Tattnall Square grad has defied dire diagnosis

There is no picture or illustration next to the definition of “hope” in the dictionary.

You can’t buy it from a store or order spare parts from a warehouse. There are no apps or bar codes for hope. It won’t come to you by pulling a string or pushing a number on your speed dial.

But Tina Wilson holds it dear every day. It is tangible. She sees it, hears it, hugs it.

Hope is a four-letter word she hangs on a wall in her house. She painted it in big letters, with a Bible verse from Romans 12:12. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.’’

Every Christmas, she decorates a “hope” tree. It is filled with ornaments sent from people she has never met and probably never will.

The tree is white, to represent the symbol of lung cancer.

Her daughter, Abby, has been a poster child for hope more than half her life.

On Monday night, Abby will graduate from Macon’s Tattnall Square Academy. There will be so many tears in the seats surrounding the Wilson family that they all may need life jackets.

Nine years ago this spring, Tina and her husband, Tate, sat in a doctor’s office and listened to the cold words.

Your child has cancer.

Hope for the best.

Prepare for the worst.

Tina Wilson always wanted to be a mother. So it was somehow fitting that she met Tate when they were both working as house parents at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth in Macon.

Abigail Kristina Wilson arrived in the world on Jan. 8, 1998. It is a birthday she shares with Elvis.

As a child, she had a persistent cough and later developed sharp pains in her side. At first, doctors believed it might be asthma-related. Then, one day, she passed out.

The next few years brought extensive testing for a wide range of communicable diseases, until finally a biopsy revealed stage 4 metastatic lung cancer.

It was the kind of diagnosis you might expect for a chain smoker who has tugged on Marlboros his whole life. But never for a little girl who liked to dance, ride horses and dressed up as a zoologist for her career day at Alexander II Elementary.

Doctors found 32 tumors, almost as many candles on her mama’s birthday cake that year.

“When your daughter is born, you start planning her future,’’ Tina said. “You think about her first set of heels and dance recitals. Our daughter was 9 years old, and they were saying she may live another three to five years. Are you telling me my child may never get to pick out a prom dress or graduate from high school? Are you telling me her dad may not get to walk her down the aisle when she marries? It was devastating.’’

No protocol for how to proceed

Lung cancer is the No. 1 killer among cancer deaths in the U.S. for men. It is second for women, behind breast cancer.

But lung cancer in children is so rare that Abby’s case has been written about in a national medical journal.

“We were told there was no documentation of any child having the type of cancer Abby had, and there was no protocol for what to do because the pediatric world had never seen it,’’ Tina said.

She underwent multiple surgeries and had chemotherapy every three weeks for eight and a half years. Her list of medications was as long as her arm. New drugs. Experimental treatments. Doctors watched the tumors shrink.

I first met Abby and her family in 2007 while working on a story for the Reindeer Gang, an annual Telegraph feature that identifies individuals and families with needs during the holidays. At the time, the Wilsons were living at Lake Wildwood. (They now live in River North.) Abby’s brother, Ian, was a year old. He is now 10 and has Asperger’s syndrome, a type of autism. Despite the gap in their ages, he and Abby are as close as a brother and sister can be.

In 2009, the Wilsons became involved with Jay’s Hope, a local nonprofit that offers a wide range of support to children with cancer and their families.

“We have been blessed to meet some amazing people through Jay’s Hope,’’ Tina said. “Unfortunately, along the way, we have had to say quite a few ‘see you laters’ to some of the brightest souls to ever grace this life. That has been one of the hardest parts for Abby — losing friends and knowing it could be her next, and wondering why it’s not her instead of them.’’

One of her best buddies, Kody Lucas, died of brain cancer in April 2012, a year after he graduated from Perry High School. Kody loved to play the saxophone, and he started an annual community bone marrow drive.

“That young man was so special,’’ Tina said. “He loved Abby like no other person could, and she loved him right back. From the moment they met, the just ‘got’ each other. Kody saw how serious Abby tended to be, and it became his goal to make her smile and laugh whenever they were together. He was one of a kind, so when he left her, he took part of her with him.’’

Abby and her family attend Northway Church in Macon. She has served as an aide for Tattnall first-grade teacher Laura Bartow this year. She has been a member and assistant coach for the school’s color guard and dance team for the past four years. Three weeks ago, she and some of her classmates went to the annual Grad Bash with thousands of other high school students at Universal Studios in Orlando.

It has been a whirlwind week. Last Sunday, she gave her testimony to an adult Sunday School class at Ingleside Baptist. On Wednesday, she was among the speakers during senior chapel. She will attend baccalaureate services at Tattnall Square Baptist Church this afternoon. Graduation ceremonies are Monday night at Ingleside Baptist.

She will graduate from Tattnall Square with a 3.3 GPA and will begin her freshman year at Georgia College in Milledgeville this fall. Two weeks ago, she was named a recipient of a Peyton Anderson Foundation Scholarship. She also has qualified for the HOPE scholarship.

There’s that word again. Hope.

“I have never questioned that God was going to take care of her,’’ Tina said. “He has big plans for her life or she certainly wouldn’t be sitting here, defying all the statistics and odds.’’

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Tattnall Square grad has defied dire diagnosis."