Abel’s Army

Abel’s Army Raising awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy for my son Abel and all other boys affected.

We had the most amazing time at our very first Cure Duchenne conference! Lots of swimming, new friends, amazing food, th...
05/24/2026

We had the most amazing time at our very first Cure Duchenne conference! Lots of swimming, new friends, amazing food, the coolest kids room with all the gaming they could dream of, and awesome classes. We wrapped up the trip with a day at Discovery Cove. Abel and Jared swam with a dolphin and I made unwanted contact with a manta ray swimming below me 🤣

When traveling we have to bring Abel’s medication which has to be kept cool. Jared got this cooler bag a few years ago f...
05/21/2026

When traveling we have to bring Abel’s medication which has to be kept cool. Jared got this cooler bag a few years ago from donating blood and it works great because it’s red and noticeable and it goes over the handle of our bag easily. I’m always paranoid about forgetting it on the plane or in the airport. I also finally got a kit put together with his hydrocortisone tablets and injection. When you take steroids regularly you become adrenal insufficient and if you are to become ill the body is unable to cope requiring hydrocortisone tablets for minor illness and an injection in case of fractured bones or vomiting. We learned our lesson the hard way when he became very ill on our cruise last February and we had to take him to the Dr on the ship and get IV hydrocortisone. Fortunately there was a mysterious $1000 credit on our account which barely covered the cost of the visit. 🙏 I also made him a permanent bracelet with adrenal insufiency on it, so if he isn’t with us the paramedics/drs know what he needs.

The week of spring break we had our 1.5 year post Gene Therapy check up at Stanford. We are down to every 6 months for t...
04/11/2026

The week of spring break we had our 1.5 year post Gene Therapy check up at Stanford. We are down to every 6 months for the next 5 years. It was a quick trip, our new coordinator was able to get all of his appointments in 1
day! He had blood work, EKG, physical exam, and a 2 hour PT assessment. We had lunch and played games at Dave and Busters as usual. Also got our favorite, açaí bowls! Then the next week we had to head to Salt Lake and do it all again. On our way there we got a call from the Utah neurologist saying some lab results came back high from Stanford, pertaining to his heart but the numbers were so high it was probably a lab error. We redid the blood draw to be sure and thankfully all is well. We ended up spending 5 hours at the appt seeing so many specialists, PT, endocrinology, psychology, pulminology, neurology. So much info!! They took an X-ray of his hand to see what his actual bone age is and they said he has the bone size of a 7 year old (he is 9)which somewhat contributes to his smaller size. He has grown some on his new steroid and is now in the 5th percentile rather than 2nd. I suspect in a few years it will really be noticeable how much shorter he is than his friends. Like usual he was amazing for all of his drs and hammed it up the whole time. He is doing great still and we feel very fortunate with how ambulatory he still is!

We went to the award banquet for the Baker Mat Club last night. It’s always bittersweet because our family loves wrestli...
02/24/2026

We went to the award banquet for the Baker Mat Club last night. It’s always bittersweet because our family loves wrestling and Abel is not able to participate anymore. Both him and his big brother Aiden started wrestling at 4 years old. Aiden outgrew it as he grew up and I always promised Jared that Abel would be his wrestler for life, he always wanted to do whatever his dad did. It turned out he didn’t have the heart to “be mean” 🥰 and it was unsafe for him to wrestle with his condition. Regardless, Brandon has chosen to continue to support us! He has donated to Abels Army for the last 2 years. Abel got to announce the winner of the beef raffle fundraiser that the wrestlers did. I thought he would be nervous to go up there but he was all smiles and at ease next to his best buddy Brandon who he loves! Brandon has been coaching wresting for a long time and has such a passion for it. I knew since the first time I met him how much he loved wrestling. He has dedicated many years and hours to wrestling and our community and my family are fortunate to have him. Thank you for your continued support Brandon!

P.S. I don’t have a close up pic, but how sweet it is that he puts a green ribbon with Abel’s Army on the sleeve of the wresting shirts and the tournament hoodies?! We are so lucky to have his help spreading awareness 💚

Today marks 2 years since we got the dreaded call confirming that something was not right with Abel's bloodwork. His CK ...
02/04/2026

Today marks 2 years since we got the dreaded call confirming that something was not right with Abel's bloodwork. His CK (creatine kinase) level was 32,000. A healthy level is up to 250 for kids. What this means is that the muscles are very damaged. Imagine how your muscles would feel after running a marathon, it is very likely that your CK levels would be elevated at that time but eventually would return to normal. With DMD they don't return to normal, their muscles are constantly in a state of breakdown. For the next month we waited to hear back from the genetic test that was sent in to confirm which kind of Muscular Dystrophy it was. We spent the next few months feeling hopeless, sad, desperate and like we didn't want to let him out of our sight. Fast forward 2 years and things don't feel so hopeless anymore. We feel extremely blessed with how well he is doing. However, I have been telling him since he was really little that I don't want him to grow up, and it all makes sense now. Not only does him growing up signal him not being my baby boy anymore but it now brings the fear of what's next for him. He is doing really well, running, jumping, playing, laughing - always laughing. He is the same boy he was 2 years ago and for that I am grateful. We don't know if it was the gene therapy or if its the new steroid he's on, or maybe its a combo but we are very happy with his mobility and energy levels. He talks about growing up and moving out and having a wife and kids and I really hope and pray that he can experience that, because he will be the best husband and dad a person could ask for. We will continue doing all that we can do to make sure he sees and experiences as much as he can and we just know he will do it all with the biggest smile!

