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OCTOBER 11,2009
PERSONIFIED
Dour a go-getter karate and life
TIM JOHNSON
Staff Writer
tjohnson @nonpareilonline.co'm
(7121 325-5750
G
abby Dour - appropriately pro-
nounced "doer" - is a go-getter.
Gabby, 9, of Council Bluffs is in
the Talented and GiRed program at
Lewis and Clark Elementary School,
where she attends third grade. Her
favorite subject is math.
"She's a very good student with lots
of friends," said her mother, Susan.
"She dtd very well on her (Iowa Test
of Basic Skills) last year," her first stan-
dardized test, said her father, Stephen.
ARer only 1 112 years of karate
classes, Gabby earned a brown belt on
Aug. 6 and is looking forward to getting
her black belt in January, she said. She
is also training to become a karate
instructor.
"It's by invitation only, and she was
asked to join that class to become an
instructor," Steve said.
Before she got interested in karate,
she took dance lessons for four years
and played soccer for a year.
As much courage as Gabby shows on
the mat, she shows even more facing
the battles of her life. She suffers from
two rare disorders, lymphangioma and
histiocytosis X, Steve said.
Cystic lymphangioma is a rare,
benign congenital disorder in which a
blockage in the lymphatic system
causes fluid to build up in bubbles
underneath the skin. This gave her a
large cyst that went into her cheeks,
tongue and chest. Histiocytosis X, also Gabby Dour of Council Bluffs thrusts her out?''
known as Langerhans cell histiocytosis, weapons forward during an exercise in karate
is a cancer-like condition in whch extra class.
immune cells form tumors, an explana-
tion from the National Institutes of Health states. The disorder
affects many organs and can be fatal.
Gabby has had nine surgeries - the first when she was only 2
days old, Susan said.
'The doctors told us she may never speak, so we started her on
sign language; but speaking is not a problem with this child," Steve little raindrop worthwhile."
said.
She had a year of chemotherapy for the histiocytosis, then devel- and niece, 2.
in
oped diabetes insipidus, a complication,
and had more chemo.
1 But Gabby doesn't let it stop her.
"She knows evervone's the same on
the inside," Susan said.
And activities like karate give her
more confidence, Gabby said.
The family traveled to Disneyland
in 2003 aRer Gabby's wish was granted
by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of
Iowa, Southwest Iowa Area Committee.
Make-A-Wish is now her favorite char-
ity. She has appeared in a Make-A-
Wish fashion show and just last Satur-
day, Oct. 3, participated in Walk for a
Wish.
Gabby said she still gets nervous
about having surgery.
"I'm used to it, and it's still scary,"
she said.
In her most recent operation, per-
fonned Aug. 26 in St. Louis, a surgeon
removed a cyst the size of a baseball
and an enlarged salivary gland from
the left, side of her cheek, Steve said.
The doctor was also able to remove a
central line port and a G-button for her
medications because of a tongue reduc-
tion operation she had two years ago.
She was in the hospital for 2 112
months.
She may have surgery again in a
few months to remove some tissue
&om her right cheek, he said. The fam-
ily needs to consult with her physician
before making a decision on that.
'We're looking at possibly within a
year getting the (tracheotomy tube)
out," Steve said. "And what do you
staff photo*im Johnson want to do when you get the trach
"Swim with the dolphins," Gabby
said.
"And we will make it happen," Susan
said.
"Swimming is something she stays away from - can't really do
now - unless we keep her (head and neck) above water," Steve said.
As her parents said on a Web site, 'Yes, we have had to endure
quite a few storms thus far; but our little rainbow has made every
Gabby has two older brothers, ages 30 and 26, and a nephew, 7,