This episode is with Gabby Galarneau, cancer survivor and honored kid with St. Baldrick's Foundation. As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. In 2016, Sport Clips Haircuts proudly signed on as St. Baldrick’s’ first National Partner, committing to give more than $1 million dollars in support of childhood cancer research over the next three years. In this podcast, In this podcast, Gabby details what her life was life before, during and after her cancer treatments. She also gives us a glimpse into the impact childhood cancer research is having on the lives and quality of life for all involved. For more information, visit: www.sportclips.com/sbf
| Episode Air Date |
Guest Name |
Guest Title |
Topic(s) |
| March 15, 2019 |
Gabby Galarneau |
Survivor |
Conquering cancer and taking childhood back |
Each episode of the Podcast is also available on iTunes and the Google Play store.
Transcription:
Chad Jordan: Hey, everybody this is Chad Jordan, I'm the director of marketing, which my next guest is really thrilled about, and she just can't believe she's sitting down with the director of marketing at Sport Clips. This is what she wants to be when she grows up by the way, but in any way, we have a very special episode today. We are continuing our Haircuts with Heart series, and I'm physically sitting at the headquarters for Saint Baldrick's Foundation. And, we have a very, very special guests today who I was given a hard time. I drove four hours down here to be with her today, so she better make this a good episode. So, young lady, why don't you please introduce yourself to our listening audience. What is your name?
Gabby Galarneau: I'm Gabby Galarneau.
Chad Jordan: Gabby. And, she promised me before this podcast started that she would live up to her name Gabby, and that she would do all the talking and that people are sick of hearing me talk and they want to hear her. Gabby, how old are you?
Gabby Galarneau: I'm 14.
Chad Jordan: You're 14 years old and she is a twin. She has an annoying twin brother, and his name again is?
Gabby Galarneau: Tommy.
Chad Jordan: Tommy. And then, she's got an older brother and sister, and who are they?
Gabby Galarneau: My older sister is Hope, and then my older brother is Joey.
Chad Jordan: Her older brother is Joey. Joey, feel free to come home and do some laundry during school at San Diego State, mom says you're welcome anytime, that's just a free plug. So, let's talk to you, you are an honored kid of Saint Baldrick's and your family's an honored family. What do you think that means to be an honored kid or honored family at St. Baldrick's? Give me your understanding of that.
Gabby Galarneau: My understanding is that it means that I get to speak up for kids with cancer who can't right now or don't really put it out there as much as I would. So, my family will speak about it whenever to whoever will listen.
Chad Jordan: Why are you so special? Why did they pick you? Obviously, is it because you're prettier than everybody or smarter? Why do you think they picked you?
Gabby Galarneau: I go to a lot like anything I can that involves childhood cancer, I go to. I went to an event with Saint Baldrick's, and ... What was the thing that we went to? I don't know, we just went somewhere.
Speaker 3: One hour, one child.
Speaker 4: At one hour, one child.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, one hour, one child.
Chad Jordan: One hour, one child, what was that?
Speaker 3: Fundraising event.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: A fundraising event. So, when I first got sick, my mom started ... Well, she already had an Instagram, but then when I got sick she used it a lot to give updates about me and everything. And, a lot of people just started following my story because there's a community like we've learned that with kids who have cancer, the parents a lot, they post about their kids to give updates because a lot of families have a child with cancer, but you don't know that until you're part of the community or you have a page. So, there's a lot of pages that give updates about kids. We know a couple, so we know AJ, we've gotten to know him from Children's and-
Chad Jordan: Children's hospital and the like?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, Children's hospital.
Chad Jordan: Okay. AJ is what? How old is he?
Gabby Galarneau: I think he's 11, I'm not sure. He's 11 or 12.
Chad Jordan: And, you met him there while you were getting treated?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I think our moms met through Instagram and then-
Chad Jordan: Really? Wow.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, we see him.
Chad Jordan: It's like a secret club, once you have a kid with cancer ...
Speaker 3: It's online.
Speaker 4: The followers. You put your story and then the followers, like the number.
Gabby Galarneau: It went from 100, and now it's 12 or 13,000.
Chad Jordan: Whoa, followers?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: On your Instagram? Man, I'm going to have to get your autograph after this. That's amazing.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So that's why they picked you because you're so popular. Well, here's what I want to talk to you about, okay? Because the people that are listening to this, a lot of them work for Sport Clips or cut hair at a Sport Clips location around the country, stuff like that, and then do brave the shave events, or give money to Saint Baldrick's. And so, I like to highlight why Saint Baldrick's is just so important, and you are a perfect representative of obviously being an honored kid with an honor family and Insta famous, Instagram famous as we like to say. But, I wanted to connect a person with the cause. I want a face, I can't think of a better face than your 14 year old face to go with why it matters that so many Sport Clips people get involved with this. So, let's talk a little bit about before you got diagnosed, you were starting, was it six or seventh grade?
Gabby Galarneau: Eighth grade.
Chad Jordan: Eighth grade? Okay. So, you're starting eighth grade, and your school was it seventh and eighth grade, was yours a junior higher or what?
Gabby Galarneau: No, it was kinder to eighth.
Chad Jordan: Kinder to eighth, oh so you're like big girl on campus, you were going to rule that place that year. You're the queen, everybody's bowing down to you when you're walking through the halls, of course. So, what happens? How does your school year start, and then you get diagnosed? Walk me through exactly what was going on.
Gabby Galarneau: Okay. So, we were excited to be in eighth grade because that was the final year we get to graduate, we get to get out of the place. So-
Chad Jordan: Finally.
Gabby Galarneau: So, the year starts out, it's really good. It's the first year that we already ... You get progress reports on report cards and it was the year that I was finally getting all A's finally.
Chad Jordan: On a roll.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I was finally getting all A's, and then I noticed the very beginning of the school year to the t that my knee was stiff, it was very stiff. So, when I sat down and I got up, I would have to keep my leg straight for couple minutes because it was stiff.
Chad Jordan: And, are you one of these eighth grade girls that's taller than all the boys?
Gabby Galarneau: No, I was one of the shortest.
Chad Jordan: Were you? Okay, all right. But, you had just gone through ...
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, for my family I was pretty tall.
