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Light at the end of a tunnel for Abby
Lorri Sughroue
McCook Gazette
McCOOK, Neb. -- No offense to Omaha, but Abby Sedlacek and her family look forward to not seeing it for awhile.
That's because for the past two and half years, since Abby was four and diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the blood, they've made numerous trips to Children's Hospital in Omaha for treatments.
It's been a grueling process. After 23 spinal taps, steroid medication, three times of losing her hair and various inpatient and outpatient treatments, Abby had her last chemotherapy treatment this month and has been given the all-clear. Sort of.
Abby still has a port under her skin for emergency intravenous antibiotics, in case she catches a virus that her weakened immune system can't fight off.
"We never want to say we know the plan, but we're hoping things will get better," said her mom, Korey. "I deal with it one day at a time, one hour at a time, even one minute at a time if I have to."
As long as the cancer stays in remission, Abby's trips to Omaha will lessen to every six weeks for a year, once every three months after that and then, once a year until she's 18. But Korey admits the roller coaster ride of fighting leukemia has made the family stronger -- and grateful.
"People tell me I'm so strong to have gone through this, but I disagree," Korey said. "What choice did I have? The one who was the strong one in this has been Abby."
Symptoms of the cancer appeared innocuous enough in the beginning, when Abby was four and complaining of being tired. "She just seemed really tired and anemic and talked about her leg hurting," Korey remembered. After making an appointment with a doctor, he discovered Abby had a dangerously low blood count and at noon that same day, Abby and Mom were flown out of McCook to Omaha. Abby was admitted to Children's Hospital, where she stayed for the next 25 days. A bone marrow biopsy confirmed the diagnosis: leukemia.
It was pretty much a blur, said Korey. "Once I knew my son was being taken care of and husband's employer was generous in letting him take time off, there were friends and family helping right away. There were so many things to be grateful for, to this day."
Soon afterwards, donations from family, friends and the community poured in, Korey said, with needs met in just the right way and friends visiting at just at the right time. "The only way I can explain it is it was God's grace," Korey said. "We could not have gotten through this without the support of family and friends."
After each chemotherapy treatment, Abby's immune system was zapped and her immunizations were eventually wiped out. In between visits to Omaha, Abby got back to being a preschooler and then a kindergardener, with some added precautions.
Making sure Abby didn't catch any infection, bacterial or viral, became paramount. While other kids her age could get a cold or flu and end up on the couch, Abby could end up in the emergency room getting intravenous antibiotics.
"If another classmate had a persistent cough, Abby would look at me with that look of 'uh oh,'" said Cindy Larson, Abby's kindergarden teacher at McCook Elementary. "But I give the kids a of credit; they were told germs could give Abby a lot of trouble and they really looked out for her. And Abby was very responsible for herself, always making sure she used a hand sanitizer."
The chemotherapy treatments also made her hair fall out several times. The first time was harder on mom than it was on her daughter, Korey said, saying "It was like no big deal for her." The second time it happened was right after Abby's birthday, which still was okay as Abby just wanted to make sure she had hair on her birthday.
The third time was completely unexpected, after a high dose of antibiotics due to an infection. "She was bawling, I was bawling, it was a mess," Korey said. But two days later, Abby bounced back, telling her mother, "It's just hair, it will grow back."
Although acute lymphoblastic is the most common type of childhood cancer and complete remission is achieved in about 90 percent of patients, cancer will always be a part of Abby's life as her body has proved that she's prone to it, Korey said. And with September designated as Childhood Cancer Awareness month, Korey would like to see more funding for research on kids battling cancer.
Still, Abby and her family -- including her dad, Brad and nine-year-old brother, Colton -- are trying to get back to normal, even if normal is just a setting on a dryer, her mom joked.
"It will be fun to see what Abby will be like when she finally really feels good," Korey said. "We're glad to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."