Gabbie Got This

So I got huge news last night while out with friends that have become family! I got Gabs hts results. With one of my besties holding on so tight to me and my husband with his hand on mine, I opened the email. These were the big results! Prior to transplant and immediately after, they were seeing two little clones still there, but they were super small. At this point the one is totally gone. The other, they think, is gone too and is just reading as static (whatever that means) on the test. According to our docs,
Everything is gone! EVERYTHING!!!! Not a trace is left in her system. Full recovery! Gabbie is 100% engrafted with donor marrow and blood! This is BEST CASE SCENARIO!!

🎗️Guys! GABBIE IS SAFE! SHE IS HEALTHY! 🎗️

Being home has never felt so good!

Just our girl spending the morning filling out college scholarships! Hofstra she is coming at ya Fall 2025!

🎗️🧡To the Be Strong, Fight On crew. 🧡🎗️

You have given us a gift that we can never thank you enough for. A week of memories that don’t include cancer, scans, pokes, and prods. We are so excited to have this to look forward to! Once Gabbie is well enough and allowed to fly, we are headed to Disney to make all the memories. Thank you so so so much! You are some of the most amazing people I have ever had the honor of meeting. Hugs and love to you all. We are honored to have been selected for this gift🎗️🧡

Porkchop was the happiest boy today! We got to visit home to grab a few more things for our stay at Doe Doe’s house. All of our hearts were so full to snuggle on the couch together and spoil him with nuggets! Pretty sure we played with every toy he had!

Gabbie is well taken care of at her Doe Doe’s house! She has 3 of the best pups to help her heal. Clinic went very well on Tuesday. Nutrition is still an area we are working on but it is getting better every day. She will have PT/OT 3x a week for the next few weeks to help get her back to base! Overall, rest, nutrition, and rehab are our focus. Mom gets to go back to work on Monday too! Back to real life we go!

One more sleep! Tomorrow we go HOME! Well, almost. We will be staying with Gabbie’s aunt Doe Doe until her first 100 days are up. We have to be within an hour of CHOP Philly so this is our compromise. Mom gets to go back to work and we get to find our new normal. We are so thankful and excited. This was our last door ever! Very bittersweet! We ❤️ You CHOP! Thank you for everything! See you on Tuesday for clinic!

Gabbie Update: We are so happy to announce that Monday, September 16th we celebrated Gabbie’s official Engraftment Day! After looking closely at gabs most recent bone marrow sample, it revealed her blood and marrow are 100% donor! This is the best we could have asked for! Her new marrow should now defend her body against cancer. She has about a year until her immune system matures fully. At around 8 months post transplant, we will begin to give her immunizations. While she has the all the components of a healthy immune system now, it is very immature and cannot recognize/ fight off illnesses like a cold or the flu like she normally would. The name of the game continues to be nutrition. Gab has little to no appetite yet, however, she is doing her best to try foods and drink her shakes. We are currently weening her from her TPN. This makes her ability to intake her own nutrition crucial. Also, tomorrow the broviac comes out! No need for two lines anymore! We hope to discharge at the latest Monday next week. Fingers crossed we can get her nutrition up to s***f!

Even when the little steps are hard, you are making big steps towards the rest of your life! Keep it up kid! You’re doing amazing and we are so proud of you!

Today we walked 50ft and drank 80ml. Slowly but surely we will get through this!

It’s been a busy couple of days but big moves were made, especially today! First, the drain is out! Special thanks to Michelle on the Child Life team that RAN from Berger to Main just to hold Gabs hand when she asked for her. It had to be a world record in time made from one building to the other. Secondly, she is off the PCA pump! That really frees her up as far as maybe having time unhooked from her pole. And finally, today she started eating again. It’s a few sips of boost at a time, but it’s a start. So many big moves today! Discharge…GABBIE IS COMING FOR YA!

This is how we sleep every night. Holding hands. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Gabbie is more aware and awake this afternoon. She had a slight infection in her port but that has cleared up. He drain is working beautifully despite some bleeding issues we are having from the site. Platelets are still being given daily as they are one of the last products to be made during transplant. Tomorrow we will revisit the VOD and see how we are progressing. She gets up to sit on the couch twice a day for 30 minutes. It’s not a lot but it’s so much at the same time. We hope to get back to walking with PT this week! Fingers crossed lots of progress is made this upcoming week!

Thank you to everyone that has reached out to ask if Ashley and Gabbie need anything. There are a few items that would be really helpful to receive so we updated the Amazon wishlist.

At the top of the list are the night shirts (Gabbie's new drain is irritated by pants), laundry supplies, and toilet paper. Additionally, target gift cards are great because they can be used to place orders for items they need and can be delivered directly to the hospital.

We have experienced some delays with items being delivered to the hospital so we are asking that these items be sent to Leah and she will get them to Ashley. Please have orders sent to 12 Flint Ridge Drive, Shillington PA 19607.

❤️🧡💜 As always, THANK YOU is just not enough to communicate how grateful we all are for your support. We truly love you and feel your support everyday. ❤️🧡💜

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1U51QBBG9PDQX/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_3

Check out my list on Amazon

Update: Gabbie is out out of surgery and doing very well! Thank you for all your prayers! They were heard and answered!

They just took Gabbie back to get her drain.

