Abrielle Neff Foundation: April 2012

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Give The Gift Of Life

April is National Donate Life Month.

I know many of you have heard our story of donation, but it is something we feel strongly about. I had always made it known that I wanted to be an organ donor if anything should happen to me. I had my license signed and told family my wishes. I just never imagined it would be a decision I would be making for my 3 year old instead. No one likes to think about their own death, much less that of their own child, but for us it was the easiest decision of the day. As soon as I arrived at CMH, a representative from Midwest Transplant Network was there to begin the process of sharing our daughter's life with others. As she went through the list of what organs and tissues we would be willing to give, marking yes beside each one for us, I paused at the corneas. Her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes. That one was difficult, but we said yes hoping they would allow someone else to see the world the way she did. It was soon after the papers were finished that it was shared with us they knew where her liver would be going. It was going to bring new life to a little two year old boy in the same hospital. It was a moment of happiness knowing she was going to be helping another child. It was the next day that we received a phone call telling us Abby's kidneys were able to bring new life to a woman in her 30s. We had hoped that more organs would be able to be used, but due to the clotting agents and medications, the others were not. Organ donation has been the bright spots in the tragedy of losing our little girl. We hope that everyone will think about becoming a donor, a hero, and save lives.

Here is a link to other families stories on donation
http://www.mwtn.org/families/donor-stories

And a link to stories of recipients
http://www.mwtn.org/recipients/mtn-recipient-stories

Baby Steps

It seems strange to say that there are moments when I feel like I am finally beginning to heal because I honestly did not think it would ever happen. I never thought I could have times when the tears would dry up and I could just enjoy being a Mom to my other two girls, but I have experienced a few. I noticed that since Elly had reached age 4 and is approaching age 5, I had started grieving the things I have not gotten to experience with Abby.  It was difficult filling out the Kindergarten papers knowing I never got to send Abrielle, but I kept the tears hidden. It was hard taking Elly to get her ears pierced knowing that Abby never was able to and with the memories of Mady having hers filling my head. (Abby kept trying to escape that day while my focus was on her big sister. She had other things she wanted to go see and do.) But there were no tears from me.

We finally let Mady have a slumber party for her birthday again which had not been done since she turned 6 in Kindergarten. It was her last birthday with her sister here. This year it was Elly running around trying to be a big girl instead of Abby. We even did some of the same things ~ roasting marshmallows and making smores in the fire. But there were no tears, just talks about the memories of the last time while we watched all the girls enjoy the night.

Last weekend was dance recital and this was the first time I made it through the entire day without any tears.  Abby was in my thoughts as I helped Elly prepare for her dances and as I watched all the little girls on stage, but no tears, just memories.

I really hope this is a healing trend and that I can begin to experience more things without the tears. I know the memories will always be there but hopefully I can squelch the tears a little more often now.

Our Story...

Abrielle came into this world in a hurry to get started, which gave us our first glimpse at her personality. Not waiting on Dr Jane to put on gloves, only a towel to catch her with, she weighed in at six pounds fifteen ounces. From the beginning Abby had reflux, but there seemed to more than just that as she failed to gain weight. At four months we were sent to draw all kinds of labs, hoping for a solution, but all was normal. By six months of age, the vomiting became worse, almost nightly. We were keeping records of every calorie she ate, every dirty diaper, and every time she vomited. By this time Abby was refusing to eat supper most nights and would throw up her undigested lunch after bathtime at 8:00. Her food was just sitting in her tummy all day. Dr Watson sent us to Omaha Childrens Hospital to Dr Zapata a pediatric gastroenterologist to help diagnois the problem. There, over the next year and a half of her life, Abby underwent testing, treatments, and outpatient procedures. During every procedure she was given a stuffed animal to hold for comfort, even though she had Blankie with her.
To make a long story short, after the accident we discovered St Francis Hospital did not have a program like this for kids and Abby's Hugs was born.

That Tragic Day...

Thursday, March 29, 2007, began like any other school day in our household with the only exception being that it was Abby's sharing day at preschool. We had a rule that if the sharing item was not picked out the night before (which it usually wasn't), Abby had to be ready for school before she could find something to take. This morning was just like most ... nothing was picked out the night before. She hurried faster than usual that way she would have time to find something. After brushing her teeth, she ran to her room to find some clothes. I always tried to give Abby choices, but she was down to her last clean pair of capris. I gave her the option of wearing those, a pair of Gymboree Fruit Punch capris with a bright yellow shirt or jeans and a purple kitty shirt. She decided on the capri outfit which she had actually rejected every other day that week. After getting dressed, she went into Sissy's room and was playing with her LeapPad when I found her. I asked her how she wanted her hair fixed and she said "little pony". (Not that she was going to leave it in anyway) I helped her onto the sink and she dug through her basket of hair things until she found a yellow one. We went into the living room so I could sit down to brush her hair. Since sitting on my lap was now impossible, Abby stood in front of me as I pulled her hair up with the little yellow hair tie. She ran to her room and began looking for something to bring for sharing. She came out with her Little People's Noah's Ark set stuffed full of extra toys. Being a mean Mommy, I said, You can only bring one toy. Aww, was the response as she took the ark back to her room to look for something else. I went on about my routine of making my lunch and everything else to be ready to leave for work. Mady and I headed out to the Expedition and Abby was not following behind. I went back inside to find her and Marc on their way from her room with her big "bobbycat" (bobcat skidloader) for sharing. They had been looking for the scoop that attaches to the front but ran out of time. They decided that just the bobbycat would work. Marc helped buckle Abby in her car seat. Because she was so small we still used the 5-point harness and not just the seatbelt so she required some help. As we left the house, Marc pulled out ahead of the girls and I onto the gravel road. Just around the first set of curves past our house, I slowed down so we could watch the turkeys fly across the road. I am not sure if Abby saw them or not, but she said she did. We continued on, oblivious to our fate that lie ahead.

last added to 10/29 ...this I will add to as I am able ...thanks for understanding.

The Sentence

On June 25, 2008, Ryan C Sundermann was sentenced to 6 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Sundermann wrecklessly caused the death of Abrielle Neff in a motor vehicle collision on March 29, 2007. Sundermann was charged with failing to maintain proper control of his vehicle, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway and operated a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol.
Sundermann was previously convicted of Driving While Intoxicated and Failure to Drive on the Right Half of the Roadway on April 25, 2006 and sentenced to 2 years probation, 12 days in jail, and a $300 fine. On December 19, 2006, Sundermann was again convicted of Excessive Blood Alcohol Content-Prior Offender which he received a Suspended Execution of Sentence of 180 days, was continued on 2 years probation and received a fine.