Name: Abbi
Diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Home state: Mississippi
For five weeks, Jodi and Doug made numerous trips to the hospital with their 5-month-old daughter, Abbi, who was thought to have a viral infection. Finally, a doctor who had once worked at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® saw Abbi’s blood work and referred the family to St. Jude. Abbi had a disease called acute myeloid leukemia.
Shortly after arriving at St. Jude, the medical staff performed tests and inserted a central line so Abbi could receive her chemotherapy. Jodi said the hardest part was not being able to be home with her other three children. “We never had a chance to prepare them to not have mommy and daddy home. I am a stay home mother, so their whole lives I’ve been with them.”
The fact that the family would not have to worry about a bill from the hospital was “unbelievable,” Jodi said. “We have insurance, but even our 20-30 percent that we would have had to pay from what we understand, would be a figure that we would spend the rest of our lives trying to pay for.”
After completing her treatment, Abbi is healthy again. “Our angel is home, and our family is complete,” Jodi said. “Without St. Jude, we wouldn’t have her here today.”