Chad Jordan: Okay. You're tall, you have a bunch of shorties like my family.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Okay, so now you're towering over your older brother, Tommy.
Gabby Galarneau: My twin brother Tommy, who's always been taller than me, I was a couple inches taller than him and a couple more inches taller than my sister.
Chad Jordan: Your older sister.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, my older sister. And then-
Chad Jordan: And, you notice so there's stiffness.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, they're stiff. And then, every single day ... One day it was just pain and not stiffness, but we thought it was growing pains. Well, everybody thought it was growing pains because I had a growth spurt and we couldn't pinpoint it to anything else. My older brother had growing pains when he had a growth spurt, so we just chalked it up to that.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, it was natural to assume. Yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Then, every day it got a little bit worse and worse and worse and worse, and then my teacher would be like, " Okay. Are you okay?" And, I'm like, "Yeah, I'm fine." And even the PE teacher was like, "You can sit out, you don't have to do PE if it hurts."
Chad Jordan: Were you crying during PE or are you just reminiscing in pain?
Gabby Galarneau: No, I limped. It was a really odd limp. My mom even said that it looked like I was limping with the wrong leg because I was babying it so much. And, the PE teacher was like, "If you can't do it then don't do it." Then, because every day it got worse, and then the last day I went to school, it was the Halloween parade and there's parade and everyone goes around in their costumes.
Chad Jordan: Hold on. What did you dress up as?
Gabby Galarneau: I was one of the Heather's from the musical Heather's.
Chad Jordan: Okay. Did anybody know what you were?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: All right, all right, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: My friend.
Chad Jordan: Okay, your one friend who also dressed up as the other Heather or something?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Okay, all right.
Gabby Galarneau: She put on the [inaudible 00:08:56]. So, it was the Halloween parade and then someone accidentally flat tired me and then my knee just almost gave alica and was tripped, and it hurts so bad. So, because it was games at my booth I had to sit down. And so, when everyone was going back up to the classroom, it took me 15 minutes to get from the cafeteria to the classroom because it hurt so bad. So, that was Friday, and then on Monday, well my dad took me to the doctors and because it was hurting so bad, so my mom schedule an appointment, and so they took X-rays and everything. But, that was the last day that I could walk because I couldn't walk. And then, when we got home from the doctor's, we had crutches in the garage. And so, my dad gave me the crutches and I was using the crutches, but I couldn't even stand. And, my dad was like, you're using crutches, it shouldn't hurt but it still hurt. So, he almost-
Chad Jordan: Oh, because of the little bit of weight you were putting on the leg was too much, too intense, so you couldn't stand up with that.
Gabby Galarneau: So, he almost carried me in. And then, the next day me and my brother had the day off because it was parent teacher conferences or something, but my mom was driving my sister to school on Halloween and she got a call from my pediatrician and she was like, "I'm going to need you to pack a bag for playing on stage four to five days. You need to go down to the emergency room at Children's. We have a team assembled there." And then, mom was like, I don't ...
Chad Jordan: Summing all that over the phone, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. And, she was like, what for? And, they're like, we think Gabby has cancer. So my mom goes, wakes me up, she tells us-
Chad Jordan: Wait, your mom didn't crash the car when she heard that? She was able to keep ... Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: No. So, my mom goes home. I don't know if my brother was already up or she woke him up and told him and then they woke me up, and the first thing that she said that, and then she was like, but it's fine we're going to fight it. We're going to get through it, it's not ... So, we went to-
Chad Jordan: Did you believe your mum when she said that?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I did.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, that's cool.
Gabby Galarneau: So, we went to the emergency room and they did ... So, for the X-rays, they're like, "We're still not sure," but they knew, they were sure. So, they did a biopsy and it was confirmed.
Chad Jordan: Where was it? It was in your hip or your leg or your knee?
Gabby Galarneau: It was on my left knee.
Chad Jordan: Your knee, your left knee, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: My left knee. And so, they confirmed that it was osteosarcoma and they did more X-rays.
Chad Jordan: What is it called?
Gabby Galarneau: Osteosarcoma, it's a bone cancer.
Chad Jordan: Osteosarcoma, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, and they did more X-rays and MRIs and stuff, and they saw that it had already metastasized, so it had spread to my lungs.
Chad Jordan: So, that means it spread somewhere. So, it went from your knee to your lungs, wow.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, that's very common if it does metastasize to your lungs. So, they don't have stages in Osteosarcoma, so I was diagnosed with aggressive metastatic Osteosarcoma, but if there was a stage it would have been stage four. So, they had a plan, it was 18 rounds of chemo therapy, three drugs.
Chad Jordan: 18 rounds means what? 18 days, 18 weeks?
Gabby Galarneau: 18 cycle. Is it cycle?
Speaker 3: It was 18 rounds with 32 infusions of-
Gabby Galarneau: 18 rounds, 32 infusions of chemotherapy.
Chad Jordan: And obviously not all at once.
Gabby Galarneau: No, so for one of them it was methotrexate, which we would stay four to five days and then we'd go home for two to four days and then come back and have doxorubicin and Cisplatin, which is two other drugs. And then, we'd go home, and then for that we'd have a three week break, but during those three weeks I'd get really bad side effects like throat sores, which would cause an infection and a fever. So, I'd have to go back and stay at the hospital.
Chad Jordan: Not for treatment, but for the side effect.
Gabby Galarneau: For the side effects, which for the throat sores, they didn't have any medicine for it. They just had to wait till my platelet count went up, which would be four days to a week.
Chad Jordan: And, does it feel like a bad sore throat or?
Gabby Galarneau: No, I couldn't even swallow my own spit. I couldn't drink, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything, so it was just-
Chad Jordan: So, they have a food tube put down your throat?
Gabby Galarneau: No, I didn't have that because they put me on a couple of ...
Speaker 3: Appetite stimulants.
Gabby Galarneau: Appetite stimulants. So, I was put on a couple of them and that worked really well. There was nothing wrong, I kept weight on, they didn't have a problem with that. But, for the plan it was, so 18 rounds but after the seventh round we were going to do a limps salvage surgery, so they were going to take out my knee and six inches of my femur and replace it with titanium. But, after the third round of chemo they did another MRI because it was still hurting so bad, because they said once I started chemo the pain would gradually go away because the tumor would shrink, but it was not going away. So, they did an MRI and it looked like it had grown. So, after the third round of chemo on December 16, 2017, they did the limb salvage surgery and ...