A few complications over the weekend mean a few new meds and another “brain” added to the pole. Gab’s cells are engrafting by the tons which is amazing but has also caused something called engraftment syndrome. This causes her not to hold onto things like platelets and retain fluid and have fevers. It is managed through steroids and is pretty well under control. Also, due to the antibiotics to prevent infections while her numbers were low, she developed c diff. We have started antibiotics for this and hopefully in the next couple of days her belly pain will subside. Finally, because of the chemotherapy used to break her down the one possible side effect is a liver complication called
Veno-occlusive disease (VOD), also known as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). It is a vascular liver disease that occurs when small blood vessels leading to the liver become blocked. Her level of this is very minor. She is on a preventive med for this but with all the treatment she has received that could cause this reaction, it was just always a greater possibility for her. Tomorrow Gab will get a small drain in her belly to help drain some excess fluid. Overall, we are hanging in there. We are amazingly thankful for the extraordinary docs and nurses that are taking care of us and those at the KOP clinic that call and visit just because they are our people. Thank you to all of you for all your well wishes. I read every single message and feel your love and support. I don’t always respond but please know how much I appreciate all of you. And don’t worry, Gabbie Got This!

Today Gabbie walked! Her ANC is 150 and she has 16 platelets! Today is a great day!

Gabbie is receiving platelets twice a day at this point of her treatment. Just a reminder if you are able to donate, please do so. They are liquid gold to us right now and they only have a 5 day shelf life. There is a shortage so every donation helps. Gabbie is also receiving blood about every 3 days. From the bottom of our hearts we thank these donors for keeping our girl going on these hard days!

Today was our hardest day yet. Cancer is not pretty. It is not fair. It is not kind. Today I saw Gabbie fight like hell and win the day. Tomorrow she will do it again. And I will be by her side for tomorrow and every day after. Hug your baby’s tonight extra tight and be so thankful for the messes they make and the silly things they say. They are priceless and get you through the hard days. Watching Gabbie reclaim her life is both the hardest and grandest feat I have ever witnessed . She my hero, and my whole heart. And I can’t wait for the day that all her pain is gone and she moves on, stronger than she was before.

The word of the next couple of days is MUCUS! It is constant and everywhere! Gabbie is being kept comfortable by her meds, and of course, Sully. She is receiving platelets daily to help support clotting. Mouth sores and nosebleeds are in abundance. We are in the thick of this now and it’s not very pretty. But our Gabbie is a warrior and is handling it with grace. All of her symptoms are normal and show she is heading towards engraphment. She sleeps most of the day, waking only to go to the bathroom and take a few meds.

FUN FACT: Sully is approximately 15 years old. He has been with Gab through everything. Daily, he braves the washing machine so he is safe and clean to be back by her side. Sully is the real MVP!

Let’s talk nutrition! This is huge during transplant. Because Gabs immune system is bottomed out, that means mucusitis is a real thing! It’s very painful and makes swallowing anything hard. All patients, including Gabbie, get NG tubes typically on day +1 of their transplant. Today was Gabbie’s Day +1. Gabbie can now receive all her nutrition and most of her meds through this line. This is a huge relief to her and us. It is super important to keep her gut active. That is what keeps most transplant patients in the hospital. As pictures below show, you can see the formula based nutrition that is white and then the yellow TPN(Total parenteral nutrition) which gives her everything she needs to be healthy and strong. She also has the option to eat solid food if she is feeling well enough.

💕💕Gabbie’s bone marrow transplant is happening as we speak. I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. Gabbie is surrounded by her family, favorite doctors, nurses and of course, Sully! I’m so proud of her. It has been the longest two years, full of so many emotional and physical highs and lows. I can’t believe we are finally at the finish line. 💕💕

🎗️🧡🎗️To Gabbie’s anonymous donor. Thank you for saving my baby. You are giving her the gift of life. A life without cancer. A chance to go to college and get married and have babies. A chance to grow old and follow her dreams. The incredible possibilities your selfless act has triggered is nothing I could ever even begin to repay. You have saved my child’s life. You gave my family the chance to watch Gabbie grow old! For this we are eternally grateful🎗️💜🎗️

🩺🥼Finally, to Gabbie’s doctors, nurses, child life specialists, therapists, etc, I also owe all this success to you. You’ve picked us up off the ground at our lowest point and blazed a trail forward to a cure. You are forever our biggest cheerleaders, guiding us this compassion, grace, and knowledge. You never let us give up. Just seeing your faces would put us at ease. We are forever grateful for how you made our Gabbie well. You have put cancer in our rear view mirror, and there is no looking back. CHOP KOP and Philly, you have been everything we needed and more. You are groundbreakers and we are honored to have been part of your research. Thank you for saving our Gabbie. It is a gift we can never repay. 🥼🩺

LAST CHEMO EVER!!!! Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out!!!

Chemo started yesterday! The particular one she is on requires her to shower every hours, no exceptions, as it can cause chemical burns on her skin. Just running water and scrubbing with a wash cloth. We also have to change her clothing and sheets with every shower. I am keeping the washer very busy. Thank goodness they have one available here at CHOP as well as at the Ronald McDonald house. Tomorrow she will being another new chemo. Not only do the meds/ radiation treatments wipe out her system but they also create space for new bone marrow to be created. Gab has been a great sport so far! Super proud of our girl!