Westward to new destinations… El Paso

Finally, we have been reunited with Dr. Alam… 4 years of not seeing him in person is a long time. If you have a medically challenged child you know what comfort a specialist doctor can bring. Today at the hospital has only reinforced that. For those of you who are new to our blog Gabby’s birth defect is truly unique. Numerically OEIS kids only occur 1 in every 400,000 live births. It occurs in 1 in every 200,000 pregnancies meaning that half of all OEIS babies either pass from complications in vitro or are terminated. When Gabby was born we approached a surgical team in Baton Rouge regarding her surgical needs but were told that they could not handle the complicated case. In New Orleans, they took care of the initial surgery but we were told again that the medical team wasn’t the best choice for her care. The suggested that go to Boston Children’s (Dr. Gearheart- urologist extraordinaire), Houston Children’s (for the close proximity to home) or Cincinnati Children’s (Dr. Peña- the famous Dr. that created a whole medical procedure called PSARP). We chose to go to Cincinnati. There Dr. Peña selected Dr. Alam, from a team of several urologist, to be the urologist to be part of the process for determining how to proceed with Gabby’s case. He was apart of Gabby’s 2nd surgery around 18 months old and then when Dr. Peña stepped away because Gabby wasn’t eligible for PSARP, Dr. Alam became the head of almost all aspects of her care. From that very first meeting in Cincinnati there has been a steady and ongoing comfort in him being part of our lives. He is extremely cautious and knows that each case is so unique that there is no cookie cutter way of repairing these children. I have no idea that what drove Dr. Alam to specialize in OEIS, there are only a few physicians in the nation that are knowledgeable enough to take care of these children. The rarity of what she was born with was made evident today as a team of hospital pediatricians and residents came through making rounds on the made the comment that since Dr. Alam has joined the team at El Paso Childrens that they are seeing all kinds of urological cases that they have never encountered in their careers. All of the support staff keeps asking why we would travel from south Louisiana to a very small hospital in  west Texas for a surgery… all Bart and I can say is if you knew Dr. Alam it would make perfect since to travel a collective 15,000+ miles from Cincinnati, New York City, Charleston and now El Paso. 

It has been 4 years since the last surgery Dr. Alam performed on her and “set himself up” for upcoming surgeries. While I will not share the specifics of this surgery half of his plan failed and he is truly frustrated by this. Today ended up being more exploratory that anything else and the drain that she had placed in May that was supposed to be removed unfortunately is coming back home with us for at least another 4 to 12 weeks depending on our schedules. He did make an adjustment to the drain and then took an excessive amount of images via scope and X-ray so that he can formulate a plan of attack to rid Gabby of the drain in the aforementioned timeline. So what started in May with a plan of possibly 3 procedures over the rest of the year may now stretch to 4 procedures stretching into next summer. Not exactly the news and timeline any of us wanted. I just have to have faith that this timeline is all in god’s plan

and that it is what will work best for Gabby. After todays procedure they pediatric staff noticed that she was becoming more pale as the day went on. They drew labs and it was discovered that Gabby’s MCV level was dangerously low and the decision was made to give her a blood transfusion which is happening currently as I type. It took a bit to get started because it true Gabby fashion she has one of the most unique blood types, AB+ and they didn’t have the blood type at the hospital so it had to be requested from the blood bank. Pending all goes well with the transfusion and that she is up and moving in the morning hopefully when should be headed home by Sunday. Fingers Crossed!! 

Don't walk through life, staring down at your feet.

WARNING: If you don't like pictures of feet or foot injuries beware that this blog entry contains both.

 “And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair” ― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet 