Chad Jordan: So, they literally took your knee away and your femur.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. And, they replaced it with titanium. And, when they got in there, they saw that the tumor, it didn't grow, but it was hemorrhaging, so that's what caused all the pain, so that's what was causing all the pain. That's why it wasn't feeling like it was getting any better. Thankfully, they got it all out, it was clean margins, so there's nothing left. And then, they had to keep doing this through the chemo, so it would clear my lungs.
Chad Jordan: At what point did your hair start falling out?
Gabby Galarneau: About 10 days after the first round of chemo, I didn't-
Chad Jordan: So right away. Did you shave your head or did you wait for it to fall?
Gabby Galarneau: We didn't know how long I had till it started falling out, so when it did start falling out, it was we had cut my hair short because we knew it would fall out.
Chad Jordan: And, you had really long hair before this, right?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I had long hair and then I donated it, so I cut it and donated it. And then, when it started falling out, it was everywhere. It was everywhere and we didn't know how long, so it was like 10 days. And then ...
Chad Jordan: And, do you have a dog or anything at home?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So, could you blame it like maybe your dog was shaving and you don't know?
Gabby Galarneau: No. It was I would turn my head and it would just fall out. So, then when we got home from that round, we shaved it. But, when I first saw my oncologist, she was telling us all the side effects, every single one that I could get like there's 2% chance you could get leukemia from this drug and there's heart defects and hearing loss and the all these things. Then, she was like, "Oh, and this one's hardest for most people your age, you will lose your hair." And I was like, I really don't care.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. That was the least of your problems, right? Oh, that's good.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I really didn't care. A lot of kids do, but I just ... It was hair, it was going to grow back it wasn't a big deal. But, when it first started falling out it was a big shocker. I was really shocked because I thought I had more time, so I got upset, but then we shaved it and it was fine.
Chad Jordan: Anybody else in your family shave their head or?
Gabby Galarneau: My dad's bald.
Chad Jordan: He beat you to it, so.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. But, my brother wanted to shave his head, but I told him ... He had buzz cuts before and I knew what he looked like, so I was just like don't.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, no, save us all.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, and just-
Chad Jordan: Keep your hair.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. And, I'm pretty sure, I don't even know if his school allows him to just shave their head. I have no clue.
Chad Jordan: They would have made a special exception for you guys, who knows.
Gabby Galarneau: So, I just-
Chad Jordan: So, now you have the surgery.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I have the surgery.
Chad Jordan: For the knee and the femur, and now you're bionic woman superhero. Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: And, so then I just continued with my chemo, and ...
Chad Jordan: Had you been in a wheelchair already?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes, I was in a wheelchair from basically the first time we had gone to the hospital.
Chad Jordan: Because it as so painful just to try to walk.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: And then, till the end of chemo and then ...
Chad Jordan: Was the pain more intense? Was it just painful when you tried to stand or were you always in pain?
Gabby Galarneau: Always in pain. I slept, I forgot I did this but then I looked at a picture. I would sleep a certain way because I couldn't put any weight on it or else it hurt more than it already did, so I slept a certain way. I did things a certain way. I was asleep as much as I could be, because when I was asleep I didn't feel anything, so I was asleep. And then-
Chad Jordan: Had you ever been a soccer player or tennis or anything?
Gabby Galarneau: I did softball.
Chad Jordan: Softball.
Gabby Galarneau: I did a lot of sports but not all at the same time because I didn't like any of them, so I just stopped doing them because I didn't like any of them. But, I did softball, and I don't think I'm going to do that again, just because I can't do any contact sports because of my leg or ... Yeah, because of my leg. And then, in softball you have to slide. I'm pretty sure I still could, but I wouldn't, I don't want to. And then, certain exercises I can't do because of my heart, because one of the chemo drugs it affects your heart. So, I can't do wall sits or things that put a strain on my heart. And then, one of the side effects from the Cisplatin drug that I had was hearing loss. So, my left ear is a lot worse than my right ear, but they both still have hearing loss.
Chad Jordan: I sat on the wrong side, I should have been over there, but I don't like the camera getting me from that side, so that's why I'm sitting over here. So, I'm just going to talk up a little louder then, is that all right?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. So-
Chad Jordan: How noticeable is the hearing loss?
Gabby Galarneau: If you're in-
Chad Jordan: Like when your mom calls you to do chores, you conveniently you can't hear her now or? Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: I have hearing aids. I don't really wear them because I don't like them. And then, also we'll be at a restaurant and you can hear everything, so you can hear-
Chad Jordan: It's magnified.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, you can hear forks on plates.
Chad Jordan: People chewing, the next table, somebody picking their nose, you can hear them scratching inside of their ...
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, it was really, really loud, so I just ... I don't know, I'll probably wear them when my hair grows out more, but I don't really know. But, during Chemo I didn't go outside my room, ever. I didn't go-
Chad Jordan: At school or at the hospital? I mean, at home or ...
Gabby Galarneau: At the hospital.
Chad Jordan: At the hospital.
Gabby Galarneau: I didn't go out of my room. I would stay in my room. I didn't go-
Chad Jordan: But why? Why wouldn't you go? Were you ...
Gabby Galarneau: I was always tired. I don't know, I'm not ...
Chad Jordan: It wasn't that you were too cool for all the other kids, right?
Gabby Galarneau: No. I just-
Chad Jordan: I got 13,000 followers on Instagram, I'm not going to go out there with those common people.
Gabby Galarneau: I was never a big people person either, so I get along with them, but I just ...
Chad Jordan: You like being by yourself.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: We call that an introvert.
Gabby Galarneau: So, I wouldn't go down to the cafeteria and every single time I would never eat the hospital food, it wasn't good. So, I'd send my mom-
Chad Jordan: You're not allowed to say that, but that's fine.
Gabby Galarneau: I would send my mom out on to get me food every single day.
Chad Jordan: From where? What sounded good?
Gabby Galarneau: Every time it was different. Every single time.
