LIMA — Abby has struggled with her health her whole life, but with two kids and a new diagnosis, the past year has proven especially difficult.
Abby was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a baby and, more recently, chronic kidney disease. She said she is often in a lot of pain all over her body and can get very tired easily, making it difficult to care for her daughters, Dazz, 5, and Egypt, 17.
Abby said she can become very weak at times and her immune system isn’t strong enought to fight off common infections. She said she can’t be around sick people and this isolation can be difficult.
“Basically just being the average mom as far as like, if I’m hurting real bad, I wouldn’t be able to do certain things for myself, like my daughter (Egypt) will have to,” Abby said.
Abby said her chronic kidney disease diagnosis came in October 2021, right after her mother died from COVID-19. She said her mother supported her when she was in and out of the hospital, caring for her kids and helping out in any way she could.
Abby said this responsibility falls on her 17-year-old now, which she knows can be hard for her. She said Egypt works to provide as much as she can for the family in addition to disability benefits, as her mother is too sick to keep a job.
Abby’s is one of the many families who will be profiled between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day this year with the Adopt A Stocking program, run through the Salvation Army in partnership with The Lima News. Donations to the program help bring a better holiday to the families featured in these stories.
The program raised $2,146 so far this year, through Friday. Last year, it raised $10,180 to help the families profiled in 2021, not to mention a variety of individual items donated to particular families to help meet their needs. Participating families are normally referred to with pseudonyms to protect their identities.
Abby said she recently became so inundated with hospital bills that her electricity was turned off and Egypt had to pawn a Playstation to get it turned back on. She said her doctors are in Dayton, so she travels quite frequently away from her kids.
“I get food stamps, but sometimes my kids won’t be able to make it to the grocery store, so I will have to leave money (while in Dayton) in case they need to order something to eat,”Abby said. “Living off of social security is — I’m getting by, but this is not enough.”
Abby said she was in the hospital around Thanksgiving, but she checked herself out against doctor’s orders so she could spend the holiday with her kids. She said Dazz’s birthday was shortly before Thanksgiving and she knows she was disappointed that she couldn’t have a party with her friends.
Abby said she instead took Dazz bowling, ordered pizza and let her play in the arcade. Egypt’s birthday is right before Christmas, which will make buying her gifts that much more difficult.
Abby said her hope for Christmas this year is to spend it with her kids at home instead of in the hospital. She wants to have a nice meal and to see her kids excited to open up presents on Christmas morning.
Dazz is a big Frozen fan and she loves Elsa, so any kinds of toys from those movies would make great presents. Abby said her daughter also loves Squishmallows toys and slime.
She said Egypt would appreciate perfumes and hair accessories, like scrunchies and headbands.
The girls could use warm winter clothes, like sweatsuits, socks, sweaters, coats and underwear. Abby said Egypt wears an XL in tops and bottoms, and Dazz wears a 5T.
Abby said the family would also benefit from household items like toilet paper, cleaning supplies and other basic necessities.
Abby said because of her struggles, she realizes more than ever before that family is the most important thing in life.
“Take one day at a time and just love on your family members, because you never know [what could happen],” Abby said.
The Adopt a Stocking Fund benefits families during the holiday season. Monetary donations can be given online at give.salvationarmy.org/stocking or via Adopt A Stocking; c/o The Salvation Army; P.O. Box 234, Lima, OH 45801. All material donations for a specific family should be dropped off at the Salvation Army, 614 E. Market St., Lima, and should include a copy of the article or the date the story appeared in The Lima News. See past stories at LimaOhio.com/tag/stocking.
