Jacksonville, Fl — Throughout this 20th anniversary at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, WOKV is spotlighting the journey of patients with Chime Stories every Friday.
21-year-old Abby Young lives in Orlando and is a student at UCF.
Her cancer journey began in kindergarten when her mom witnessed Abby being dizzy, and she knew something was wrong.
Abby was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor on her pituitary gland.
The treatment plan became clear due to her age.
“With the other risks associated with different treatment plans they felt as though proton was going to be the best for us,” she said.
Abby started treatment early in 2011 at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, which meant a lot of travel for her family.
During treatment weeks they would stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Abby fondly recalls the play room and all of the friends she met.
Her first treatment was scary, as she recalled having her face fully strapped down. She remembered an immense pain in the back of her neck.
At the time she was the youngest child to undergo proton therapy unsedated.
She wore a mask to hold her head still and, after 15 years, still has it with her.
“It’s essentially a very hard plastic and on the top they have marks of where they wanted to hit, she said.
Abby did around 6 weeks of treatment and distinctly remembers her final appointment was full of celebration with a party, gifts, cake, and lots of her friends from the Ronald McDonald House.
One thing was missing. The prominent chime in the main lobby, called Aud’s Chime, hadn’t been installed.
So at her ten-year check-in, Abby got to ring it.
“It was honestly incredible. I remember it being huge when I looked up. I wasn’t expecting it to be as big as it was. And it was just hearing it was so cool, people around cheering and I’m like this is truly so momentous,” she recalled.
Now 15 years later, Abby has semi-annual checks and so far she’s hearing great news.
She’s studying children’s psychology and targeting Child Life Services at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute.
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