Help Ava in her Fight Against Cancer

UPDATE 10pm           7-9-2024 

After over 12 hours, Ava’s surgeon feels her surgery was a success! There is a long road of recovery ahead but for tonight, the Jabczenskis can breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone is feeling very grateful and blessed! 

More updates will be shared as I get them. Keep those prayers coming!! B

UPDATE 7-9-2024

This morning marks a pivotal day in Ava’s fight against cancer as she undergoes yet another craniotomy. It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Ava and her family these last 3 months to reach this point. 

Two months ago, Ava underwent a procedure to essentially “freeze” the area of the brain where the ATRT tumor was showing growth. Ava and her family then began the tortuous ups and downs of watching and waiting. 

In the meantime, Ava also began biweekly immunotherapy infusions as another effort to keep the ATRT at bay. During this time, she went through more MRIs, CTs and other tests/procedures. She 

also has been admitted to the hospital several times with what appeared to be seizures or a reaction to the immunotherapy. During all of this Ava’s mom, dad and sister have been right by her side. 

During her last hospital stay, Ava had a complete MRI where once again, the Jabzcenskis were served with the devastating news that there  was some growth in the tumor, along with another suspicious spot. 

After a very difficult meeting with Ava’s neurosurgeon, they made the decision for her to have the craniotomy where the Dr will remove as much of the tumor as he can without causing any major loss of neurological function. While everyone remains hopeful and are putting their faith in God and Dr. Garten’s very capable hands, this surgery is high risk and the outcome will determine what options are left.

Through it all, Ava has remained the absolute fiercest fighter you could ever meet. There have been lots tears. Yet, she still remains that silly, funny girl we all know and love. 

Last night, she requested to have her family over to celebrate her “birthday”. So that’s what we did! We sang and had cake and ice cream. In true Ava fashion, she sang happy birthday to herself and clapped along to Sto Lat!

As the Jabzcenskis begin this next part in their fight against cancer, please consider making a donation to help ease the financial burden so they can all focus their time and energy on Ava. Every share and every little bit helps. 

And again, Team Ava thanks you from the bottom of all of our hearts. 

UPDATE (4-10-2024) After 100 grueling days in the hospital, Ava finally came home! She was greeted by the most amazing parade from her Cabrini family! The street was lined with students, staff, family and friends who cheered her on with noise makers and signs as her dad drove her home!

The next day was the district championship game for the Varsity Girls’ basketball which her mom and aunt coach and her sister and cousin play for. Ava was able to attend and be part of celebrating this exciting championship win! 

What Ava did not know was that on the way to the game, her mom, Karen, received a phone call from Ava’s neurosurgeon telling her there was a suspicious spot on Ava’s latest MRI. All the highs from Ava’s return home just ONE day prior were stripped away with one phone call as the fear set in for her family. 

There have been too many of these phone calls to count over the past 5 years. 

Karen and Mitch decided to wait to share publically until there was confirmation and a plan in place. 

In the meantime, Ava continued to travel back and forth to the hospital for her multiple physical therapy sessions and another MRI to try and confirm what was seen.

The 2nd MRI confirmed the suspicion that there is a recurrence  of the ATRT. The medical team needed to come up with a new course of action. The devastion and fear returned to Ava’s family upon hearing this news.

However, Ava has proved herself to be a fighter and her medical team has proved that there are still options so as the saying goes, “Where there is hope, there is faith. Where there is faith miracles happen”.

Ava was able to travel to Florida for spring break with her family and friends. It was a much needed time away for the entire Jabczenki family after all those excruciating days in the hospital and trying to process the most recent news. Ava was even able to float in tbe pool, which if you know Ava, you know swimming has always been one of her favorite things! 

Ava will have several pre-op tests (MRI and CT) on Friday and then another surgery on Tuesday. 

Please continue to pray for Ava, Karen, Mitch and Kaitlyn as they continue to fight! If you are able, please consider donating to help with the continued medical bills and time off work for Karen and Mitch. We are all incredibly thankful for your support, love and prayers! 

#TeamAvaStrong

#Matthew1720

#NoOneFightsAlone

UPDATE (12-30-23) l It’s really hard to imagine that Ava could go through anymore than she has since the last update, but it has been a long and scary road. Ava is now going on week 6 of being admitted to the hospital. After about a week of being in the PICU at MOTTs, Ava had a grand mal seizure and had to be intubated. She was heavily sedated the first few days so her medical team could closely monitor her. 

During that time and even through today, Ava has had countless more scans, pokes and tests. 

She remained intubated for almost a week. She was extubated on December 16th. She has been making baby steps forward health wise and was able to come out of PICU to a regular room the day before Christmas Eve. 

It felt like a Christmas miracle hearing her voice and even some laughter again! She was able to get in a wheelchair and spend some time in the family waiting room with her parents, sister, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Busia! 

It definitely tired her out. Ava has had her ups and downs emotionally as well. I can’t even begin to fathom the emotional roller coaster she must be going through. 14 years old and she’s been through more than the majority of adults I know. 

Despite all this, she  continues to remain a true fighter. Her bravery is unparalleled. She’s got her mom, dad and sister right by her side without falter for each and every up and down. 