Gabby all dressed and ready for cheer practice

 I do not remember exactly when I came across this quote, but it has always embodied what it means to be a child to me. When I read it, I visualize my girls running barefoot and hair down, wild, crazy, and free from all the worlds worries. You can ask my mom and dad, I grew up barefoot, running up and down the country roads of D ’Arbonne, La. Even today I hardly ever wear shoes unless I absolutely must and if comfortable enough in the situation, I will readily kick a pair off when the opportunity rises. It never occurred to me to me how precious feet are at that young age. When Gabby was delivered into my life 11 years ago, we learned just how precious the gift of walking is and that we should never take that gift for granted. Gabby’s feet have always been a concern but unfortunately when born there were many many concerns and her feet… well, they would just have to wait, and for 11 years they have. We have an excellent team that helps us with Gabby at Lake Elementary where she attends school and on that team is a PT named Sue Lynn. She is always encouraging and makes sure that Gabby’s physical well being is always watched over. She encouraged me to look into PT for Gabby while she is out of school this summer. This landed us at Bourgeois Physical Therapy here in Prairieville. Once there, it was explained to us that Gabby has 2 pressure ulcers that have opened and started draining on the outside of her left foot. The therapist was concerned enough that he took it upon himself to call her pediatricians office and get Gabby seen right away. She did have a staph infection in the wound and has since completed antibiotic therapy, but we have also followed up with wound care last week at Baton Rouge General. We will see them again this week for another follow up to make sure that the wounds continue to heal properly. While there the PA that attended to Gabby told us that she could treat the pressure ulcers but until her feet had been thoroughly examined by a specialist that it was a moot point. Unless something is done to correct Gabby’s feet the pressure ulcers would persist throughout her lifetime. Bart and I have known for a few years now that Gabby’s feet are completely different sizes. This is due to Gabby’s left foot being more drawn up than her right. We brought up to an ortho that she saw in Cincinnati back in 2013 but he saw no reason for concern. I then started bringing it up to her ortho at Children’s New Orleans in 2019. He seemed more concerned at the time that she may start to develop scoliosis due to her tethered cord which brought the result of having a detethering surgery in February of this year. He told us that the detethering surgery could possibly relax the foot due to some crossed up nerve signals but here we are 4 ½ months later and her feet still look the same. The wound care PA suggested that we see an ortho that specializes in feet and ankle deformities. Today, that recommendation landed our family in the office of Dr. Brian Perry at BR Ortho. They took x rays of her left foot because that is the one of major concern now. From that x ray he diagnosed her with a new birth defect, like 4 wasn’t enough, called Cavus Foot or basically an extremely exaggerated high arch. Due to the extreme arch of her foot, it can not rest properly on the bottom of her foot like ours do. This causes her to walk on the side of her foot. The pressure ulcers have developed due to her foot trying to form calluses to help give her padding when she walks, almost like a defense mechanisms to protect her foot. He explained that he could do some incredible sounding things, moving tendons from one side of the foot to the other, lengthening her Achilles tendon to help her with her walking and balance. But he said that he wants us to get a 3rd opinion from another pediatric ortho on his team at BR ortho, Dr. Brad Cullota. He feels like she could possibly need surgery in her left knee also because he thinks her left leg is shorter than her right leg due to tightness in the ligaments and tendons in that knee. Since he specializes in feet/ankles he wants to get the opinion of Dr. Cullota on the knee. We did speak briefly regarding her right foot also. He said that he said without an x ray of the right foot he could guess that she has what is called a flat foot deformity in the right foot. Basically, this is the complete and total opposite deformity of her left foot. We will be seeing Dr. Cullota on 7/26, a longer wait than I was hoping for but unfortunately Dr. Cullota is in high demand in the Baton Rouge area. Bart and I sat down with Gabby after the appointment and asked her how she felt about the possibility of some more surgeries and the potential outcome of those. She told us that of course another surgery does not sound like a fun time at all but if it will help her have better balance and movement then she is ready for it, especially if she could potentially run faster than her sister! During the appointment yesterday Dr. Perry made sure to let Gabby know that even though he was talking to her parents that he wanted her to feel comfortable and understand what she may have coming up in the future. Bart and I have always been very transparent with Gabby about all the stages of her surgeries and what they will intel and what her life will potentially look like afterward. So here we are at the cusp of another surgery… we will keep you posted on the developments of that as they happen. 

pressure ulcers on Gabby's left foot.

A picture of Gabby's feet together

Gabby's left foot, notice her heel never touches the ground

Gabby's right foot, this one never bends except at the ankle joint

 As far as life is going other than with her feet. We are currently waiting on some bloodwork to come back that was order by her urologist. Once we have that we will see about when we need to schedule our next trip to Charleston, SC. Her pediatrician has been watching her iron, Gabby like me stays anemic all the time. Also like me she hates taking her iron supplement, but we are trying to do better because if she does not then they want her start seeing a hematologist. She had a hematologist for the first year of her life but has not seen one since 2014. Her pediatrician is also pushing for her to start seeing a nutritionist to help teach us how to supplement Gabby’s diet to help her gain weight. We have seen nutritionist at every hospital Gabby has had surgery at and we have yet to find a method that works for Gabby. Fun things that have been happening is great times this summer with family and friends that feel like family. Swimming every day that she and Avery can when it isn’t raining! Cheer practices and lots of time being a couch potato. Just being a typically little sassy little preteen girl. Bart and I are enjoying every minute of these girls growing up in front of our eyes.