Chad Jordan: Okay, you had different cravings.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. So, at first it was McDonald's all the time.
Chad Jordan: Over In-N-Out?
Gabby Galarneau: I've never liked In-
Chad Jordan: Okay, all right, that's fine. They're not sponsoring this podcast, so yeah, it doesn't matter.
Gabby Galarneau: At first it was In-N-Out, and then it was Burger king, and then ...
Speaker 3: Baja Fresh
Gabby Galarneau: Baja fresh, and then it was Togo's, it was Fatburger. It was Panda Express, it was Chick-fil-A.
Chad Jordan: Oh, of course.
Gabby Galarneau: It was pizza, it was anything. And-
Chad Jordan: And, are your throat sores better at this point, now that you're in ...
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, they don't come anymore. But, you see on online where it's sugar it feeds cancer, my oncologist was like, "Eat whatever you want. I don't care. Just eat whatever, as long as you're eating, I really don't care what you eat."
Chad Jordan: Nice, that's my kind of oncologist. Oncologist of the year.
Gabby Galarneau: So, I just eat whatever and she was like, "Whatever she wants you get her." So, I'd be like, oh, I want frozen yogurt, and then go get tea rather than yogurt.
Chad Jordan: So, was mom like your Uber driver bringing you food, and then that's what she was doing?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. She was like-
Chad Jordan: Was anybody spending the night with you in the hospital?
Gabby Galarneau: My mom was, every single night she was with me. And then, on the weekends my siblings and my dad would come and visit me.
Chad Jordan: What about your dogs?
Gabby Galarneau: No.
Chad Jordan: No, really?
Gabby Galarneau: There were therapy dogs at the hospital. And, besides my couple of favorite nurses, I-
Chad Jordan: Were dogs? That's a new career path.
Gabby Galarneau: Besides my couple of favorite nurses, the dogs. I loved the dogs, we didn't know they had dogs.
Chad Jordan: Oh, besides your ... Okay.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I love dogs. We didn't they had dogs, and then one day, Jasper, it was this little Cocker Spaniel, he was the first dog. They knocked on the door, they were like, "Do you want a dog in the room?" And, I was like, "Yes."
Chad Jordan: Oh, yes, I didn't know that was an option.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. So, they came in and then once when you get a dog you don't feel any ... All the pain goes away. If you're having-
Chad Jordan: Probably dolphins rush your body and you're super excited because of ...
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, just the dog. Like it was ...
Chad Jordan: It's a real thing.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. There's over 125 dogs in the program and I've met over 80 of the dogs.
Chad Jordan: How many do you know their names of?
Gabby Galarneau: I know all of them.
Chad Jordan: You know all of them, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: There'll be a dog in the hallway and I'll be like, oh, that's ...
Chad Jordan: You could just hear the way it was walking?
Gabby Galarneau: No, I'll just look at it and my mom will be like, "Which ones that one?" I'm like, "Oh, that's Cooper or something." And, they have dog cards so their training cards, so it'll have a picture of the dog, their name, when they were adopted or born, and then facts about them.
Chad Jordan: What was your favorite dog? Or, can you not say?
Gabby Galarneau: No. I have a couple favorites. My favorite is probably Camper. Camper is a Golden Retriever and she is super sweet, she loves me. Whenever she saw me she'd get really excited and just knew who I was, and then a lot of them were Golden, so it was Camper, Roxy, Presley they're a Golden's, Blondie, she was a white Golden like an English, I don't know what it's called. And then, Willow and Gordon, which are Newfoundland. So, Gordon is 180 pounds.
Chad Jordan: Oh, my gosh!
Gabby Galarneau: And then, Willow is 100.
Chad Jordan: Weighs more than me, haha, just kidding.
Gabby Galarneau: Willow is 100 and I think 35 pounds. And, there were a couple of those.
Chad Jordan: Were they allowed on your bed?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes.
Chad Jordan: These big old dogs?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes.
Chad Jordan: Geez.
Gabby Galarneau: Oh, there is little Pit Bull. He's-
Chad Jordan: Really?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, there were a couple.
Chad Jordan: People therapy dogs, love it.
Gabby Galarneau: They were the sweetest. So, there's this little one, he has the biggest head and the smallest body, Handsome James Freninard, that was his name.
Chad Jordan: That's his name?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes, it's the name. So, I really liked the dogs a lot.
Chad Jordan: So, because you're not going out and meeting people.
Gabby Galarneau: No.
Chad Jordan: So, the dogs are coming to you.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. And, whenever the nurses would see a dog, they knew that I was the dog person that I had to have the dog. So, they just see a tail and then go running after the dog. Do you feel like you have to go in that room?
Chad Jordan: They assigned the dog to you first?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: When do you start to get to meet some of the other kids, because you're on a pediatric level ward?
Gabby Galarneau: The fourth floor.
Chad Jordan: Fourth floor, okay.
Gabby Galarneau: So, Children's is all children.
Chad Jordan: Oh, yeah, I guess so a lot that's why they call it Children's hospital.
Gabby Galarneau: So, I think the fifth floor is infectious disease, but the fourth floor ...
Chad Jordan: Fourth floor is the cool floor, that's what I meant to say. You were on coolest, hippest floor.
Gabby Galarneau: Fourth floor is the cancer ward. And, the first room that I was in was a shared room. So, they have shared rooms where it's two families, which I hated.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, I'm sure.
Gabby Galarneau: I hated it so much. I was in four shared rooms, because they knew not to put me in the shared room.
Chad Jordan: We already established you're an introvert, you're not a people person, so you want it by yourself.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I would always get with the worst people too like I'd get with the babies.
Chad Jordan: Oh, babies are the worst. The worst roommates.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, they would cry all the time. So, whenever they could see a free room, they would move me because they knew I'm not going to put up with it. So.
Speaker 3: She had a room by herself.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, exactly. Drama queen.
Gabby Galarneau: At first the nurses did not like me because I would just-
Chad Jordan: Oh, I'm sure that's not true.
Gabby Galarneau: It's very true.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, okay. They sent you a card saying we do not like you.
Gabby Galarneau: No, it's just, I was a handful. I would yell at them, I don't remember this, because a lot of it, I don't remember, but some of my favorite nurses right now they'd be like, you would kick and you would scream and you would hit.
