Abby Lacayo is finally home.
The 10-year-old girl who grabbed the hearts of Villagers and others from across the globe is back at her Wildwood home after undergoing an extremely complicated surgery this past Dec. 12 at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
The honor student fourth-grader, who had been suffering from Hereditary Chronic Pancreatitis and gastroparesis – and dealing with extreme pain in the process – had her pancreas, spleen and gallbladder removed and islet cells transplanted into her liver. She set a goal to be out of the hospital before Christmas – she walked out the day before Christmas Eve – and then spent time recuperating at a Ronald McDonald House near the medical facility that literally changed her life.
For a time after the surgery, Abby would suffer from pain and nausea when she would eat. There were bouts of vomiting. And there was constant wondering about whether the difficult 12-hour procedure had eliminated the gastroparesis Abby had suffered from for two and a half years.
Doctors told the Lacayos to be patient, as Abby’s stomach had been asleep for quite some time and just needed to wake up. The hope was that huge improvements would take place quickly so the family could return to Florida and begin to move forward with the life they all had dreamed about for Abby.
And just like that, it happened. Abby woke up one morning in February with a voracious appetite, prompting doctors to run a gastric emptying study, a procedure using radioactive chemicals that measures the speed with which food empties from the stomach and enters the small intestine.
“The results came back completely normal,” Gina said.
And that meant one very important thing – Abby was no longer suffering from gastroparesis, meaning it had been brought on by the pancreas inflammation she had suffered from prior to the surgery.
That good news led to even more great news – Abby was released to return home to Florida. She is now a diabetic and still has to go back to the Minnesota hospital every three months for checkups. But the young girl with the infectious positive attitude and Hollywood-caliber smile was well on the road to recovery and suddenly enjoying things in life – tasty foods, feeling good, lots of energy – that hadn’t been the case for quite some time.
Last week, Abby and her family, along with friend Faye Scher, who lives in The Villages, talked about Abby’s journey as the young girl munched on sausage, eggs and toast. She recalled her first request after waking up feeling hungry – a 10-mile trip to Chick-fil-A for some tasty chicken nuggets that Mom took care of despite an unfriendly Minnesota blizzard.
“I had a 12-piece and I was still hungry, so I had an eight-piece, too,” Abby said with a sly grin.
After getting home, Abby was finally able to return to Wildwood Elementary School, where she had remained top of mind with the staff and students who sent her cards and letters – just some of the hundreds she received during her stay in Minneapolis.
“All my friends, when I walked in, they thought I was a new student at first,” Abby said. “But then after I came in and they saw me, they said, ‘Abby!’ It was fun.”
Abby, who celebrated Christmas and her 10th birthday at the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis, also had another goal in mind – a trip to the Sumter County Fair where rides and plenty of junk food were high on her agenda. This past week, that goal also became a reality.
“The fair was an absolute hit,” Gina said. “Abby rode all the rides multiple times. She ate pizza, fried Oreos and cotton candy – all with no nausea, vomiting or pain.
“This is something she couldn’t do before. It is so surreal and amazing to just to see her being a kid and having fun with her friends.”
Denis said it’s been quite different since the family returned home. He said prior to the Abby’s surgery they enjoyed going out occasionally for a nice meal and maybe a movie. But that quickly became an impossibility.
“We couldn’t go anywhere,” he said. “She just was so sick.”
Gina said she heard several families in Minnesota whose children were having similar surgeries talk about going home and resuming their normal lives. She said she and Denis often wondered exactly what “normal” might be.
“We were trying to figure that out because we never had normal,” she said. “Abby was always sick and we really didn’t realize how much until now when it’s like, we’ve gone out to eat and we’ve gone to the beach. It’s just amazing to understand that you can do these things because we just couldn’t before.”
Scher, who serves as a volunteer at Abby’s school and is a member of the charity-oriented Gilchrist West Social Club, has done many things to help the Lacayo family. She encouraged people to send cards and letters to Abby, started a GoFundMe account to help offset some of the enormous expenses the Lacayos are facing and stayed in constant contact with Gina throughout the entire trip to Minnesota.
Last week, when Scher finally saw Abby for the first time since the surgery, she couldn’t stop hugging the little girl whom she considers a member of her own family.
“I’m so excited to see her,” Scher said. “She’s a special little girl and I’ll be close to Abby for the rest of my life. Her family is amazing. I’ve been with them every step of the way and I was truly concerned.”
Scher, who also worked diligently in many other ways to help the family, said she couldn’t go anywhere without somebody asking about Abby.
“All the Villagers and the people in the surrounding communities were all rooting for Team Abby,” she said. “She was a story that people were following and everybody really cared about her.”
Gina broke down in tears as she tried to explain what Scher has meant to her family. She recalled one specific day this past April when Abby was in the hospital for a month and she and Denis had no idea how they were going to handle all of the expenses that were coming at them.
“When she reached out to me and she wanted to help, I was like, ‘OK, maybe they’ll help a little bit.’ I really still thought, ‘This isn’t going to get me where I need to be,’” Gina said. But I had no idea of the support and the outreach that people would give to get us to where we had to be. We would have never been able to get there without the help,” Gina added, citing the many things Scher took care of and the assistance that came from the Amigos Sports Club of The Villages.
Scher said the outpouring of love and support from those who reached out to her was nothing short of amazing.
“I was blown away,” she said. “I learned how wonderful humanity is. It was a wonderful experience to how good-hearted people are and how a community comes together when they’re needed.”
Going forward, Gina said she and Denis are extremely excited for the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead for Abby. She said they’re both looking forward to watching her make up for lost time and enjoy life the way a kid deserves to enjoy it.
“It’s crazy how far she has come in such a short time after being so sick,” Gina said. “I really can’t wait to see what this new life has in store for us.”
