she regularly beat us at whatever we were playing. We had multiple art sessions both in and out of hospital stays. Her paintings hang on our walls now as a reminder of her talent and desire to create something that would make us smile. When she was up to it, she loved going to church. I didn’t know it then, but she would come alive in her class singing with her friends and learning the Bible.
The treatments were not working and all the medication was making Abby miserable so we opted to stop. We had been in Houston staying with amazing friends for weeks now, but it was time to come home. In November, Abby started an intense regimen of holistic treatments. 5 days a week. Over time, we were able to wean her off the steroids, clean her system of toxins, and she became her old self again. There were still the physical limitations, but our Abby-girl was back.
Those few weeks were so wonderful. Hearing her laugh, hearing her try to tell her brother what to do, and her and her Daddy singing their song… “I love you, Yes I do, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!” - she would always scream out “NECK” and squeeze his head off!