The title of todays blog entry came from the quote below. I think it is very fitting for Gabby's journey through life. Although she knows with every fiber of her being that she is different, she tries her absolute best to not let it hold her back from enjoying the world around her. 

Don't walk through life, staring down at your feet. Be proud of who you are, Dare to be unique.

- Anonymous

A first time for everything

Good morning everyone! I know I was supposed to type this last night but wellll that didn’t happen. So Gabby’s official diagnosis is Pyelonephritis, fancy word for kidney infection. Before this she has always had a standard bladder infection. This is our first time being hospitalized and it not be for a surgery. This also her first time with a kidney infection. Bart and I think we have figured out a timeline of how everything happened. Mar 8- follow up with Dr. Volk for her spinal surgery, fever was discovered. He instructed us to see her pediatrician. That afternoon we saw Dr. West and Gabby was tested for viral panel including COVID and a urine sample was taken. Everything was negative but all signs were pointing to a UTI so we decided to culture the urine and start antibiotics that worked in the past. Mar 9-10- symptoms continue. Mar 11- cultures show no growth. Still running fever and having headaches. Mar 12- follow up with Dr. West before the weekend. Fever and headache persist. Decision made to finish antibiotic therapy. Mar 13-14- fever gradually climbs, headaches continue and she starts with being more tired each day. Mar 15- go to Woman’s and get renal ultrasound and bloodwork. Mar 16- symptoms persist. Mar 17- wakes up with 102 fever, her highest yet. Around 10am has a vomiting episode. We can’t get into pediatrician until 240pm so I call her urologist in Charleston. He makes the call for us to bring her to the ER. We decide to bring her Childrens in New Orleans so that Dr. Volk can be able to check her out also for any possible surgery complications. The ER doctor makes decision to test for full viral panel including COVID, blood work plus blood culture, urine sample plus urine culture, blood gas, EKG, and lung X-ray. Everything looks perfect except the urine sample. Gabby is admitted to the hospital and started on IV antibiotics called Zosyn. Mar 18-today- several rounds of Zosyn, fever is gone and the headache has become much less frequent. The attending physician just stopped by and said that the only culture that has grown is a type of staph. They are currently testing antibiotics for sensitivity and hopefully we should know what will treat it by this afternoon. Talking between ourselves and yesterday with Dr. West and texting some with her urologist, Dr.Alam this is what we think happened. Bacteria was somehow introduced to her bladder the week prior to March 8th. Due the cathing this can be very common. When we went to her follow up with Volk the fever was discovered as it had just started. When we went to Dr. West that afternoon, we were to fast, the bacteria was there but so new it wasn’t strong enough to grow cultures. Started antibiotics causing suppression but since it was the right antibiotic it didn’t kill the bug. Bacteria continues to grow bringing with it increased fever, headaches and her final symptom vomiting... the trifecta for UTI symptoms. It took just shy of 10 days to figure out what was wrong. It was no fault of anyone. Bart and I knew something was wrong and to keep pushing for the answer. Her pediatrician was doing everything in her power to help us find the answer. Labs are running behind due to being over run with COVID test so that kept delaying our local blood test results... each time it took 3-4 days to get results. The ER doctor took in everything we told her and ran with it. Gabby is definitely feeling better, just bored of being in the hospital. Thank you to everyone that has been praying for Gabrielle. You have all proven time and time again that prayer is the ultimate answer.

Headaches are such a pain!

