|
Also, our kind-hearted Mayor of Naples, BILL BARNETT, asked for a signed copy of Abbie's book to put in his office.
Bill Barnett said he is happy to buy a book knowing that part of the proceeds are going toward a good cause, that is, the
Arthritis Foundation. Ernest Hemingway has a grandaughter, Mina, in Naples and she owns a bookstore called
Hemingway Florida Bookstore. Mena invited Abbie to bring some of her books into her store to be sold. Mina has a 10 year old
grandson who recently had a book published! And a special thank you to Dr. Rivas Chacon at the Miami Children's Hospital,
who treated Abbie's JRA for two years and did a wonderful job with his treatments for her. We have recently changed her doctor
to Dr. Nickeson at All Children's Hospital because he is in a more convenient location and we are thrilled to have
him treating Abbie as he is outstanding with his treatments as well as his relations with his patients. To learn more
about Abbie's diagnoses, read to the right.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Welcome, and thank you for visiting Vally the Villo's website! We are excited to announce that Abbie's
book, Vally the Villo's First Day Away, has been published and is now available to the public through the book
store at authorhouse.com or by calling the book hot-line 1-888-280-7715. It also is available online
through major bookstore and retailer websites, including but not limited to: BORDERSBOOKSTORE.COM, BARNES&NOBLE.COM,
AMAZON.COM, BOOKSAMILLION.COM etc. We hope you enjoy Vally the Villo's First Day Away and we
hope to inspire other children to use their creative ablility!
Abbie had a book signing at Barnes & Noble in March of 2008 (see picture below.) Also, a book signing in April
of 2008 at Von Liebig Author and Book Festival.
Read her most recent article ( pdf page 4, )from December 2008
CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE, APRIL 2008
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE BOOK FROM AUTHORHOUSE
TO ORDER CUTE GREETING CARDS CLICK ON THIS LINK
Click here to order from Barnes & Noble
About the author: Abbie was born on the Virgin Island of St.
Croix, (her father is the owner of Tip Top Construction, tiptopvi.com, in St Thomas and St Croix.) Abbie has the pleasure
of visiting her father frequently on St Croix. She is a boisterous child who has a gift for creativity and
we are very pleased to share a part of her imagination with you! Abbie made her Villo character up in 2006 when
she was 5 years old. Abbie made several short stories about them on scratch paper. We decided to make the
book while, unknowingly, Abbie was in the early stages of her disease juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. During the
process, Abbie was [unusually] not able to be active outdoors because of the painful arthritis, so instead she drew pictures. Shortly after
her symptoms started, we rushed her to St Mary's hospital in Rochester, MN. After a two week stay at St Mary's
hospital and much medication, we put the story together and sent it off to be published.
Abbie's JRA was caught early, which in turn, spared her internal organs from damage due to inflammation.
The JRA immobilized her before the aggressive drugs were prescribed to her by Dr. Chacon, in fact, she could not walk AT ALL. She
needed to be carried everywhere and she was crying every day for about two weeks. She now has an Enbrel shot,
(which worked like magic the first time it was administered,)every week to keep her symptoms and disease under control. Dr.
Chacon will slowly decrease her medication while carefully monitoring her blood levels and physical symptoms in hopes
she will outgrow the disease. We are very
happy and thankful that Abbie is doing exceptionally well. She is almost 9 and finished her 3rd
year in ballet and her 2nd year of gymnastics and piano. Abbie has responded incredibly well to her treatments and it
is impossible to tell by looking at her that she has JRA. There are about 300,000 children with some form of arthritis and
only 300 juvenile rheumatoid specialists in the US. We will donate a portion of the sales from the book to
the Arthritis Foundation to help further studies of the disease and it treatments.
Below the first picture is of Abbie in Colorado, Easter of 2008(on left). She learned to ski down the blue trail
during a full day of ski school. The second photo is Abbie (on right,) in Colorado ski school in Feb, 2009. She
did an excellent job skiing once again this year! Also, she took her first horse riding lessons this past summer 2009.
About the book: Vally is ready for an adventure Vally is finally old enough to take a solo peek
at her outside world, (with her mother's permission of course ) Never has she climbed a tree, met other villo families or
run through the hills on her own but today is the day for her to start her new adventure. She brings with her the wisdom her
mother has taught her to help make her way safely and be back home in time for dinner. Vally is an interesting character called
a villo. To most, a villo is an unknown animal species, in fact there is no reported documentation of such an animal anywhere
in the world, but in the mind of the little author of this book, villos did exist. According to Abbie, villos walked the earth
millions of years ago, just like the dinosaurs. They had very large families, were full of energy and were very kind. Abbie
is happy to introduce Vally, the villo. Part of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go toward the Rheumatoid Arthritis
Foundation
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 
Abbie on left, Colorado ski school Feb, 2008
Abbie on right, Colorado ski school, Feb 2009
Abbie at summer camp 2009
If you or someone you know needs to be prayed for because of an illness or hardship, please visit this world prayer group
to help you.
|
