Support Gabriel's Fight Against Childhood Cancer

Gabriel is my amazing 7 year old boy. He is sweet, loving, caring and considerate. A boy who cried because he felt bad when a bug got flushed down the toilet until we explained there were ways it *could* escape. He loves the color pink, unicorns, and his family and pets. He plays Roblox and Minecraft just like every other child.

A few days after Easter in 2023 (@6 y/o) I brought Gabriel in for what we thought to be stomach pain from constipation. That is when they discovered the tumor.

That was just the start of Gabriel's (and our) fight for his life. Gabriel was transferred to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis where it took over 2 weeks to confirm that Gabriel has high risk neuroblastoma. This means that the cancer has spread from the tumor to his bone marrow and upon further testing it was found that his poor little bones were riddled with it. From the get go, nothing about Gabriel's case has been "normal." Since April 2023 he has spent more time in the hospital than he has at home, including 2 separate 1 month stays. Gabriel went through 5 rounds of chemo after which it was found that the cancer didn't respond well enough to that treatment. He then went through 6 rounds of chemo and immunotherapy. Testing during this time has been promising.

We have spent literally days sitting bed side rubbing his back, neck, arms, legs, hands, feet, and stomach while he cried from uncontrolled pain. We have held puke bags to his mouth, sometimes as often as every 10-15 minutes while he lost everything in his stomach and then continued to vomit just stomach acid and bile. We have held him while he cried about everything he was going through, has gone through and continues to go through, how unfair this is for such a little boy to have to deal with. And we've watched him pull himself together and lift his chin and say "It's just for 300 days. It's just until I'm healthy again."

I have continued to work as much as possible during this time (work has been very flexible and understanding of the situation), while his Dad has been at Gabriel's side 100% of the time. Our family has pulled together and helped where they could and has been (& continues to be) very supportive physically (helping and staying with Gabriel's siblings while both parents stay at the hospital with Gabriel), emotionally, spiritually, and financially.

A couple of weeks ago COVID struck. The entire household came down with COVID including little Gabriel. Everyone has been out of commission for a couple of weeks. This also means no income for our family during this time. Gabriel also had to have his last round of testing at children's hospital postponed due to COVID until next week, so I will have to take off another 3 of the 5 days of work next week to bring Gabriel in for his tests.

This in and of itself will be a huge financial hit for Gabriel and us.

As long as Gabriel's tests come back good which, considering the response to the chemo and immunotherapy thus far should be the case, Gabriel will then have to start high dose chemo and stem cell transplants at a new hospital.

From what has been explained so far, this will consist of Gabriel in the hospital for at least 3 weeks for the chemo, the stem cell transplant, and then recovery where his bone marrow will have to regrow. When his numbers are good enough to be discharged he will be discharged for about a week before going back in and doing it all again. During that week of discharge Gabriel has to remain within 30 minutes of the hospital in case of a reaction to the stem cell transplant. Our home is an hour and a half away from the hospital. This will be Gabriel's hardest part of the journey so far physically, mentally, and emotionally. When he is in the hospital, all he wants to do is go home to his siblings and pets. When he gets discharged this time, he won't be able to do that.

This will also be harder financially for us. Children's hospital has a couple of programs available to assist families during their treatment which include parking passes for the family so that they don't have to pay every time they come and go from the hospital. The savings I got from these passes was phenomenal when I continue to have to go to work every day. The new hospital doesn't have this program available, there isn't any on street parking available, and the parking facility no longer does discount parking for family of the patients either, so parking will become a new large expense when Gabriel is admitted.

Also, children's hospital has a program where one parent could get one free meal a day, and has a Ronald McDonald "house" in the hospital where we could get other meals and snacks through out the day. Children's Hospital also has a mini refrigerator in every room so that parents can have food available to make (think sandwiches, salads, etc) and to keep drinks in. The new hospital doesn't do this because they are afraid the children will eat something and get sick.

These are just a few of the reasons we are reaching out and asking everyone who has the ability to help us on this journey. This isn't mentioning the repairs that have been done and continue to need to be done on the vehicle we use for getting Gabriel to and from the hospital, Dr. Appointments, scans, tests, etc. and me to and from work. The things around the house that have needed to be fixed like the water going out and the thousands of dollars I still owe for having that partially fixed before I can get it fixed the rest of the way. The roof on the house that needs to be replaced.

Make no mistake about it, this is a fight for Gabriel's life, and any help you can offer, whether it is a donation, or sharing his page to be seen far and wide by others who may be able to help, you are helping this amazing little boy!