The McNett family is braced for a busy and emotional week as 11-year-old Abbie McNett goes back into chemotherapy for stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that has no cure.
Abbie’s parents, Stacie and Lou, are still processing their daughter’s diagnosis, a relapse after a period of remission, having been told that the cancer gets more aggressive each time a relapse occurs.
When the family posted the news on the Abbie’s Angels Facebook page about a week and a half ago, Stacie said, “A lot of people just came out of the woodwork,” offering donations and putting together online prayer chains.
Abbie was first diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in 2022. Patients with that form of cancer are known to relapse, but as of this past April, a tumor on one of Abbie’s legs, and another between her kidneys and lungs, had been eradicated. For a little while, the McNetts could breathe again. Stacie looked forward to going back to work as an occupational therapist, Lou said, and the family was planning a camping trip.
Then they got the news of Abbie’s relapse, detected in routine bloodwork.
Abbie was able to go to summer school this year and is planning to attend classes at the Newfane Learning Center in September. She said she likes seeing the other children, “my friends,” and really enjoyed “bubble day” and a pillow fight at summer school.
“Every day on the bus, one kid would come off and yell out, ‘Bye Abbie, bye Abbie’s mom!’ ” Stacie said.
Unfortunately, especially during flu season, Abbie may be unable to attend school.
The McNetts said they’ll take things one day at a time; any day that Abbie can be a child is greatly appreciated.
Abbie is being treated at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and these days her parents are focused on childhood cancer awareness. September is Childhood Cancer Month and Stacie and Lou are well versed in the factors against them and other families in the same predicament. Pediatric cancers only receive 6% of all research funding, according to Lou.
Stacie urged parents who have newly received a childhood cancer diagnosis to seek out the help of various organizations that were created to aid them in their time of need — even the ones that supply toiletries for families at the hospital because they are so helpful.
Even more helpful, she said, are the testimonies of other families in the same situation.
“Personally, I’ve gained more knowledge from the families that have been there and done that. Reach out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” Stacie said.