Chad Jordan: Wow, and you can't believe that about yourself, because it doesn't sound like you, right?
Gabby Galarneau: I don't know. Because I was on so many pain meds and on so much medication.
Chad Jordan: Right, you poured yourself.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I wasn't happy, I didn't like it. But then, after the surgery, the physical therapist that came in after my surgery, I did not-
Chad Jordan: Yeah, you threw a fit, huh?
Gabby Galarneau: I did not like her, so.
Chad Jordan: So, how soon after the surgery did they want you to do physical therapy?
Gabby Galarneau: I think it was a day after the surgery.
Speaker 3: [inaudible 00:29:52], it was super fun.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. I'm sure, I'm sure everybody, your mom, the physical therapist, you just found a party.
Gabby Galarneau: I was so mad at the physical therapist and then I got a new one, I didn't like her. She was fine, but ...
Chad Jordan: You just weren't in a good place to feel it at that time.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, she was fine, but she asked my mom and my aunt if should I do tough love or be sweet? And, they said tough love, and so she was like ...
Chad Jordan: Way to go mom. And, what's your aunt's name so we can make sure to send her a thank you?
Gabby Galarneau: Aunt Mandy. So, they were like, yeah, give her tough love. Just ...
Chad Jordan: Wow. No, don't baby her.
Gabby Galarneau: Just keep pushing at her and I would get really mad. So, I got a new therapist that would come in and if I didn't feel well then this ...
Chad Jordan: And, what was she trying to get you to do?
Gabby Galarneau: Just adapt to ... Because I'd get tired, I still get tired really easily. But, like how to get up the stairs and use the-
Chad Jordan: The crutches.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I didn't use crutches, but I used a walker because it was just easier. But then-
Chad Jordan: One of those old people walkers that have the tennis balls in front of it?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, we put tennis balls on it because it would scrape against the cement. Yeah, it was awful. But then, after I finished chemo, everything ... It was about three weeks after I finished chemo, it was the first day of school, oh I do online school because I'm not walking yet. So, I met with the teacher, and so because you have to meet with the teacher, so I met with him and then I got home. And, I had tried to ride my bike a couple of times, because I can bend my leg because I could bend my leg a lot. So, doing stuff that would involve bending leg didn't matter, I could do whatever, but it was straightening the leg that I had a lot of trouble with.
Chad Jordan: Was that something you had really missed, getting to ride your bike or did you just want to try it?
Gabby Galarneau: I just wanted to try it, so I got on, I was riding it, everything was fine, I stopped. I stopped on the bike and I hesitated which foot to put down and I fell over.
Chad Jordan: Did you fall on your left side?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes.
Chad Jordan: Well, that was-
Gabby Galarneau: I broke-
Chad Jordan: No, you broke something?
Gabby Galarneau: I dislocated my elbow. I fractured the radio head on my elbow and I fractured my tibia.
Chad Jordan: Who was there watching and seeing all this happen?
Gabby Galarneau: My mum.
Chad Jordan: Okay. Your mom, boy she's been there for everything.
Gabby Galarneau: And so-
Chad Jordan: What kind of check are you going to write your mom when you're successful? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Gabby Galarneau: I want to be a pediatric nurse.
Chad Jordan: Okay, and they make all the money. So, when you're a millionaire from being a pediatric nurse, you have to write your mom a really big check just so you know.
Gabby Galarneau: So, we went to the nearest ER, and then they sent us over to Children's. And thankfully, I was put on the fourth floor, so they didn't put me on the regular floor, they put me on the fourth floor.
Chad Jordan: Are you still undergoing chemo and all the other stuff at this point?
Gabby Galarneau: No, chemo's done.
Speaker 5: But, you broke your-
Chad Jordan: No.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I broke ... If I would've just fallen over on a ... Say it was my brother that fell over, nothing would have happened, he would probably get-
Chad Jordan: Right, your bones were weaker, because of the chemo that you'd be on.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, all my bones were really brittle, so I would fall, and they break.
Chad Jordan: Break bones.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Which we found actually happens a lot. My mom was talking to a couple people and they were like, yeah, he broke his ankle or they would break something after chemo and it was really common. But, the nurses, they saw my name on the list of kids and they were like, no, she's not-
Chad Jordan: What's she doing back here?
Gabby Galarneau: She's not back here.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, must be somebody else with that name.
Gabby Galarneau: Yes. They would pop their head and be like, "What did you do? Why are you back? You just missed us so much." So.
Chad Jordan: So, have you ridden your bike since?
Gabby Galarneau: No.
Chad Jordan: Okay. Mom says no more of that. I thought maybe mom followed you with a pillow, and if you started to fall she would put it under your ears.
Gabby Galarneau: Since I dislocated my elbow, it took a while to heal, about a month.
Chad Jordan: And, that's all on your left side?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Which had hurt worse, the cancer or the tumor?
Gabby Galarneau: Oh, the tumor hurt. So, the thing that hurt the worst was my tumor and then it was the throat sores, and then it was my broken elbow and then it was a whole bunch of other things. And then, it was my fractured, because that didn't hurt at all, it was just my elbow, and-
Chad Jordan: And, you didn't mess up any of the titanium stuff, right? Because, [crosstalk 00:35:02].
Gabby Galarneau: No, that doesn't break.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, that's ...
Gabby Galarneau: But, the elbow took a while to heal. I couldn't put any weight on it or anything, and it was in a brace like this. And the orthopedic person that I was seeing for this, he was like, "Okay, so when we took x ... " So, my arm was healed at that point, they were like, "Okay, we took X-rays and this only happens in about 2% of the kids who dislocate their elbows." I don't even know what it's called, it's called hydro something and where it was dislocated, the muscle on my elbow turned to bone. So, it's like-
Chad Jordan: From the break?
Gabby Galarneau: From the break, so I can only straighten my arm so much.
Chad Jordan: And, for those not seeing this on iTunes or YouTube, she's straighten it, I don't know, two thirds of the way that you're supposed to be able to.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, two thirds. So, right now I'm in PT, and I'm in physical therapy for my leg and it started out at negative. My leg was bent, stuck at negative 46 degrees, and now it's at I think negative four. So, and I started physical therapy in September.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. While you've been going through all of this, the chemo, the surgeries, the bike accident, the physical therapy, all of that, did you ever think to yourself, why me? Why is this happening to me?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I did that a lot, but I don't like ...
