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A broken heart
An unbreakable spirit
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Abbey May was Born on the 20th of May 2008
in Hollis St. Hospital, Dublin
To Mum & Dad -Jacqui Gray & Tony May.
Abbey is a baby sister to Big brother Caolan Gray &
Big sister Shauna Gray. Abbey is also a Grand-Daughter, a Cousin & a Niece.
Abbey was born with congenital heart defects that were detected in pregnancy.
Before Abbey was born we were told by the doctors she had a very serious complex heart condition and may not live, so far Abbey has proved them all wrong, words her own cardiologist used.
Abbey has a rare complex heart condition called Heterotaxy or also known as Right Atrial Isomerism, which means her internal organs are reversed, her heart isnt where it should be, her liver is midline and her
stomach is on the wrong side.
Abbey is also missing a spleen - a cardiac condition called asplenia syndrome.
To add to all her heart problems her heart has a ventricular septal defect
(very large hole) in the middle of her heart which cannot be repaired. She also has pulmonary attresia and a double outlet right ventricle
Before treatment, oxygen poor blood mixed with oxygeneated blood causing cyanosis (blueness), Abbey is on antibiotics and asprin daily to prevent infection and keep her blood thin to prevent the shunts from blockage.
There is no cure for Abbeys condition but a three stage palliative
treatment commonly performed.
Three days after birth, Abbey had the first of these surgeries a BT shunt,
at ten months she had her second open heart surgery called a Glenn procedure, in early 2011 she will have the third of her open heart surgery called a Fontan.
There are no known cases of living people with Abbeys condition above the age of 30-40yrs world wide.
However, every Heterotaxy patient is different, with different symptoms.
Abbey attends Our Ladys Hospital For Sick Children in Crumlin,
we have nothing but praise for what they have done for Abbey,
They have saved our little girls life and for this we are truely grateful
and can never thank them enough.
Abbey is under the care of her surgeon Professor Mark Redmond, her cardiologist Dr Colin mc Mahon and Clinical Nurse specialist Kathleen Crumlish
Unfortunately after Abbey has the third part of her three stage surgery there is nothing more that can be done and we are told she has a life expectancy to her late teens, as parents obviously this is devestating to hear it's something that we live with every day, we asked if it was possible for Abbey to have a heart transplant should she need it in the future and were told, no, due to her having no spleen (cannot fight infections).
After months of online research we discovered that Abbey can receive further treatment in other parts of the world, where they can save our little girls' life and so we want to take Abbey to Toronto, Canada.
Canada have a world leading hospital for cardiac patients there is also another such hospital in Texas and philadelphia- there are more options for Abbey in these hospitals and we do know that she will need further surgeries.
It is for this reason that we have to take our little girl to Canada to give her the best chance possable for a long and happy life. This is all about options for Abbey. Being told she Abbey has a life expectancy to her late teens and theres nothing more they can do for her here isnt something we as parents are willing to accept.we are looking for options for Abbey, like any parent would and we do know there are options for her.
The hospital for sick kids in Toronto is one of the leading cardiac hospitals in the world and they are years ahead of Ireland on what they have to offer, we as parents want so many options for our children in life, a long, healthy and happy life is the only option we are looking for Abbey.
At present Abbey is doing very well, she's a bright child full of energy and very loving, she like stories, building bricks, loves flowers or rather taking the heads off them, playing with sand and water and loves saying her ABC'S, loves to pull the toilet rolls apart and see how far they stretch, likes to put her artistic stamp on the walls should she manage to get hold of a pen or anything that writes, our Abbey is just like any other little girl who loves to get up to mischief when possible.
To look at our little Girl you would not know she has such a complex heart condition unless you were told, as her parents we see the signs every day, she gets a little blue in colour where you can see her veins more so than children without a heart condition, she gets tired very quickly and has to rest up.
Abbeys feeding is poor and so we feed her a little and often throughout the day as this is hard work for children with heart conditions, we dont think about eating we just eat, like most things we take it for granted, but for Abbey this is work and she gets tired quickly, she will not be able to attend school like every other little girl or boy as she may pick up infections , the common cold is enough to give Abbey Pneumonia due to her Asplenia.
Abbey is an amazing 2 year old that has been through more in 2 years than most of us have been in a lifetime and she has shown great courage through all her blood tests, mri scans, xrays, doctors examinations, surgery and so much more. As her Mam I have admired many people in my time for different reasons, but none more than I admire this little 2 year old with everthing she has gone through, and will go through in her lifetime.
As a family and her parents,we are all so very proud of Abbey and we know she has a long journey ahead of her.
We are now fundraising to enable us to take Abbey to Canada and be able to give her the best treatment she can get.
We hope you can help us in some way, no matter how small. There will be fundraising events held throughout the year like Fun walks, Golf classics, Fashion shows, Music gigs, Quiz nights etc these will be posted up on the Fundraising page, if you would like to help in any way we would be very gratefull.
Abbey deserves a chance to live a long and happy life.
Please help us to give her that in any way you can.
Thank you sincerely.
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