May 16, 2013 4 min read

Gabby Holtz never complained about losing her hair.

But now that she’s back in school, she sometimes comes home in tears.

“It bothers her more now,” her mom, Lori Holtz, said. “In school, she sees girls with ponytails. She’ll come home and cry. She wants long hair.”

Lori and her husband, Larry, certainly can understand their daughter’s emotional outbursts, and, quite frankly, she’s entitled to them.

After all, Gabby never complained during months of chemotherapy, surgery and nearly six weeks of daily radiation treatments after she was diagnosed in July 2011, just three weeks before her sixth birthday, with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that affects soft muscle tissue.

“She was a real trouper. She made it easier,” Lori said. “The nurses would come in to remove the tape from her port, but she said she’d take it off herself.”

Gabby returns to Children’s Hospital every three months for CT scans, and she has a checkup with her oncologist in June.

However, she is cancer-free, and she has been selected by the American Cancer Society to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Relay for Life of Chartiers-Houston and walk the survivors’ lap. The event will begin at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at Allison Park Elementary School in Houston, with a full slate of activities planned until the closing ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Gabby was diagnosed with cancer about 10 days after she began to complain of stomach pains. The Holtzes thought the pain might be caused by chronic constipation problems that had plagued Gabby since was an infant. Her pediatrician said she probably had a virus.

It wasn’t until Gabby began to vomit red liquid shortly after Larry dropped her off at her grandmother’s house one morning that the family became somewhat alarmed. Lori’s mother couldn’t tell if it was blood, but she insisted her daughter make an appointment with Gabby’s pediatrician that day.

“When she lay flat on the table, a hard mass protruded beside her belly button,” Lori said.

That’s when the whirlwind of medical tests and treatments began.

Gabby immediately went to Beaver Medical Center, near the family’s Oakdale home, for further testing, and the next day she had a CT scan in Sewickley. “There was no waiting. They told us to go to Children’s Hospital as soon as possible,” Lori said.

It was in the emergency room at Children’s where the oncology fellow started talking about a malignant tumor, and five days later, after a series of biopsies, the diagnosis was confirmed.

The tumor had originated “deep in the trunk area,” according to Lori, and by the time it was discovered, it was the size of a softball. It was too large to immediately remove.

However, the tumor responded well to chemotherapy, and in October 2011, Gabby had surgery.

Thoughout the whole ordeal, Gabby never experienced any major complications. She had multiple blood transfusions, and she made several trips to the emergency room after developing fevers. Othewise, the family feels very fortunate.

“They can’t explain why a tumor that big was no threat to the kidneys,” Lori said.

The chemotherapy drugs, however, have had a few adverse side effects. They weakened one of her legs, destroyed one ovary and compromised the other.

Still, Lori marvels at her daughter’s resilience.

“She’s been amazing. She always wanted to know what was going on,” Lori said, and as long as Lori thought Gabby could understand, she was involved in discussions about her medical condition.

Even when the radiologist talked about infertility, Gabby said, “Why can’t I have a baby? I can adopt.”

Gabby, the eldest of the Holtzes’ three daughters, has resumed many of her activities after being homeschooled during her treatment. She’s involved in gymnastics and cheerleading, and she recently celebrated her first Holy Communion.

“She’s a lively 7-year-old,” Lori said. “She’s my little hero.”