Gabby's Neuroblastoma Awareness & Fundraiser

I'm Jess and my beautiful niece, Gabriella Lyn (Gabby), has been diagnosed with high-risk (stage 4) neuroblastoma, a rare type of childhood cancer. On behalf of Gabby’s parents, this go-fund-me fundraiser will help their family ease the burden of the significant medical and associated expenses to come.

About Gabby/Her story:

Gabby will turn two years old on August 17th. She is a happy, busy, chatty toddler who looks just like her mommy but with her daddy's eyes.

Gabby loves her family, her puppy Charlie, monkeys and going to the beach with her mommy and daddy.

On Sunday, July 10th, Gabby was playing at home when her parents noticed a lump on her belly. They visited her pediatrician the next day to have it looked at and were quickly referred to Children's hospital. After high blood pressure readings and an ultrasound, Gabby was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). It was discovered that Gabby has a tumor near her kidney, driving her blood pressure to dangerously high levels. It took a week and a half to stabilize Gabby's blood pressure enough to conduct biopsies of the tumor and her bone marrow. The results of the biopsies confirm what the doctors suspected - it is indeed high-risk neuroblastoma - and unfortunately, the cancer has spread to her bone marrow. Gabby started her first round of chemotherapy on Friday, July 22nd.

Once the first round of chemo is complete and if her blood pressure can be controlled with oral medications, Gabby and her parents will be able to go home after at least two and a half weeks in the PICU. Unfortunately, they'll only have a couple of weeks at home before returning to Children's hospital, where Gabby will celebrate her 2nd birthday after her 2nd round of chemo starts. From there, the number of chemo sessions, potential surgeries and transplants is undetermined, but they are likely on a long road to conquering this.

How support/funds raised will help Gabby's family:

When Gabby was born during the pandemic, her daddy became a stay-at-home dad rather than risk COVID exposure through his work and/or day-care. In preparation for going back to work and finding a new job with a consistent schedule, he is enrolled in a full-time online program to earn a bachelor's degree. Gabby's mommy, therefore, is the sole income earner for now. They are fortunate to have insurance through her mommy's employer, which will help; however, the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum are high. Additionally, it is unclear how much of the treatment plan will be covered by insurance, and her mommy will have to take some unpaid time off throughout treatment through her employer's Family Medical Leave policies.

Funds raised will first be used to pay for Gabby's medical bills. Then, any remaining funds will be used to replace some of the salary lost from the unpaid leaves her mommy will be taking to be there through each round of chemo, future surgeries, or other treatment plan needs. The ultimate goal is to provide some financial relief to Gabby's parents so they can focus all their time, strength and energy on her treatment and worry less about how they will pay for it or stay on top of their regular bills and expenses.

On behalf of Gabby and her family, we are grateful for all your prayers and any support you can provide. Thank you