1 year post gene therapy check up in California this week. Grandma Sherry got to come on this trip and see first hand wh...
10/10/2025

1 year post gene therapy check up in California this week. Grandma Sherry got to come on this trip and see first hand what all our little superhero goes through. She is thoroughly impressed. Abel told me he was having a fun vacation. I told him vacations should not consist of pokes and MRIs but it was a nice break from normal life and I love his outlook💚

🗓️Monday- we headed to CA with our flight delayed before we even left Baker.
Got the news while waiting for take off that his MRI apt was canceled and the coordinator asked if we could come back next week, that was a hard no! She found a spot on Friday and asked if we could extend a day, I’m sure glad I always throw in extra underwear!
🗓️Tuesday- we enjoyed the pool since we didn’t have an appointment anymore. We also met up with another family who is getting ready to start the same trial. We really loved hanging out with them!
🗓️Wednesday- 6:30 am Cardiac MRI with IV for contrast dye.
10 am echo and EKG
12:30 physical exam
Finally lunch time and of course games and prizes at Dave and Busters- Wednesday is half price games if you didn’t know 😉
🗓️Thursday- 8:30 am blood draw
9:30 am 2 hour PT assessment
Then paperwork and consents
Abel has happily agreed to extend his time in the trial to a 5 year period of follow ups. He will go back every 6 months for 3 year and then once a year for 2 years to allow them to continue to collect data on how the gene therapy is affecting him.
🗓️Friday- 7:30 am leg MRI. This one took about 2 hours and he has to lay very still. He was very “over it” by the end. So was I, I think I took 15 mini naps sitting straight up in a plastic chair in the cold room with nothing to do! Your not allowed to take any electronics in there! The cardiac one was in the children’s hospital so they at least had movie goggles for him!

Now we sit at the airport and kill time waiting for another delayed plane home. It’s been a long week but we made the most of it and had fun!

Almost 7 years ago we took our older kids to Costa Rica, Lexi had just turned 12 and Aiden was almost 9. In just 2 month...
10/08/2025

Almost 7 years ago we took our older kids to Costa Rica, Lexi had just turned 12 and Aiden was almost 9. In just 2 months we are going to take Abel there for his 9th birthday. This was Aiden’s shirt he got when we were there. Abel is a huge nature and animal lover. He really wants to see a poison dart frog and an oselot. We are excited to try out some hot springs and explore, he is our favorite adventure buddy! Traveling and seeing the world is the best gift we can give him. Today he snuggled up to me and I told him he is a good boy and he said “your a good
Mommy, thank you for always taking good care of me and taking me places”. Not only does he make it easy to be his mom, I feel privledged to be his mom and he brings us joy and laughter each and every day 💚.

Oh also I forgot, tickets are super cheap right now, under $300 out of Boise. We were going to do Hawaii but Costa Rica was even cheaper!

10/03/2025

We had our first MD clinic in Boise on Wednesday, the morning started out a little stressful when we realized we were going to be late because not only Boise traffic but there was an accident. Fortunately after the receptionist told us we’d have to reschedule (after a 5 hour round trip drive and leaving at 5 am) a nurse saw the note and called us and told us we were fine to come still. We saw a wonderful PT who found Abel’s silly personality and dance moves as funny as we did, and explained to us what they are looking for and what they predict for future regression. Fortunately Abel is still
looking so good he didn’t have a prediction. He scored a 30 out of 34 on the North Star assessment which is what they use to assess their physical activity. He is still doing really well on stairs, running, walking and getting up off the floor 🙏. They reminded us about energy conservation, basically use your energy to play and be a kid, not to walk long distances just to get from point A to point B. We also saw a dietician and he is doing great as he is a healthy eater and loves meat and vegetables. He has not gained any weight since starting the new steroid 3 months ago which is great! He doesn’t complain about wearing his night time stretching braces which help to keep his Achilles tendon and calves stretched and loose. He had his first spinal xray to check for any curvature or sculiousis and he is looking good so far! Overall a really great check up and so nice to know that he is doing as good as he can with what he was dealt. Next week we head back to Stanford on Monday-Thursday for his 1 year follow up! Lots of tests but we get to meet a new friend while we are there!

Today marks 1 year since sweet Abel had his Gene Therapy Infusion. After the infusion we thought he might not need to be...
09/28/2025

Today marks 1 year since sweet Abel had his Gene Therapy Infusion. After the infusion we thought he might not need to be on steroids anymore but he declined slightly so we made the hard decided to put him back on. Luckily he had been on prednisone long enough that we were able to get him approved for a DMD specific steroid called Agamree. As soon as he started that we noticed so many positive changes in his energy and stamina, no mood swings or anger and so far no weight gain. He is happy, and thriving! Next week we go back to Stanford for his 1 year follow up assessment and labs. We get to meet another boy with DMD who is 10 and about to start in the same trial 💚

Tonight Abel and I watched the movie A Dogs Way Home and he is such a sweet, sensitive guy. He teared up several times but insisted he wasn’t (he literally doesn’t cry, ever). He is such an animal lover. He got worried and asked me if we have a pound here, and said he would be really sad if his Pepper had to go there.

Once again feeling incredibly blessed by our amazing community and the turn out for the 2nd annual walk for awareness fo...
09/07/2025

Once again feeling incredibly blessed by our amazing community and the turn out for the 2nd annual walk for awareness for Duchenne. I’m very thankful for everyone who pitched in and helped and showed up regardless of a little rain. To top it all off one of my friends in Vale shared the event and Abel got to meet a 9 year old boy who lives in Ontario who also has DMD. We had no idea there was another boy with DMD so close. I cried when I met them. I am so happy that they came, DMD is a terrible disease but now we know we are not alone in rural eastern Oregon.

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2119 4th
Baker City, OR
97814

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+14102311849

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