Just a quick little update into the happenings lately with Gabrielle. We went last Thursday to New Orleans and she was put under for a quick sutcher removal. Dr. Volk said everything was looking and healing up great. She has been complaining of headaches off and on since the surgery was performed on 2/11. Gabby has never been one to complain of headaches unless she was having a bout of sinus/allergies. Saturday we got out of the house for a while and she did exert herself much more than she has in weeks. Saturday evening she said that her head hurt much worse than it had been. Saturday evening and all day Sunday she stayed with a headache even after alternate dosing of Tylenol and Advil and also adding in Dimetapp. She spent much of the day just laying around sleeping and watching tv. We went this morning and followed up with Dr. Volk, her neurosurgeon. When she was having her typical stuff done like weight, height, temp; it was found that she was running a fever of 100.4. She had not ran a fever over the weekend so this was a new symptom. Once we saw Dr. Volk, Bart and I expressed our concerns to him of the headaches being linked to a possible CSF (Cerebrospinal Spinal Fluid) leak. He explained to us that being she is just days away from being a month out of from surgery that he really doubts that she would develop a leak this late. He stated that her incision is healing beautifully. Dr. Volk said that usually at this period of healing if a CSF leak occurs there will be a pocket of fluid that develops on the incision line. Currently, there is no such area. He suggested that we follow up with her pediatrician due to the fever and headaches. Before we even left his office I called Dr. West to get an appointment for Gabby this afternoon. Our next suspected cause of the headache and fever was a bladder infection. Gabby's usual symptoms for bladder infection are fever, headache and nausea. Bart brought her and they drew a urine sample which currently is not showing any sign of infection. We have decided to culture the sample but go ahead and start antibiotics until we receive the culture results back on Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the urine culture, Dr. West also suggested doing a viral panel swab to test her for all of the kinds of flu, RSV and other common viruses. Hopefully, by Wednesday evening we will have some answers as to why our sweet girl is having these headaches. We will update once we have some answers.

Some good news is that she can go back to school in person once we figure out what is going on and her fever is gone! She is so excited to be back at school with her friends!

Processing Prevention over Plans

Another surgery has come and gone. Gabby is in a room and doing pretty good. She of course is in pain but is on Tylenol, Morphine, Toradol and Valium to help curb the pain. This surgery was called a lumbar laminectomy fancy words for detethering the spine. Bart and I had so many reservations going into this surgery. One going back to hospital that we left 10 years ago. Secondly, Gabby having a surgery in which Dr. Alam wasn’t performing or had a hand in personally selecting the other surgeons. Third and probably biggest, the possible formidable outcomes. The surgery was predicted to be 2-4 hours but turned into about 5 to 5 1/2 hours. While it makes for a long day I like to think that means that the surgical team took extra caution due to the difficulty of her diagnosis. Once we met with Dr. Volk we soon found out that indeed was the case. Apparently, tethered cords present many difficulties due to the way the spine forms and in Gabby’s case closed. The layers that envelop the spine are typically in a certain order but in Gab’s case they were kind of folded up. Dr. Volk said it took about 1 hour just to “open” her up and then 1 hour to try to do his best job and closing up a layer that in his description was like trying to stitch tissue paper closed tightly. This will be our special request prayers... 1) that she heals properly and quickly 2) that she is able to have patience as she is required to lay completely flat with no pillows or bed elevation for at least 48 hours 3) that she does not develop a spinal fluid leak. Number 3 may be the very most important. If she develops a leak they will have perform another procedure and put in a type lumbar drain. Dr. Volk says that she will not tolerate that type of drain well because of her age and having to stay in the bed even longer. Now moving forward to the title of this blog... Processing Prevention over Plans. Bart and I had a lot to process once talking to Dr. Volk after the surgery. As far as the presented “planned” results and the actual expected results of the surgery. We went into this surgery thinking this will help her feet relax back to more comfortable position. We are now being told that this may not be the case. Instead we should concentrate on the hope that this surgery will prevent her feet from getting worse than they already are. This was a huge disappointment, especially for myself. I was the one that went to all of the appointments prior to surgery and then relaying information to Bart. I feel like I did not listen good enough, ask the correct questions and then failed to communicate the information to Bart correctly. This is tough to swallow for me. If you know me well then you know I’m absolutely my own worst critic and have been beating myself up over whether I have made the correct decision in the best interest of Gabby and her future.Bart and I have come to the conclusion that the detethering surgery was unavoidable. It most definitely will help prevent the almost inevitable occurrence of scoliosis in the future. Also, we will pray that she will proves us all wrong as that her feet will correct even if it’s the tiniest bit. She is the most determined and hard headed little girl I know and she wakes up everyday and faces most any challenge head on. Bart and I want to thank you all for praying for all of us today and in the days to come. We can never repay our family and friends for the support that we receive not only in our major times of need but also daily.

Here we are again...