Chad Jordan: Did you ever feel like it's not fair?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I think every kid does, but I just got over it, because-
Chad Jordan: How do you get over it? Is it just a matter of time and eventually ... Or, do you have to convince yourself I'm going to get over it, it's not fair, but I got to make the best of it?
Gabby Galarneau: I think it's a matter of time and you think about the good that came out of it like I wouldn't have met a bunch of families. I wouldn't have known how much little funding childhood cancer gets because out of all the ... So, out of 100% of funding for cancer, childhood cancer gets 4%.
Chad Jordan: Wow.
Gabby Galarneau: So, out of every dollar we get four pennies.
Chad Jordan: Four cents. Yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: And, you're a million times more important than any other age group, so it doesn't make sense.
Gabby Galarneau: Because you get-
Speaker 5: [inaudible 00:37:53].
Gabby Galarneau: Huh?
Speaker 5: How was your chemo?
Gabby Galarneau: I got the same chemo that you would have gotten in the 1970s.
Chad Jordan: So, they haven't made any advances on the chemo that you need?
Gabby Galarneau: They've been trying to do clinical trials, but they're just clinical trials, nothing has been approved. The only advancement that they've made instead of they would've just cut off my leg.
Chad Jordan: Oh wow.
Gabby Galarneau: In earlier, but the only new advancement they've made is rotationplasties and limb salvage surgeries, but the chemos are still the same.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. I mean, the '70s, that's a long time ago. That's when I was born. So, think about kids being born now and all the iPhones and all the advances that they have to get to enjoy, that's four decades worth of stuff that they get to benefit from. And yet, you and your treatment has gotten none of that.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. They say because only 2% of kids get cancer and only 2% of kids that have cancer get my exact cancer, so the logic behind the funding is, why would we waste money on only 2% of kids who get that type of cancer when ...
Chad Jordan: More kids are affected by a different type of cancer.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Or, you see during October, breast cancer itself has more funding than all of the childhood cancers put together. So, because it's big, but the children are our future, but the government just doesn't invest money in it, which doesn't make sense at all.
Chad Jordan: No, especially as someone who's been there done that like you have. You've won the lottery in reverse, you had the rare type of cancer that it doesn't affect a lot of kids. So, I think when your mom lets you, you should go buy a lottery ticket since you've already won the reverse lottery, you should start seeing if you can be a millionaire and then you could donate money to Saint Baldrick's.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. People, they ask questions like, did you get the good cancer? There's no-
Chad Jordan: No, no such thing.
Gabby Galarneau: No good cancer, because a lot of kids still ... There's a couple of cancers that no matter what you do, nothing, you don't ...
Chad Jordan: Did you have any of your friends that got that kind?
Gabby Galarneau: There were people that we would follow in Instagram or my mom would run into at the hospital, was it a little girl who had ... A little girl who had, it's called D-I-P-G, it's a type of brain tumor and it's inoperable. You can't get rid of it, there's no cure. So, I think the longest they've seen is maybe a person who's lived five years, but then they all eventually die. The survival rate's like 0%.
Chad Jordan: For you, how scared did you end up getting?
Gabby Galarneau: High, because when you hear cancer, you immediately think the worst.
Chad Jordan: Nobody celebrates when they hear.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. So, for the survival rate for osteosarcoma is 70% but when it's already spread to your lungs it's 30%. So, I had a 30% shot, but I was fine, but I have a 50% chance that it will come back.
Chad Jordan: So, how often do you have to go for test?
Gabby Galarneau: Every three months I get ... So, the three months I get a chest CT, but every six months I get a bone scan and a chest CT, and they do a chest CT because it normally comes back in the lungs most of the time. And, almost-
Chad Jordan: Did you already have treatment in your lungs at all?
Gabby Galarneau: It was the same thing that every other kid-
Chad Jordan: Okay, so whatever it was, it wasn't isolated for your knee, it was going everywhere.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. And thankfully, a lot of kids with that have it in their lungs, it calcify. So, mine just, they went away, but a lot of times when they were being treated and it was treated, and it would calcify and they'd have to do a lung resection, which I didn't have to do thankfully. But yeah, I know every time we've met someone or heard a story, most of the time where it has come back where they have relapsed, a lot of times they don't make it because it's just there are two drugs that you would use if it was relapsed and then clinical trials. But, I'm pretty sure a lot of times if it's spread besides your lungs, if it's spread somewhere else, they don't make it. Someone who works at the desk at Children's when you walk in, her name's Mercedes. She's the sweetest person, and her son had osteosarcoma and then he was cancer free for ...
Speaker 3: Six weeks.
Gabby Galarneau: How long?
Speaker 3: Six weeks.
Gabby Galarneau: Six weeks, and then it came back and then he passed away in January of 2018. And then, there was a-
Chad Jordan: Had he been on the fourth floor with you?
Gabby Galarneau: During that time he was on the fourth floor, but the first treatment he went through, I wasn't there.
Chad Jordan: Oh, all right.
Gabby Galarneau: But, there was a kid named Elijah there and he was 16 when he passed away, and I had met him once. He had osteo and then it had relapsed. I don't know where, all I know is that it went to, I think it was in his lungs or. It was in his lungs and his shoulder, and then it went to his jaw and then his spine, and then he passed away. And then, there was a girl who I don't know her name. I know that she ... What was her name the one who went to Paris?
Speaker 4: I don't know, Ellen.
Gabby Galarneau: Ellen, it had relapsed and then she had passed away. And then Zachary, he had gotten it a while before, a couple of years, but it relapsed and then he had passed away. And then, all the cases we see it relapse and then they pass away.
Chad Jordan: And, is it because once you already get that kind of treatment, you go through the limit of how much your body can take of that kind, and so then they don't give you a different kind of treatment or?
Gabby Galarneau: Out of the three drugs that I had, I have a lifetime max on the one that affects my heart, which is the doxorubicin, the spine I can never have again because it affected my hearing. Methotrexate is the only one that I can have again. And then, if it relapsed, it'd be two other drugs, and then it'd be clinical trials, but a lot of the times it doesn't work.