At this time, there is no date for when Ava can return home. Karen and Mitch are faced with more unpaid time off as well as future medical bills. PLEASE continue to share and donate towards Ava’s campaign. Every share and every dollar can help ease the Jabcenzski’s financial stresses and keep their focus where it needs to be… on caring for Ava. Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers. 

#TeamAva

#noonefightsalone

#MATTHEW1720

UPDATE: Our warrior girl, Ava, has been faced with yet another setback in her fight against ATRT and Lymphoma. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, November 29th with sepsis. Her kidneys stopped working properly and she started to retain fluid on her lungs. By Saturday, things were looking worse so they made the decision to transfer her to MOTTS where she is receiving CRRT dialysis. She's got a long road to recovery and will be in the hospital for several weeks. Karen, Mitch and Kaitlyn will be spending the majority of their time at MOTTS caring for Ava. Beyond the exhaustion of traveling back and forth to the hospital and staying the night by Ava's bedside, this will require unpaid time off of work for both Karen and Mitch. Please consider easing the financial burden and making a donation and/or sharing Ava's campaign

. We, Ava's extended family, are incredibly grateful for all the prayers, love and support you all continue to provide for the entire Jabczenski family. #noonefightsalone #teamavastrong #matthew17:20

My name is Karin Kozlo and I am Ava’s Aunt. Ava is an absolute joy to our entire family and anyone who has ever been blessed to be her in presence. With an infectious laugh, quick witted humor and a genuine sweetness that radiates brilliantly to light up a room, she continues to fight with unparalleled fierceness and bravery. Her story began in 2018.

Ava has been in the fight for her life since May of 2018. None of us will ever forget those frightening first few days, especially her parents, Karen and Mitch. Ava had a headache. Her mom, being the nurse that she is, did everything she could to help her remedy it, including a trip to urgent care. As the night went on, the headache worsened and Ava told Karen, "Mom, something is wrong". Karen and Mitch took her to the local ER where things changed quickly. Ava had a brain bleed and was airlifted to Motts. The next day, she had an emergency craniotomy. The surgery lasted many, many hours and I've never seen a more jam packed waiting room in my entire life! We actually took up two waiting rooms between family and friends who were there to support Karen, Mitch and Kaitlyn as they waited.

The surgeon found a tumor. He was able to dissect it as closely as possible but wasn't sure what it was due to its odd consistency. It needed to be sent to pathology. While we waited for the results, we also had very pertinent hours and days after surgery to see how Ava's recovery would be. Thankfully, there was no neurological damage. However, the pathology report brought the news that no parent should EVER hear. It was a rare brain cancer; ATRT.

At just 9 years old, a few weeks before her 10th birthday, Ava began her fight. In 4 years time, Ava has had a total of 3 craniotomies, months of radiation (twice), months of in-patient chemotherapy, gamma knife surgery, and countless scans, tests and pokes. Most adults have NEVER had to endure what she has these last 4 years. The chemo did not work. The first round of radiation didn't work. The surgeon could not do any more craniotomies without causing neurological damage. Things felt absolutely hopeless.

Then, Karen found out about a trial that was having success with younger ATRT patients. Ava's age makes her ATRT even rarer and an anomaly for her doctors. So, her medical team along with her parents, decided to give the trial a go. Ava has had great success with the trial. It has kept ATRT from rearing its ugly head.

Ava had been on the trial longer than what anyone had. It was time to wean her. So this past Spring, they began cutting her dose in half. Once again things changed quickly and frighteningly. Ava had a flu bug, which hits her harder than most due to her immune system being compromised from all the treatments. However, she felt well enough to head down to Florida for spring break with family and friends. She spent most of the trip inside the condo, feeling icky and fatigued. Finally, she felt up to some pool time and a shopping trip. (If you know Ava, you know she can SHOP!) While shopping, she had the first of a series of "episodes" where she passed out and was incredibly weak. They went home a few days later, where she had another "episode" and was having trouble breathing. This time, they took her straight to Royal Oak Beaumont where she had been receiving treatment. Again, she was admitted. More tests, more scans and more pokes. They discovered multiple blood clots and a HUGE mass in her lungs.

After more very, very frightening hours and days, Ava was diagnosed with a secondary cancer. Not only is she fighting ATRT, she is now also fighting Lymphoma. The type of Lymphoma she has is very treatable. However, the treatments are absolutely BRUTAL. I cannot even count how many times Ava has been in and out of the hospital since her diagnosis/beginning of treatment in late April.

Once again, our sweet, dog-loving, little kid entertaining, funny, power-shopping warrior, is faced with treatments that have AWFUL side effects and deplete her immunity to the point of isolation. Cancer alone is isolating enough, especially for a child who can't do all the things her peers are doing, let alone physically having to isolate from your friends and extended family.

Ava is now 14. She's been fighting ATRT for 4 years and 7 months and fighting Lymphoma for 8 months. For more than 1/4 of her life, she has had cancer and endured treatment. As you can imagine, it has been beyond scary and stressful for Ava's parents and sister. Not only does cancer come with emotional, physical and mental stress. It also bears financial stress, which is the LAST thing any parent needs when tending to their child who has cancer.

No one fights alone. The whole family has "cancer" when a member is diagnosed. It changes everything. All money raised will go directly to the Jabczenkis to help cover any costs, bills etc.., so that Karen and Mitch can continue to take all the time off work they need to take care of Ava.

Every dollar, every share, every prayer helps! #teamavastrong