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July 11th: Gabby was taken into her regular pediatrician for swollen lymph nodes on her neck just to get them checked before heading out for vacation.
Gabby is not a complainer. She is petrified of needles, blood draws, hospital.... I mean "severe anxiety". She even faints laying down on the gourney when they prepare her arm for an injection! We were thinking simply mono or an infection. That day's appointment took a turn real fast After blood work and a chest x-ray, we were sent sent to Children's Hospital a couple hours later to see an oncologist! 😲
Reading between the lines and seeing the urgency and concern from the doctor, put up the first big RED flag.
A PET/CT was scheduled for the following day. A biopsy was scheduled next.
July 22nd :We got the official results two days later. Stage 2 Hogkins Lymphoma! This day was just awful. There really are no words to describe it!
The next step was deciding what we wanted to do for Gabby to preserve her ability to have children since the chemo will damage her ovaries so badly that she may not be able to have her own children in the future if we don't do egg harvesting before starting chemo.
This is a topic that we never considered having to discuss with our 16 year old daughter☹️. The day after her diagnosis we met with a doctor at a fertility clinic in Edina. Gabby was not at all interested in this journey. NOT AT ALL! To make a really long and difficult story short, she went through with it. It was 10 days of hormone injections done at home, done by, yours truly (AKA Mom) and daily visits to the doctor for ultrasounds and bloodwook. Gabby was certainly questioning my ability and the doctors judgement to be allowed to give these shots🤪.
On Friday the 9th of August she had her eggs harvested and we have completed hoop number one! We are so proud of Gabby and so thankful that she now has the opportunity for having her own children in the future....15 or 20 years from now!
On Monday the 12, Gabby will go to Children's Hospital for some cardiac and lung function testing.
Thursday, August 16th she will have her port placed and begin her first round of chemo in the hospital.
Gabby has been extremely positive and upbeat. She has even picked out a wig that she is excited to wear! This too was another experience that I never dreamed to be a part of Gabby's life plan. She was all smiles and was such a good sport. She left the wig shop wearing her wig! Her biggest concerns are school, her eyebrows, and her limitations to do things with her friends. A typical teen right?
Thank you to all of our friends, family and community for rallying around Gabby and our family to beat this! We truly appreciate all your love and support.
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