Kalispell girl returns home after year of chemo

Major events in the life of an average 6-year-old include Christmas, birthdays and the first day of school. For Gabby LeDuc and her family, those major life events also have included a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells.

For the last nine months those normal events still happened, but they took place hundreds of miles from the family’s Kalispell home and were punctuated by rounds of chemotherapy and illness.

But there were good times too, and Gabby and her mother Kathy are home now.

“We got home Saturday, and it’s been overwhelming,” Kathy said. “It’s nice, but it doesn’t feel real yet. There have been lots of huge changes.”

Gabby and Kathy had been staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Spokane while receiving treatment at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital since May 18, 2012, with Gabby’s father, Ryan, visiting as often as possible.

“In the beginning it was hard because she’d beg and ask when she would get to go home,” Kathy said. “I can’t remember when she stopped, but I was thankful. It was hard. But now I know that when we leave here she’ll miss her friends.”

Gabby’s departure date from Spokane had been pushed back once due to complications from chemotherapy that prompted a weeklong stay in the hospital.

“We just got out of the hospital because Gabby got mucositis, which is mouth sores from the chemo,” Kathy said. “They up your chemo until your body reacts, and hers did on her last heavy treatment. This is the second time she’s had this happen, but she didn’t have to stay in the hospital the first time. She’s been a real trooper throughout everything, and she’s been pretty energetic.”

Although Gabby is home now, she still faces daily chemotherapy treatments through July 2014 and then another five years of checkups to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned.

This is actually the second time Gabby and her mother have stayed at a Ronald McDonald house, and Kathy said that while the support has been great, it’s not something she’d like to do a third time.

“When Gabby was born her esophagus had grown into her trachea, so she had surgery when she was just a day and a half old,” Kathy said. “She was in the NICU, so that’s where I was. It’s not easier the second time, but it is different.”

One of the ways it’s been different is that Gabby can understand what’s happening to her this time, which presents its own unique issues.

“Kids understand more than you give them credit for,” Kathy said. “Gabby’s 6 and sometimes I feel like I have a teen, she’s had to grow up so fast. She may not understand everything, but she doesn’t need to because she’s still 6.”

Despite fighting a life-threatening disease, life for the LeDucs has gone on. Gabby has dreams of becoming a “ballerina-cowgirl-artist” when she grows up. She celebrated her sixth birthday at the Ronald McDonald house with pizza and strawberry shortcake, and Santa Claus managed to find her for Christmas, even though she wasn’t home. She even began kindergarten, thanks to a tutor and the help of a teacher she never had met at East Evergreen Elementary School.

“One of the saddest moments for me as a mom was knowing that she was going to miss that milestone. It was one of the few times I cried. I didn’t let her see me, but it was really, really hard. But her teacher has been wonderful, and the class is looking forward to meeting her when she gets home,” Kathy said.

In fact, Gabby jumped right back into things with her second “first day of school” on Feb. 4, an event that Kathy said wasn’t quite as she had imagined.

“She was really worried about the kids and if they would be nice to her,” Kathy said. “It’s a big change for her because I’m not there. For the last nine months we’ve only been apart for two hours at a time. But I had to drop off some milk money at the school, and they checked on her, and she’s doing fine, so things are going well so far.”

Getting back to a “normal” life in Kalispell will involve more than doctors and treatments and Kathy expects there to be some sad moments, too.

“Gabby’s made really good friends with some of the kids, and we’ll for sure stay in touch. I care about these kids and their families just as much as they care about Gabby, and I think people would be disappointed if we didn’t keep in touch. When we got back to the [Ronald McDonald] House after treatment, she’d just start playing with the other kids. No one leaves anyone out.”

That attitude of not leaving anyone out extends to the other family members staying at the facility, too, and has helped Kathy cope with the situation.

“My advice is to reach out and get a support system for yourself and your family,” Kathy said. “And tell them how they can help you. People really do want to help, they just don’t know how sometimes. And don’t be afraid to accept that help. I had a good support system there. Being at a place like the Ronald McDonald House, you meet other families that are in a similar situation. If I’m having a bad day or Gabby’s having a bad day, there’s someone to talk to. It’s been a blessing in disguise.”

And life has gone on for Kathy as well, who has been with Gabby through her diagnosis and treatment.

“I don’t really have a choice; I can’t be crying all the time,” Kathy said. “So I just hit the pavement running, and kept on running. You can’t let yourself be kept down by it. I have to be strong for Gabby and pretty much everybody else. It’s not easy and it’s not fun watching a child have to go through the suffering, but you know they have to.”

Maintaining a positive attitude has been a big help to Kathy throughout everything.

“You go into it really negative, but you can’t stay that way,” Kathy said. “I don’t know how people would make it through like that. I try to find the positive. My daughter has had the chance to do things she wouldn’t ever have done and met some wonderful people. It’s not all fun and games, but you’re on this roller-coaster and you just buckle up and hang on and roll with the ride. At Christmas other people were super sad we couldn’t be home. I look at it as one year out of our life away from our home so we can have many, many more. You never wish your child to be sick, but if they are, you pull up your bootstraps and get on with it. I feel that if I’m positive, then Gabby’s positive and the treatment works better. Attitude has a big impact.”

Reporter Melissa Walther may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at mwalther@dailyinterlake.com.