Chad Jordan: Well, I say we make a deal right now where you just don't relapse. And, you stay cancer free forever. And then, you don't have to worry about all those lifetime stuff and everything.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. There was a YouTube where I'd watch, her name was Sophia, she was born in Australia and she had a YouTube channel all about it, her journey and everything. And then, she passed away in May 31st of 2018, and a lot of people know her story because she would put it out there for YouTube and everything. And, a lot of people followed her and she had it, she was done and then she relapsed and they tried everything. They tried chemos, they tried even radiation, they don't use radiation on osteosarcoma unless they do a surgery in the margin lung clean, because it's not effective. So, they tried everything but nothing worked. So, for a lot of kids, that's the case, they'll try everything and then nothing works.
Chad Jordan: How long has it been since you've had any treatments?
Gabby Galarneau: I had my six month scans, January 28th, so it's been about seven months since I haven't had treatment.
Chad Jordan: And, how are you feeling now?
Gabby Galarneau: I'm still-
Chad Jordan: I noticed you came in in crutches, not in a wheelchair.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I was in a wheelchair, but I've started slowly to use crutches everywhere like long distances, if I'm at the mall because it's a lot of walking, I get tired even with my crutches very easily because for nine months I was doing nothing. I was laying in bed, because I was too tired. It's like I would get out of breath walking to the bathroom, so it was really tiring. So, I don't have a lot of energy.
Chad Jordan: What do you miss the most? What energy activity do you miss the most getting to do?
Gabby Galarneau: Right now, school because I'd be with my friends but-
Chad Jordan: And most 14 year olds don't think they would miss school, right?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. I hated school but I don't like the learning part.
Chad Jordan: Right, who does, hello, lame.
Gabby Galarneau: But, I just want to go to school to see my friends every day, but activities like sports, every winter, since it's winter we'd go ice skating and I can't ice skate, and then I can still swim, that's basically the only thing I can do is swim. I can't do anything else.
Chad Jordan: Do you act or sing or do anything like that?
Gabby Galarneau: No.
Chad Jordan: No.
Speaker 3: She makes slime.
Chad Jordan: Oh, you're a slime maker, I should've brought you some glue from home.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I do more arts and crafts.
Chad Jordan: Okay. All right. So, you're using that side of your brain to ... I'm sure mom loves all the slime too and if it doesn't get on anything, it's not a pain for her.
Gabby Galarneau: I don't get it anywhere. My friends when they come over, when they play with it, they get it everywhere, all over themselves and their clothes.
Chad Jordan: Because, they're not experts like you, duh. They can't be trusted. Hey, I got a question for you, this is going to sound weird. What do you know now that you've gone through all this that you wish you would have known when you got diagnosed?
Gabby Galarneau: I wish I would've known the little community that is the childhood cancer community because a lot of people who run pages, they've experienced in their family or they've experienced themselves childhood cancer or their friends have had cancer. But, I wish that because some of the pages that I follow, they're run by people who didn't have cancer, I wish I could have known them to where I didn't have to get it to know. Or, when you go through like that it's almost like those sifters that they use for flour?
Chad Jordan: I do, but how do you know what those are?
Gabby Galarneau: Because-
Chad Jordan: I'm 47 years old, and you're 14, you shouldn't know all that little tititi things.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, those things it sifts out who will stay. Everyone in the class, they were all friends with each other, but I have about five good friends who-
Chad Jordan: Who stuck by you through thick and thin.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Yeah, so I have about five, and then people who were there, they just were always there, and it was just you get to know who truly cares about you. And, I think that's one of the nice things about it. And then, all the little things that you take for granted like going just ... Because, when I was going through treatment, you couldn't plan anything because oh we were going to the beach, but then the morning we'd have to go to the hospital. So, just like going to the beach or just little things like that. I haven't gone to the beach in about two years.
Speaker 3: We went for Thanksgiving.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. We went to the beach for Thanksgiving, but I don't get to go in the water because-
Chad Jordan: So, it doesn't count. If you can't get in the water, then you're not really at the beach.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, because crutches and sand, they don't mix. Or, even if I were to hop down, even walking in sand is hard.
Chad Jordan: Oh, yeah, no kidding.
Gabby Galarneau: Before I got sick, it would get tiring just running through sand because it's heavy. So, it's a lot tiring to go through sand just to go in the water, so I haven't gone to the beach, but I'll go.
Chad Jordan: I got here some fun questions that I want to end this time with. You got a little bit more time that I could just ask these?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: And, how miserable have you been this last hour? Is this just been the worst hour in the last couple ... No, just kidding. Thank you in advance for letting me ask these and spending some time with me, and the Sport Clips family today and Saint Baldrick's family. All right, here's the first question. You're ready?
Gabby Galarneau: Yes.
Chad Jordan: Which superpower would you most like to have?
Gabby Galarneau: Gosh, I would either want to fly or talk to animals.
Chad Jordan: Talk, okay. So, you're doctor Doolittle, talk to animals. All right. Especially dogs?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. Just know what they're thinking. Other than where you live now, where else in the world would you most like to live?
Gabby Galarneau: If I had to go anywhere I'd want to live probably where in the summer it's nice and warm, but then in the winter it's snowing. So-
Chad Jordan: LA, doesn't count then, yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. No. Or, if I couldn't do that, I'd want to live by a beach.
Chad Jordan: Okay. But actually, get in the water?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Have a beach house.
Chad Jordan: All right, I think I might know the answer to this, but just in case, who is the celebrity you'd most like to meet one day?
Gabby Galarneau: Wow. Okay.
Chad Jordan: We're going to put this out in the universe, and see if it ends up happening.
Gabby Galarneau: I've met-
Chad Jordan: You've met some?
Gabby Galarneau: I've met some, I've met Nick Jonas.
Chad Jordan: Nice.
Gabby Galarneau: I've met Lucy Hale. The one that I was really excited for, I met Tom Holland, so the new Spiderman, but oh gosh I'm trying to think through everyone. I'd probably want to meet the cast of either the Office or the cast of Stranger Things.
