I'm raising money for my best friend's daughter's medical expenses. Abigail was diagnosed with 22q13.3 deletion syndrome, also known as Phelan McDermid Syndrome, at birth. This rare chromosomal delay causes many setbacks in our day-to-day lives. It's so rare it's in less than 3,000 people worldwide. Setbacks include gross motor delay, low muscle tone (she doesn't walk), completely nonverbal, seizures, etc. A link to PMS will be listed below to give a more in-depth view. Alexia is Abigail's main source of, well, quite literally everything. Since birth, her family has been in and out of the hospitals, specifically DMC, Corewell Health, and their personal favorite, Mott Children's.

In March of 2025, she was officially diagnosed with seizures. She had 26 seizures in roughly a 20-hour time frame. They put her on a steroid and a strong seizure medication that turned her into a zombie. Constant absent stares, stopped walking, stopped being her normal happy self, and became a couch potato.

Over the summer of 2025, Abigail had another regression causing her to now have ARFID. Within a month and a half, she lost 16 lbs. She had a feeding tube for almost two months, which was absolutely atrocious given her medical allergy to adhesives. Her NG feeding tube actually caused her to lose skin on her face, to the point that the tape wouldn't hold the tube in place. On December 17th, she had surgery to get a G Tube placed and to flip her stomach back in place. We've had nothing but issues, landing us right back at the hospital less than half a week later. Vomiting after and during feeds, even puking her important medication up (seizure meds, stomach meds, etc.), her stomach was flipped 3 times! Since Halloween, Abi has had an uprise in medical issues causing us to be hospitalized for almost the whole month of November and a good portion of December. During this time, Alexia lost her main job. She was a lunch lady at the local middle school. Now, her only source of income is Applebee's for a 3-5 hour shift once a week (that's the only time she can be physically available to work between appointments, school, and therapies).

Abigail's biological father is incarcerated and was zero help prior. Her stepdad is currently laid off for the winter months (pipe layer) but is looking for a temporary job until returning back to work in March/April. Her stepdad is also now the main caregiver to Abigail's sister, 9 months old, while her mom tends to Abigail in the hospital. The hospital is over 60 miles from home one way, and unfortunately, they discovered that insurance is not covering the food going into her tube nor half the medical supplies that are needed.

I'm not one to ever ask for help, but for my niece and best friend, I'll put my ego aside. She's falling so far behind in everything that even a share helps. Abigail is currently on Kate Farms pediatric standard 1.2

As of 12/24/2025, they are not expecting to leave the hospital anytime soon. The doctors at U of M believe another surgery may be needed in the next few days to help reattach the ligaments connecting her intestines. Alexia updates me every night with Abigail's pm medications, how the day went, and what to expect for the following day.

Again, thank you so much for any type of help!

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23087-phelan-mcdermid-syndrome