![]() Minneapolis, MN
Abigail's Story by: Todd and Julie Buckner Abigail Patricia Buckner was born on September 16, 2006. She was our third child and second girl. We were so very excited to expand our family and she fit right in from the start. Abby was a healthy child. She had a few small issues with constant constipation. Also she was hyperflexible and needed physical therapy to help her walk, but she was walking and running by 16 months just like all of the other kids. Besides those minor things, she was your typical 2 ½ year old. On Friday February 20th, 2009, Abigail did not seem to be feeling well and she vomited, just once. She had no fever and ran around and played just fine after. Saturday she vomited again and she seemed a little weaker, but still drank, ate okay, and played. Sunday she became very ill. She became sleepier and sleepier as the day went on and could not keep anything in her stomach. We thought she had a nasty stomach virus! We gave her pedialyte in small doses and let her rest. I called our pediatrician Monday morning first thing and went in that morning. At this point she was sleeping all of the time and could not wake up and was extremely pale. I knew something was very wrong, but the thought that she was dying never once crossed my mind. Our pediatrician sent us to Children’s hospital in Minneapolis and told us to go there right away – he wanted testing done to see what was going on. I got to the ER and checked in and was told to sit and wait. There was another mother there with her son who had a broken leg and got upset when she thought we were getting in before her son! I was called up to the registration desk after about 10 minutes and a nurse walked by. She stopped and told the person taking all of my info to stop immediately, that she wanted Abby back in triage right now! I was so relieved. They got her back there and she would wake up every once in a while and her eyes would search for me and then she would find me and then would fall asleep again. They started an IV with fluids and I knew after 30 minutes and she was not perking up that dehydration was not the issue. Every time they tried to stick her with a needle she would bleed more than she should have. They asked me if she had a problem with clotting and I said No. Todd was in Florida for a work meeting. A different nurse came in and asked me if there was a way I could call my husband and have him come home right away. I asked Why. They then told me that Abigail was a very sick girl and had a very serious blood disease, but that was all they knew at the time. They admitted her to the intensive care unit and things kind of went downhill from there. They had no idea what was causing her problems, but could tell that she was either not producing blood or destroying it once it was produced. But - she also had no clotting capabilities either. They had to get the blood under control. They also found out that her liver functions were pretty much nonexistent and did not know why either. So, Abigail was put in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. |
www.abigailbucknerfoundation.org |
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/abigailbuckner jbuckner@lifetouch.com www.abigailbucknerfoundation.org If you would like to make a donation in Abigail's honor and memory, please do so by donating here. Abigail's family will be notified of your generous donation and they thank you for your support! |
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