Day 1
December 1, 2004
The day our world came crashing down.
A few weeks ago Shelby was taken to the hospital with abdominal cramps. They brushed it off as her menstrual cycle acting up. The Doctor said if the pain continued to bring her to the pediatrician. Well the pain did not stop. Shelby complained that when she laughed or coughed it hurt in her stomach. She also said the she would often feel full when eating a small amount of food. Charlene decided that it was time to get her to Dr. Budnick, her doctor.
Dr. Budnick ordered an MRI immediately. After they left the MRI office and went home, the phone was ringing as they came thought the door.
Dr. Budnick was on the phone and told Charlene "Shelby has a "mass" in her stomach, take her to Children's Hospital (in Philadelphia)."
I came home from work and we packed up the truck and heading up the Expressway. It was about 9:00 pm when we checked into the CHOP Emergency Room. We then went to an exmine room. Within minutes we were greeting by teams of Doctors and nurses. Some of the best doctors and nurses in this country.
This is when we got the news nobody ever wants to hear. Shelby has a large mass "a tumor" in her abdimon. Your mind starts to go crazy. Hundreds of questions rush through your brain. Most importantly "Why Her?" The most inocent little angel in the world. This can't be happening.
What will stay with me to my last day is I was outside of her exam room. I had to leave to try and gain my composure (again) and there was a bunch of doctors in the room talking with her. I peeked through the glass wall and Shelby was laying there. She noticed me and glanced at me, she gave me a great big smile. That vision was priceless. It was so typical of her. I walked away and broke down crying again. I call her father and told him he needs to come to the hospital right away. Shannon and Bart headed up.
We (Shelby included) had a meeting with Dr. Flake. Dr. Flake is a surgeon. And in my eyes Shelby's Guardian Angel. Dr. Flake told us that she has a tumor above her uterous and needs to be removed as soon as possible. Shelby would be admitted and surgery was scheduled for the morning. Shelby was admitted to the Oncology ward of CHOP. All child cancer patients. Charlene slept by her side and I slept in the truck. Bart and Shannon returned home to take care of Justin and make arrangements with school as well as other things.
We all cried ourselves to sleep.
This has to be termed - A Bad Day !
Day 2
Surgery Day - December 2, 2004
Why does this little girl have to go through this?
Shelby was still being a trooper. Her spirit unaffected. What else would you expect from this angel.
The nurse came into the room and told us “they will be here in 15 minutes to take you to surgery”. Shelby remained calm. We were frantic because Bart and Shannon would not have time to get here to wish her well. Charlene called Bart and explained a surgery room opened and they are taking her in. They were in route but would not make it in time.
She was taken down to Pre-Op and explained about the anesthesia and its effects. Shelby remained brave. We gave her a kiss and they took her away. Again we cried.
Shelby was in surgery for about three hours. They kept us updated and told us she was doing fine. No problems!
Dr. Flake came out after the surgery to brief us. We were all so optimistic. That would change when he told us the tumor burst and smaller parts of the tumor had spread. He was not able to get the entire tumor out. This meant it was definitely malignant and not benign. This news was dreadful. The only good news of the day was – her uterus and ovaries are 100% intact.
He explained he removed 90% of the tumor and described it’s size as about the shape of a loaf of bread. The other 10% would have be attacked with treatment.
We will have to wait till early next week for the pathology reports, a full diagnosis and a treatment plan. This seems like a lifetime!
Bart was there in Post-Op when she woke up. A nurse started to cry and that made Bart cry. He regained his composure, and escorted her out to us. We all went back to the room with her. She was drowsy but in good spirits. Most of all she looked good.
Shelby slept through the night and we cried ourselves to sleep.
Why this little girl?
A Bad Day -
Day 3
Recovery Day - December 3, 2004
This is Shelby's first full day of recovery. She is hooked up to a monitor that reads her oxygen rate and breathes per minute. She has an IV line in and has an epidural. The epidural is too numb her lower half and lessen the pain.
Shelby is in good spirits but a little drowsy and quiet. She does not want to do anything but watch TV.
They have 2 tests scheduled for her today. The Bone Density Test and a Chest Scan.
First was the Bone Density Test in the morning. They asked Shelby if she could move herself over onto the stretcher. Being the person who always is trying to please everyone she tried. It was not a good idea, once she got into place her face turned very red and some tears started flowing. She was in a lot of pain but was trying to keep it in.
She returned to the room and waited for the next test. When it came time for this test we let the nurses transfer Shelby onto the strechter. This went much better - until the idiots in the bone scan man handled her and twisted her around putting her in extreme pain.
