My sweet precious Abigail passed away at 4:06...

Facebook page of Mom Candice

My sweet precious Abigail passed away at 4:06 pm today with her family around her. i cleaned her and dressed her and her friends came to say goodbye. we watched a slideshow and videos of Abbi and cried. Don't know how i will take it when the funeral home comes and takes her which i have already called and they will be here in 45 min. that will be the hardest. thanks to everyone who prayed and prayed. she is happy now.  Mom/Candie

Abbi is sleeping this morning...

Abbi is sleeping this morning, she has not been eating, but she is drinking a good amount of water throughout the day. she mostly sleeps and is barely awake anymore. she is so little and so weak she needs Dennis and i to help her to the bathroom, which she is only doing now once a day. she is fighting hard and does not want to leave we have been praying over her day and night. we have a lot of family here staying with us which makes it easier. but really nothing is going to make this easy. i really feel like i have been robbed of my daughter. Mom/Candie (picture is age 7. 2008 BMT)

The Background Story...

From Abbi's Mother, Candice: 

When Abigail was 7 yrs old she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome. It is classified as a blood cancer. Her bone marrow does not work and make blood cells as it should. She underwent her first bone marrow transplant in may of 2008 her brother was the willing donor. And one year and a half later her disease came back. They went ahead and performed a second transplant, again with her brother as the donor only to find 4 months later she had relapsed. Her doctors at UCSF will now try one more time to do a bone marrow transplant with an unrelated donor. They have found someone and are moving forward with the transplant. 

This is an update now after 3+ years of going through this journey. Abigail received her 3rd transplant on September 2nd 2010, only to find 10 months later she was relapsing for a 3rd time. so she is currently receiving vidaza for 6 months to bring her disease back into remission, then they will give her more donor cells to induce Graft Versus Host Disease. That is when the donor cells attack the recipient cells.  Which she never got during  any of her transplants, but what she needs to have a fighting chance. She is 11 now and the strongest person i know. 

Jan 3rd 2012 we found out Abigail's MDS had turned into acute myeloid leukemia, the vidaza was not working, not giving us too many good options at first her transplant team then stepped in and  decided on a plan that could work, 10 days of intense aml chemo and a stem cell boost from her last donor, well the oncology team freaked us out with possible side effects of aml chemo, which she was a higher risk having already had 3 bone marrow transplants. but she surprised them all and made it through. 

Once her stem cells were infused and then engrafted they checked her bone marrow and still found a small amount of cancer cells, so because she did so well first time around with the aml chemo they decided to do it again but only for 8 days and then more stem cells they had frozen, so she is almost out of hospital after this second round (10 weeks with a 2 day break in between, in the hospital from both stem cell boosts) they are still trying to induce gvhd which was the plan all along, just a minor bump (aml) to jump over. she has another biopsy tuesday april 3rd to make sure there are no more cancer cells.  (end)

Grandmom Mary:

Abbi did finally go shopping with her Mom, Dad, and brother Blake in a stretch Limo for her 'Make a Wish' she chose a shopping spree to a big Sacramento Mall. She decided on a Mac Computer, some clothes, and accessories for her wrists and hair.

Abigail Brianne Courtemanche had a total of 4 bone marrow procedures at UCSF teaching Hospital, Parnassus in Sunset District. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) was her new diagnosis early 2012. A 4th procedure with less chance for cure in 2012 did not work for her and GVHD or graft versus host disease set in.  Abigail was then taken home by her Mom and Dad to continue natural diet therapy and pain alleviation administered by her family.  

On Abbi's 12th birthday she remained active when she played basketball hamming it up for pictures with her Grandpa Alan and Uncle Brian, her family from the east coast.  A few weeks after that she took a turn and has been inside of the house and not able to play outside or see most of her friends. 

She has been resting peacefully at home in her own bed since late September after a trip to the local Hospital where she refused all IV needles and care of the nurses and she was sedated so she could get the blood needed to keep her going because Abigail wanted her mash potatoes and honey, was drinking water, Arizona tea, and chocolate milkshakes with whipped cream.  


A picc line was administered while Abbi was under sedation and that's when they found that she had not enough blood to take any real blood count measurements and yet she had previously been awake and quite alert often sometimes all afternoon into late evening. She was eating, drinking, going to bathroom with help, and asking 'why me' to her Mom and Dad.  No one else was allowed to administer to her needs on Abbi's own strict orders. By then Abigail and her parents became one person responding to her call as if they knew already what was going to be asked for.

It has been a wonder to witness my granddaughter Abbi's life journey. I do know her short lifetime has been for a much higher purpose than I could now imagine. Maybe no one can.  

God bless everyone who has been supportive and are praying for Abbi and her family.

Not what we expected as this journey began for Abigail

Picture: Abigail Brianne Courtemanche's 12th birthday family celebration in June 2012

Written 12 hours ago...

Abigail got that picc line and received 3 bags of blood and one bag of platelets. she was so low on blood they couldn't even count her hemoglobin. but she was still awake and talking. when she got home she was still weak and has been getting weaker we have a wheelchair to get her to the bathroom and now she is only going once a day, she has a morphine pump. so she is sleeping all of the time. has not eaten in 3 days, so we know her time is coming to an end here on earth. never thought we would have to decide whether to cremate or bury. but we have decided we want her with us so we will cremate her. we have a lot of family and friends here and it is helping us. i just don't know how we are gonna get over this. but we will. thank u for your prayers keep them coming. miracles happen everyday!

Clockwise: Grandpa Alan, Uncle Alan, Mom, Dad, and Abigail

Uncle Alan, Uncle Brian, Mom (Candice) and Grandpa Alan

Things aren't so good right now...

Things aren't so good right now but we are still holding out for a miracle, Abbi needs blood and we have been at mercy hospital for a few days and they just can't seem to get an iv into her arm. she is really nervous and hates needles. she does have a numbing cream but we are still having a lot of trouble. so we have been praying and we had her baptized last night. her hemoglobin is dangerously low and she is sleeping a lot and her oxygen is low. she is only eating a few bites a day and drinking a lot of water. but she is tough and she is up right now watching a movie. her holistic doctor came to see her and suggested some things to keep her going. the oncologist said she could have another pic line placed tomorrow for easier access. she is thinking about it. i hope she wants it cause we can get her blood and medicine and nutrition through it. we are not giving up and neither is she. we need everyone's prayers and for everyone to say "thank you god for healing Abigail" over and over again throughout your day. thank you and god bless.

 

Shopping Spree to Sacramento then Mt Shasta Mall sponsored by 'Make A Wish' Foundation

This was the most fun for Abbi even though she was very ill by the time it was arranged and carried out. She got herself a Macbook and alot of girly things to wear and to accessorize with.

A memory to behold for her family and yet tiring for her frail self.

She appreciates all that comes her way from loving donors and families around the North State and So. Cal friends from Bakersfield like little Laci were always in her heart and on her mind.