Gabby's Make a Wish trip!

[lorasmom]

Hi!

I've been a DisBoards member for years - I am from FL, and my kids grew up as passholders, until we moved out west (to SoCal!) in 2008.

As evidenced by my screen name, there is a Lora...

My oldest, at 12. She's a super talented runner, and races with me frequently (i'm not nearly as fast, though )

#2 is Marissa....

not happy, but finishing her first 5K strong .

And finally, my wish kid, Gabby, 5 yrs old.

Gab was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in January, 2011.

I'm a blogger, so her entire journey, start to present, has been documented on my blog.

Her diagnosis is here.
The day she turned bald.
How we discovered her ALL <-- this was a donation link last spring; I'm not currently fundraising or accepting donations through that link!
A day in the life of a 5 yr old ALL patient
Tricky Pill Giving

We are currently in the final stage of treatment, maintenance, and expect her to finish treatment in March, 2013!

Gab was the Honored Teammate for Team in Training's OC Winter marathon team, as well, which was really fun for her

She has done amazingly well - she's SUCH a trooper, and we've been incredibly fortunate that she's had very few side effects from the treatments.

Her personality is unfailingly positive and upbeat, despite what's happening to her. When her case worker at the hospital told me she was eligible for a wish from Make a Wish, I was ecstatic. Her poor tiny body has been through SO much, and she never complains, ever - she so deserves something this special

We met with our wish granters a few weeks ago, and her wishes were for either a drum set, or to meet Cinderella in the GIANT castle at Disney World (because, according to her, Cinderella is beautiful, and so lonely by herself!), and see her grandparents (our families all live in FL still, and she wasn't able to make the trip to FL to see them this year). The wish granters got back in touch with us this week to let us know that they submitted meeting Cinderella at Disney World as her OFFICIAL wish.

We are waiting for her wish to be confirmed, and get our dates - because her big sisters are in school, we have to work around their school schedules, so we're hoping for April (spring break)... otherwise it will be summertime (in FL. EEK! ).

We are over the moon excited for her!

Can't wait to start planning!!! We love WDW, and this is going to be such a special trip for her.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I wanted to tell you what a hero your daughter is. I can't even fathom what you must go through with everything. I think about my little 5 year old, and feel so blessed for her health. My mind won't even let me contemplate the stress and pain of dealing with what you are dealing with, and handling it with such a good attitude. You are so strong. Gabby deserves to meet Cinderella.

I am subscribing...come on over to my pretrip report, and we can be report buddies!

 

[lorasmom]

I wanted to tell you what a hero your daughter is. I can't even fathom what you must go through with everything. I think about my little 5 year old, and feel so blessed for her health. My mind won't even let me contemplate the stress and pain of dealing with what you are dealing with, and handling it with such a good attitude. You are so strong. Gabby deserves to meet Cinderella.

I am subscribing...come on over to my pretrip report, and we can be report buddies!

She's totally my hero, too. . It's like it's impossible to have a bad attitude or be angry about anything when she's around - if she can go into procedures and chemo with a smile, I owe it to her to support that, y'know?

Going over to check out your report now!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

She's totally my hero, too. . It's like it's impossible to have a bad attitude or be angry about anything when she's around - if she can go into procedures and chemo with a smile, I owe it to her to support that, y'know?

Going over to check out your report now!

I understand completely. It sort of makes you value every minute you have. I think I would feel the same in your shoes for sure. I am glad she has you to lean on.

 

[lorasmom]

Yes! Absolutely.

When Gab was diagnosed, my husband left his job. Shortly after, my salary was cut. It pretty much left us making less than half of what we were. It has definitely been a challenging year, but we feel so blessed with how things are. We are truly lucky. .

This trip will be such an exciting time for her; we used to be able to travel a lot, but since all of this, we've just had to make some adjustments .

 

[Moodyzblu]

Hi ! My son was just told he was able to Make a Wish as well. We haven't met with the wish granters yet .. but are waiting patiently.
I hope to see more of your pre-trip report !
I left my job a year and half ago to care for Jayden and so money is tight .. this trip will be an amazing gift to our whole family !

Your daughter is truly a hero .. I hope the best for her !

 

[lorasmom]

Hi ! My son was just told he was able to Make a Wish as well. We haven't met with the wish granters yet .. but are waiting patiently.
I hope to see more of your pre-trip report !
I left my job a year and half ago to care for Jayden and so money is tight .. this trip will be an amazing gift to our whole family !

Your daughter is truly a hero .. I hope the best for her !

Yes! The financial aspect is something that not a lot of people talk about, but it's so important.

Yesterday, Gabby had to BRUSH HER HAIR. It's the first time in 10 months and 3 days that she's had to brush her hair.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Yes! The financial aspect is something that not a lot of people talk about, but it's so important.