At the end of the day Shelby was eating jello and drinking some water and starting to get into the swing of things. Justin came up to visit his big sister.
Both test results came back 100%. Finally some good news.
All in All this was a GOOD DAY !
Day 4
December 4, 2004
Visiting Day
Shelby 's Dad (Bart) slept by her side this night. Shelby's Mom (Charlene) went home for some much needed rest. We all thought Charlene was tired, exhausted and stressed out and needed a break.
But let’s talk about Shelby! Day 4 and she is still holding up like a CHAMPION! If you were to talk to her you would not know there were any problems. All of our phones are now ringing off the hook as word is spreading.
Shelby's first visitor of the day is Grand mom Bobbie. Then came Grand pop Burt and Aunt Dawn. They all had some quality family time with Shelby before the friends started showing up. Lori Mancinelli arrived with daughter (and close friend) Victoria and close friend Leigh. They brought a mini Christmas tree to give the room and festive feel.
Let me talk about the room for a bit. I hope I can describe it to you. Shelby was placed in the Bone Marrow Transplant wing. She is NOT a transplant candidate but placed there because of limited space. She has a private room - complete with a private bathroom, shower and tub. She has a TV with a Playstation 2 game console. How Cool! Justin loved it more than Shelby. The room itself was very modern and colorful - more like a nice hotel room with an adjustable bed!
Shelby's room quickly filled with flowers and balloons. When she was returning from surgery the first thing she noticed when they brought her into the room was two baskets of flowers (thank you Kimmy, Maggie and Colleen).
We tried to make her room more personal and placed some photographs in the room. We also taped her "Get Well" cards up so Shelby could see them. The bottom of her bed was filled with stuffed animals from both Dad and Mom's house.
Victoria and Leigh brought Shelby some new jammies for her AND the "Build a Bear". The "Build a Bear" was quickly changed into the new jammies and slept with Shelby.
Probably the biggest news of this day - solid foods. Yes Shelby's diet was changed from the "clear foods" to a regular diet. She had - brace yourself - a salad and pudding.
Mom slept ay Shelby's side tonight. Goodnight sweetheart!
Today WAS a Good Day ! 
Day 6
December 6, 2004
Coming Home Day
I will update this page tonight. But wanted everyone to know Shelby is on her way home as I am writing this.
We are going to turn the ringers on the phones off so Shelby can have a little quiet time, but please leave her a message in the guest book.
I am also going to see if I can get her to start "blogging".
Shelby is extremely excited about the website and more excited about all of the messages left in the Guestbook. She has not been able to read them yet, but we have been just updating her. This truly has kept her spirits up - THANK YOU ALL!
I have loaded 2 pictures for you to see. She looks great!
Day Seven
Shelby slept well through the night. She did have a little fever, which was gone when she awoke. When she woke up she had a little bit to eat. She was concerned with getting to the website to read some of the Guestbook entries. To all of our amazement she had over 60 entries in the guestbook, and over 500 hits to the website.
ALL of us are extremely touched by this. People from all of the country all logging onto the website to read about Shelby and her progress. Her teachers have sent words of encouragement and many friends from the Police Department have as well. Friends and family of Bart and Shannon's have signed the guestbook. Some from as far away as Nevada - Shelby thought that was the coolest! This is very humbling to say the least, to know that so many people care and love her. Many of you have told us "she is in our prayers". And that means so much for her recovery. God has truly blessed us with her presence! We all feel that Shelby will beat this, and go on to help other young boys and girls to be strong like her and beat their illness as well.
I was not sure how this web site thing was going to work out - but I am now convinced it is a POSITIVE thing. We wanted to use it as a form of communication, but it has served as much more! We are very grateful to all of you.
After she read her guestbook entries she started her "Blog". Please log on and read those, those will be a daily comment from Shelby in her own words.
We spoke to Dr. Tammy Kang today. She is one of Shelby's many Doctor's. She is an Oncology Specialist and has been extremely helpful. She did not have much information for us today, other than they now are telling us that the tumor may NOT have been from the Uterus. So we are back to square one as far as not having any information to process. We have a meeting on Monday where we should receive some information and test results. Shelby may start treatment at that time so she can re-cooperate before Christmas.
Shelby is napping right now (6 PM). She was in a little pain earlier but her spirit is excellent. There was some talk about her returning to school soon but she is not quite ready for that yet. We will take it one day at a time letting her save her energy, her healing is the most important thing right now. She has accepted her illness well, and says she will do whatever is necessary to get back to 100%. That’s our girl - how can you not be inspired by her. We are all in this fight together!