Gabriella Hope Gallegos (GiGi)
Gabriella Hope Gallegos (Gigi)
Stage IV Neuroblastoma (NED 12/03)
Auburn Hills
http://www.caringbridge.org/mi/gabriella
Our Story
Three and a half years ago we were wondering what could possibly be wrong with our little Gabriella. She was limping, not eating, not sleeping very well, hemoglobin at a low 8.3, and a fever of 100.5 on and off. These symptoms accumulated over a span of 19 days.
On June 10, 2003 Gigi was playing at a park with our Mom's group completely a normal healthy 2 1/2 year old and on June 12th she started limping slightly. She also got a slight fever over the weekend so we went to the pediatrician on June 16th and an x-ray was taken to rule out any kind of a break or fracture to Gigi's hip. There was no explanation and no real reason to assume anything other than a pulled muscle and allergies. The limping stopped by mid week and the fever was here and there. She started getting up in the middle of the night wanting to sleep with us saying her leg hurt and she wasn't eating so good. We set up an appointment with our chiropractor on the 23rd and he couldn't identify anything majorly out of place, he gave us a list of health foods to try so Gigi would get the vitamins she needed. We were going to Inidana to visit Steve's family and celebrate our 4th anniversary so on the 25th we went back in to the pediatrician because her limp returned and she wasn't eating and she was still getting up in the middle of the night. He ran blood work and called us on the 26th before we left for Inidiana with results saying she was anemic (hemoglobin of 8.3) which could be diet at the very least, maybe rheumatoid arthritis, but we were to come back in a week to retest her blood. We left for Indiana and experienced the absolute worst weekend we had ever experienced with our Gigi Girl. She continued to not eat, didn't sleep very well, VERY CRABBY, limping and complaining about her legs hurting- needless to say when we returned to Michigan I immediately made an apppointment to come in Monday to the pediatrician. He called the pediatric oncologist and they squeezed her in on Tuesday July 1st. The pediatrician felt an urgency to get it done before the big July 4th weekend. Tuesday Gigi's hemoglobin was 8.1 and nothing else signaled "cancer"- except for the fact of how sickly Gigi looked (both docs thought it to be rheumatoid arthritis), we found out later that Dr. Ammanulah (hem/onc doc) asked for the bone marrow aspiration just from a hunch. So on July 1, 2003 Gigi got her first of many medical procedures. We stayed over night and waitied for the results. The preliminary said 50% abnormal or immature cells they thought possibly leukemeia but that kind of cancer usually shows up at 70% abnormal or immature cells, so Dr. Jamil (hem/onc on rounds) said more tests would be done to confirm exactly what kind of cancer it could be. We were shocked, I cried, we really could not believe this was happening to our sweet little girl. We stayed another night and more tests were done- urine catecolamine, bone scan, cat scan and then the confirmation of what kind of cancer was inside of Gigi's body. The scans showed cancer all throughout her bones and marrow, a mass originating near the left adrenal, top part of her chest and another behind her left eye. July 2nd it was most likely neuroblastoma and on July 3rd it is definitley neuroblastoma in the 4th stage. This kind of cancer is very rare and it comes with a 33 percent event-free survival for the next 5 years. It is a malignant cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. I cried really hard this time and then the nightmare continues. We were released on Thursday July 3rd for the weekend and would return on July 7th for the start of Gigi's treatment. The weekend was not an enjoyable one, but we tried to make it fun- but Gigi was just not a happy camper and neither were we. On Monday July 7th a triple lumen broviac was put into our baby girl's body and on July 10th she recv'd her first of 6 medium-high dose chemotherapy rounds. The rest of the story is found in the history of Gigi's web page and in the hearts and minds of Gigi's awesome support system!
Now- 3 1/2 years later, Gabriella is flourishing! Her body remains NED!!! Scans are coming up in December of 2006 and then hopefully not again until December of 2007!!!!!!! Please continue to pray with us for a continued and total healing in Gigi's body!!!
We are so thankful for the Great Physician's healing touch on Gabriella's body and we are, with hope and trust, believing she will remain cancer-free.
Thank you
Dear Child of God with a Big Heart,
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace!
Thank you for giving so generously! Thank you for caring!
You will make a big difference in the lives of our kids. With your help a cure for Neuroblastoma is all the closer!
Joyful in Hope,
Steve, Angie, Gabriella, Isaiah and Christina Gallegos