 Sorry… I know it has been a minute since we have last updated Gabrielle’s blog. In a way it is something to be very thankful. No news, is good news, right? Gabby has been doing very well since I last updated you all. She has been doing great in 5^th grade. Lately, she has competed in a few cooking contests for 4H in which she has placed in each event she has entered. We are so very proud of her!

Gabby this past Christmas

Over the last 12 months Gabrielle has experience quite the growth spurt. While this is wonderful news being, she is so petite, it does also have the potential to cause problems in a child with Gabby’s condition. If you are just reading our blog for the first time, I will take a moment to quickly update you on Gabrielle’s birth defect and what it pertains to. Gabby was born with a birth anomaly called OEIS. This affects 4 major areas of her body. O- omphalocele- the abdominal wall does not complete the closure correctly to protect the internal abdominal organs. She had 2 surgeries (first- 2010 and second-2012) to repair this abdominal wall opening. E- exstrophy of the bladder- the bladder is typically on the outside of the body, split in half with the inside of the bladder facing outside of the body. She has had 3 operations on her bladder to get her to the point she is today (first- 2010, third- 2013, and her most recent 2018). I- imperforate anus- unfortunately currently for Gabrielle’s case this is not able to be corrected, so since she was 3 days old, she has had a colostomy bag. S- spina bifida- this what we are here to update you on today.

Gabrielle has a very mild form of spina bifida called a Lipomyelomeningocele. The following is a description of what that entails found on the Columbia.edu website from New York City, NY one of the hospitals that Gabrielle has seen physicians in her 10 years. 

Lipo = fat
Myelo = the nerves of the spinal cord
Meningo = the meninges, or membranes (coverings) around the spinal cord
Cele = a swelling

Lipomyelomeningocele is a condition in which an abnormal growth of fat attaches to the spinal cord and its membranes.

Lipomyelomeningocele arises from an event very early in an embryo’s development. About the third week after conception, a sheet of cells called the neural plate folds to form a tube called the neural tube. The top of the neural tube becomes the brain, and the rest of the tube becomes the spinal cord. Lipomyelomeningocele occurs when an error in the closure of the neural tube allows a type of cell called mesenchyme to contact the inside of the neural tube. These cells prevent the tube from closing properly, disrupting the formation of meninges (membranes, or coverings) and bones around the spinal cord.

Wherever the mesenchymal cells touch the outside of the neural tube, they develop into spinal meninges as usual. Everywhere else, they develop into fat cells. The end result is a fatty growth called a lipoma that begins in or near the spinal cord, connects with the meninges, and extends past the bones of the spinal canal to form a pad of fat beneath the skin.

Normally, the spinal cord is able to move somewhat freely within the spinal canal. But in lipomyelomeningocele, the cord’s movement is restricted by the lipoma’s connection with the meninges and the area outside the spinal canal. This condition is called a tethered spinal cord, and it may have severe consequences.

Lipomyelomeningocele is one type of spinal dysraphism. It may be associated with other forms of dysraphism, dermoid or epidermoid cysts or Chiari malformation.

This past November we started really pursuing seeing a neurosurgeon after continuing to see a decline in her balance and her steadily getting worse. She had a sedated MRI at Childrens New Orleans and they discovered that her syrinx (a fluid pocket on her spine) had grown since her last MRI. Over the last year due to her growth spurt she has developed a fluid pocket along her spine in the lumbar section. This fluid is putting pressure not only directly on her spine in that spot but also adding additional pressure to her tethered cord. The neurosurgeon we have met with in New Orleans think that this is causing problems with her balance and with her feet. Gabrielle’s feet have always been slightly misshapen which is not uncommon, sometimes children born with OEIS will also have other issues such as club feet. Thankfully in Gabby’s case her feet are not clubbed however they are missing muscle tone and the flexibility that you and I have in our feet. The neurosurgeon believes that the excessive pulling her on her spine is sending the wrong message to her brain, which is turn sending the wrong message to her feet. Due to the miscommunication her feet are starting to turn and draw up causing her balance to be much worse and making getting around harder. She must exert much more effort than the average person to get herself from one place to the next. After talking to the neurosurgeon and consulting with an orthopedic surgeon we have decided that her next step is spinal surgery. This is the one surgery that Bart and I have tried to avoid her having for the last 10 years. The very first neurosurgeon from New Orleans was extremely pushy about having Gabby detethered by the time she was 18 months old. By the time Gabby was 2 we had made the move to Cincinnati Children’s and their philosophy on detethering children like Gabby was much more relaxed and not as rushed. Dr. Volk, her new neurosurgeon, explained to me that American medicine tends to want to do things very fast and early whereas Eastern medicine tends to take things slower and stage things out as a matter of importance. Basically, do not treat until a problem presents itself. He has stressed to me that is perfectly fine that we have chosen to wait for Gabby to have this surgery. As of right now Gabrielle is scheduled to have surgery on 2/11/2021 in New Orleans. We are hoping to be home in 4-7 days and then she will stay home from school and hopefully be able to attend virtually for 2 to 3 weeks and then return to her regular life. 