Yesterday, Gabby had to BRUSH HER HAIR. It's the first time in 10 months and 3 days that she's had to brush her hair.

Thank goodness for small blessings !!

 

[lorasmom]

We are battling a cold around these parts - and over the weekend, I realized it was this exact time last year, that Gabby caught a cold that she just couldn't kick, that ended up taking us to the ER on New Years where we received her ALL diagnosis.

We are SO grateful for where we are, and seeing her all icky this weekend reminded us of how bad it was. Thank heavens for where we are now.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I am still waiting for official dates so we can start our planning!!

 

[Moodyzblu]

We are battling a cold around these parts - and over the weekend, I realized it was this exact time last year, that Gabby caught a cold that she just couldn't kick, that ended up taking us to the ER on New Years where we received her ALL diagnosis.

We are SO grateful for where we are, and seeing her all icky this weekend reminded us of how bad it was. Thank heavens for where we are now.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I am still waiting for official dates so we can start our planning!!

Just checking in ..

How is everyone feeling ? Hopefully the cold is gone. I have one right now and it is horrible .. I'm just hoping Jayden doesn't get it. His lungs don't take too well to chest colds and he usually ends up on his breathing machine, which he HATES.

Any word on dates yet ?

 

[lorasmom]

She bounced back pretty quickly, phew! She's on some preventative antibiotics already, because her immune system is so compromised, so she wasn't too bad, thankfully.

The Cold has run its course through #1 already, and is working it's way through #2 now. So far, hubs and I seem to be free.

No dates yet, and I am ITCHY to start planning!! It's only been a little over 2 weeks since our official wish was turned in, and Thanksgiving was thrown in there, so I'm trying to be very, very patient.

In non-disney news, a local PR company is sending us to Knott's Merry Farm this weekend (in exchange for a review on my blog) - very curious to see how Snoopy and the gang stack up against Mickey!

Hope you feel better ASAP and Jayden stays sick-free!

 

[EEs*Mommy]

What beautiful girls you have! I love that she wanted either a drum set or to see Cinderella <3
It is so true and isn't it funny how far we sometimes have to fall to figure out how blessed we really are? My husband lost his job a year and a half ago and was off work for almost a year. Now he makes about half of what we used to make. It has been a huge adjustment but we are so much more aware of our blessings now. I think even though we do less we live more if that makes sense.

 

[SandalwoodMomof3]

We are battling a cold around these parts - and over the weekend, I realized it was this exact time last year, that Gabby caught a cold that she just couldn't kick, that ended up taking us to the ER on New Years where we received her ALL diagnosis.

We are SO grateful for where we are, and seeing her all icky this weekend reminded us of how bad it was. Thank heavens for where we are now.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I am still waiting for official dates so we can start our planning!!

I'm new here but read through your story - your family sounds amazing! The roller coaster of life with a "special" child (it's what I tell my son...your heart is what makes you "special") is so similar for us all - I hope you'll get news of your trip soon!

 

[lorasmom]

What beautiful girls you have! I love that she wanted either a drum set or to see Cinderella <3
It is so true and isn't it funny how far we sometimes have to fall to figure out how blessed we really are? My husband lost his job a year and a half ago and was off work for almost a year. Now he makes about half of what we used to make. It has been a huge adjustment but we are so much more aware of our blessings now. I think even though we do less we live more if that makes sense.

I know! Drums, or a princess, either one. .

I agree, we are definitely living more now! How lucky both of us are

I'm new here but read through your story - your family sounds amazing! The roller coaster of life with a "special" child (it's what I tell my son...your heart is what makes you "special") is so similar for us all - I hope you'll get news of your trip soon!

Thanks!! I'm getting so antsy waiting for dates

 

[lorasmom]

Mohawk!

We're having so much fun with her hair growing back in.

 

[SandalwoodMomof3]

I don't blame you for being antsy - we found out the Monday before Thanksgiving that we are leaving a week from Saturday! I wish I had more time to plan, but then I would have more time to stress, so maybe it's a good thing either way

 

[lorasmom]

I don't blame you for being antsy - we found out the Monday before Thanksgiving that we are leaving a week from Saturday! I wish I had more time to plan, but then I would have more time to stress, so maybe it's a good thing either way

Oh my gosh, that's SO FAST!!

Hopping over to your PTR now!

 

[lorasmom]

We spent Sunday at Knott's Merry Farm. We all had a good time, Gabby was super excited to meet Santa!

It was cute. But it doesn't hold a candle to Disney at the holidays.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Cute picture ! Glad you had a good time.

 

[Azheartmom]

Love, love, love the Mohawk pic! Your positive energy shines through your story, and through Gabby's eyes.

Can't wait to hear more!