Windber girl recovering from scary bout with flu

By RANDY GRIFFITH

WINDBER — Snuggling up beside her father in the family living room, 6-year-old Abby Bush grins and giggles about baby dolls and Hannah Montana like any first-grader looking forward to Christmas.

Her energy and good humor belie the fact it is her first day home after nearly two months in Pittsburgh medical centers, much of it fighting for her life.

The daughter of Kim and Ron Bush of Paint Township was among the alarming minority of suspected H1N1 flu patients who developed serious complications.

After coming down with a fever on Oct. 12, the Windber elementary student developed breathing difficulty and was transported by medical helicopter Oct. 14 to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

She soon developed pneumonia in both lungs, spent more than two weeks on a ventilator in the intensive care unit and underwent several operations. She was sedated most of the time and had periods of unconsciousness.

On Nov. 3, she was moved from Children’s Hospital to The Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh to begin rehabilitation.

“She was really weak after she came to,” Kim Bush said. “She couldn’t even lift her hand to her mouth.”

The weeks in rehabilitation were not pleasant, Abby said.

“The food was horrible,” she said, adding there were painful treatments.

The most painful was “that rehab thing,” Abby said.

Her mother explained she was recalling chest compressions to get her lungs working better, made more painful when applied over her still-healing surgical sites.

The young cheerleader fought in Pittsburgh to regain her strength. During that time, family, friends and the Windber School District and community became her cheerleaders, Ron Bush said. Almost-daily cards and prayer messages lifted the family.

“People have been really great,” Ron Bush said.

“That has really helped us a lot through this.”

Abby’s grandmother, Debbie Stufft of Windber, set up an online communications system through Children’s Hospital’s Care Pages service.

“It was so nice to have that to keep everybody up to date,” Kim Bush said.

“Her teacher and her classmates have been in contact with her constantly,” Ron Bush said, recalling postings by Abby’s teacher, Lori Birkhimer.

The resulting log of updates, photos and messages chronicles the family’s frightening ordeal.

“I got to see Abby on Wednesday,” Stufft wrote in October. “It did not look like my Abby. Her whole body is swelled twice her normal size. She is on many machines, and has lots of tubes coming out of her. It was not a pretty sight.”

Another entry reads, “We are at the end of Abby’s long day of therapy. She did very well today.”

Finally, there is Friday’s update: “WE’RE GOING HOME!!!!!!”

The homecoming was a celebration for the whole Bush household, where routines of daily life have been turned upside down since Abby was stricken. Kim Bush spent virtually the entire seven weeks in Pittsburgh at her daughter's side. Ron Bush continued working, driving to Pittsburgh twice during the week and bringing Abby’s brothers, Tyler and Justin, on the weekends.

Stufft helped keep the household running, but there were many challenges.

“Tyler learned to cook,” Stufft said.

He said his specialties are chicken and spaghetti,

Abby continues to recover at home, and she will return to school for half a day beginning next week. Although her physical recovery appears to be progressing well, there is some concern about cognitive and balance problems.

Doctors are unsure whether the symptoms are the result of a mild stroke, a period of oxygen-deprivation or just part of her recovery.

“Right now, they are just playing it by ear,” Kim Bush said.

Meanwhile, the family is facing huge expenses from the treatment. Although there is some insurance, the co-payment on the ICU bill alone could top $40,000.

Several community fundraisers are in the works, and there is a fund set up in Abby’s name at First National Bank in Windber.

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