Gabby waiting to have her MRI done @ Childrens New Orleans

 

Please continue to pray for Gabby and our family. This has not been an easy decision for Bart and me to make. We have made sure to keep Gabby herself informed every step of the process because we feel that this is very important as she is starting to get older. Avery is struggling with accepting her sister have yet another surgery. I’m not sure that I even know what to qualify as a surgery really to give you a count on how many she has had. In my mind a surgery is qualified by being put under anesthesia and having a procedure done. IF that is the case then her surgeries are as follows.

 

First- 3 days old @ New Orleans Childrens (colostomy placement, omphalocele closure)

Second- 2 years old @ Cincinnati Childrens (omphalocele repair and colostomy revision)

Third- 3 years old @ Cincinnati Childrens (bladder revision & double hip osteotomy)

Fourth- 3 years old @ Cincinnati Childrens (removal of external fixature/drainage tubes)

Fifth- 8 years old @ MUSC Charleston, SC (mitrofanoff surgery)

Sixth- 8 years old @ MUSC Charleston, SC (exploratory & drainage removal)

 

This spinal surgery will be her 7^th major surgery in just shy of 11 years. It does sound like a lot but really the realm of where we live our life comparatively against other OEIS families that is very minimal. I can tell you something; she has gone through more than any child should. She is special, unique and I would not change a single thing that I do not medically need to for her to strive to become the young lady she is turning into. She is the bravest person I know, and I am so beyond blessed to her mama. 

This was our most recent trip to Farmerville to visit family for Christmas.

Dreams do come true...

Recently, our family was connected to a wonderful organization called Dreams Come True of Louisiana. Bart and I have had a small link to the organization for a few years now because we cook in the jambalaya competition at the South Louisiana Crawfish Festival. However, never did we think that our relationship with the organization would expand further than that. You just never realize when you meet people what those relationships may hold. Years ago Bart and I became friends with Ms. Shelby and her granddaughter Cassidy. We have remained friends with them over the years and they have followed Gabby’s journey as we have followed Cassidy’s all these years. Shelby and Cassidy have been affiliated with DCT for many years and this year they introduced our family to Mrs. Freddye and the DCT organization. We can not begin to express our gratefulness for this introduction. Dreams Come True gifted Gabrielle and our family with a dream vacation. Gabrielle’s dream vacation was to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge and she wanted to see real snow. The ladies at DCT got right to work and planned us a vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs, Co. We took our trip last week from Wednesday to Sunday.         This is our first true family vacation EVER! If you have followed Gabby’s story over the years then you know we take trips out of town for her to see a urological specialist. These trips have taken our family from Cincinnati to New York City to Charleston. We always try to make the best of these trips with visiting local attractions, zoos, baseball games, and family. But regardless of what you do while you are in that city, there is always a surgery, a MRI or a follow up appointment scheduled and lots and lots of time is waiting rooms to dampen the spirit of the trip. This Dreams Come True trip was so far from our past trips. We had almost a full 5 days of nothing but snow, swimming and fun!

 

Our family want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to the Dreams Come True organization for a wonderful trip. Gabby and Avery loved every minute of it. When I asked last night what their favorite part was, they listed off almost every thing we did… the water park, mini golf, the arcade, the SNOW; the list goes on and on! If you are ever looking to support and donate to a local organization please consider Dreams Come True. They have gifted our little girls with something that Bart and myself have been trying to accomplish for years… a few days of joy that didn’t revolve around Gabby’s birth condition. We look forward to many more fun times with this organization.

 

We also want to thank Ms. Shelby and Cassidy again for thinking of our family and helping make this connection.