Chad Jordan: Oh wow, two greats, I like it. You don't want to just meet them, you want to hang out, maybe be in an episode of Stranger Things?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: That'd be pretty cool. Who's your favorite on that? El or?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, I like EL, but then I also like ... I can't even think, I haven't watched it in a long time because I watched the ... Every time when the season comes out I watch it in a day. But, oh, Lucas.
Chad Jordan: Lucas, yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Wait, Lucas? No.
Chad Jordan: What about Mad Max?
Gabby Galarneau: No.
Chad Jordan: I used to like her, and ... Oh, yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Wasn't my favorite character.
Chad Jordan: All right, you're ready for the next one?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: What sound or noise do you love?
Gabby Galarneau: So, when you open a can of soda.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. Pshhh, that?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, that or when you pour.
Chad Jordan: What, gupgupgup. I've never had that be an answer. I've never interviewed a 14 year old before on the podcast, but that is the first answer like that before. Okay. What sound or noise do you hate?
Gabby Galarneau: I hate the sound of chewing. I hate ...
Chad Jordan: So, I turn those hearing aids down.
Gabby Galarneau: I hate forks against plates. Because I hate when bags are being opened and it crinkles or like on YouTube, all the people who do ASMR, I hate it. I hate it so much.
Chad Jordan: And, some people are listening to this and going, what is ASMR, and what is that?
Gabby Galarneau: Oh gosh.
Chad Jordan: Just trust us, you don't want to go there, it's lame.
Gabby Galarneau: It's awful.
Chad Jordan: I like how I asked you what one sound you hate, and you're like, brrrr, I thought you're going to say the scrape, the walker and that's why you put the tennis balls on it, they're like eeee on the cement. All right, I think you've told me this, what profession do you want to be when you grow up?
Gabby Galarneau: I want to be a pediatric nurse just like on the oncology.
Chad Jordan: Okay. And, who are your favorite nurses that you've had? Don't leave anybody out because they might get their feelings hurt.
Gabby Galarneau: Infusion nurse is Grace. She's the only one that could do my port without me screaming. I don't know what it was, but she just could do it. But, on the fourth floor, not the infusion center was Kevin, Kelvin, Lisa, Michelle, Diane. Is that ...
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, that's about it.
Chad Jordan: That's everybody, you're sure you haven't left anybody out?
Speaker 5: What about your MDs?
Gabby Galarneau: Huh? Oh, but the nurse practitioners, Kelsey was one of them. She was really nice. Who is the other one? Mary Beth.
Chad Jordan: Okay. I got two more questions. Number one, what has been your favorite memory with your mom or dad or your brothers in the last couple of years?
Gabby Galarneau: Gosh, I don't ... I liked going to the beach for Thanksgiving.
Chad Jordan: Mm-hmm (affirmative), even though you couldn't get in the water.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. Probably my favorite memory was Christmas, we had a real ... On Christmas day I was in the hospital, but so on January 7th, that's when we celebrated Christmas. But, on Christmas day when we gave each other one present just because it was Christmas, we were laughing so hard because there was video of a little ... It was on Instagram and there's this little boy and he's licking frosting, and then he goes meow, and they would get loud. We were laughing so much. And then, the nurse walks in and she's like, "I have a present for you." And then, it's a stuffed cat.
Chad Jordan: No, way. Was she watching on a security camera in your room?
Gabby Galarneau: And, it's like one of those ones where you could record your voice in it. I don't know what they're called, cloud pets or something. And so, we recorded on the app, so when you press the cat it would say something. We recorded me saying, "Meow."
Chad Jordan: And so, now that's a Christmas memory, right?
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah. We were laughing the whole day because of that stupid video.
Chad Jordan: What did you name the stuffed animal?
Gabby Galarneau: I don't know, I think it's in the garage. I have bags of stuffed animals.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, I bet. I bet. Okay. Last question, you're ready?
Gabby Galarneau: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chad Jordan: Okay. When you're a mom one day, what character trait of your own mother do you hope to be able to represent to your kids?
Gabby Galarneau: No matter what, I'll have a bad day and my mom was just there, I want to be there for my kids. My mom is ... Or, when she gets mad, she gets mad, but then it just cools off really easily. I want like that. I know parents do this where they'll keep drawings for I would write ... She's showed me this two weeks ago, when I was seven I had this little note and I drew me and her on it when I was seven and she still has it. She kept it, and so I want to have that caring.
Chad Jordan: That sentimental.
Gabby Galarneau: Yeah, that sentimental thing with my kids to where you could just say something and she'll remember it just like that.
Chad Jordan: That isn't normal, most parents end up throwing that kind of stuff away. So, your mom sounds like quite the woman. You are quite the young woman and I can't believe an hour has gone by, and you lived up to your name. You were Gabby and I didn't have to do a lot of talking, so all the people listening are like, thank goodness she was on today because she did all of the talking, and the stories are amazing. And, I think when you go back and listen to this, you're going to be like, I can't believe this is my life and I've done all these courageous, brave things.
You are a warrior, you represent Saint Baldrick's so well and the cause here. So, we at Sport Clips are proud of you, proud of your mother and your dad and your brothers and yeah, even Tommy and your sister and all for what you're going through. And, the people here at Saint Baldrick's are amazing, and I can say that firsthand now having visited here. Do you have anything else you want to say before I press the stop button? Anything to your 13,000 Instagram fans and people around the world?
Gabby Galarneau: I really hope that you take something from this and just learn that how little childhood cancer gets funded and how much families go through and how much it means to families when you just donate a little bit of money, it goes a long way, especially when childhood cancer doesn't have a lot of money. Even if you just spread the word, it helps a bunch and without anyone donating, we wouldn't even be here. Even though we get so little funding without everybody donating and helping, we'd have even less. So, even though we have not that much, what we do have, we don't take for granted and we use as much of it as we can for how long it will go.
Chad Jordan: Beautifully said. And, I got to tell you, I've done a lot of these podcasts, I think this is my favorite one. So, don't let that go to your head, okay? I want you to be humble, but you're a keeper and this one's a keeper, so thank you so much for being on.
Gabby Galarneau: Thank you for having me.
Chad Jordan: All right, until next time, everybody, thanks for tuning in.