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Update January 20



Here is a photo of Madison from the other day with her mom. It just breaks my heart to see this. I hate living so far away from my family and feeling so helpless. I have to rely on getting my information from them over the phone and I haven't been able to reach anyone today. They told me that if I don't hear anything that this is a good sign. But I still don't like it - it makes me to anxious not knowing what is going on.....

I received a wonderful note from *titiavanbeugen today with a link to this beautiful artwork for Madison and I wanted to share it with you all.


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Update January 18: Copied from Madison's blog (written by her mom)....

"She is spiraling down and not able to bounce back on her own. So, the thought process now is to keep fluids pumping in her to keep her hydrated, putting nutrients in her due to poor nutrition and continuing to give her acid medication to reduce the large amount of acid her stomach is producing but no food in it to digest. We do not know how long it will take her to bounce back - it could be a week or month(s). They are continuing to give her chemo but they will also continue to keep her hydrated and the nutrients. Next chemo is scheduled for next Tuesday. It has been a very upsetting week for us and its horrible to feel so helpless. There is no way to reason with a 1 yr old that she has to eat or else. It is really up to her when she wants to eat and keep being there for her to help. And the doctors will keep giving her the nutrients & fluids to help her bounce back. I’m not sure where we go from here but we only hope and pray that she will get past this and move towards recovery road. "

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ORIGINAL JOURNAL POSTED

Madison is not doing well. She started the full doses of her chemo treatments right after Christmas and has not been taking it well. She has not eaten - literally. Any time she tries to eat (which is rare) she vomits it up immediately. She is down to only 16 pounds. (The average weight for a one year old is 31 pounds.) They've told my brother that if she loses 3 more pounds she could die.

The nurses came to the house last night and inserted a feeding tube directly into her through her belly. This morning Madison was vomiting up yellow and green liquid and was listless so they rushed her back to the emergency room. This is the second time she has been to the ER this week. That's not counting the regular visits to the hospital for her treatments.

If she makes it through this she is scheduled for radiation - which has a huge list of negative long term effects. Radiation can be avoided if they perform surgery to remove the tumor. However, because Madison is so young and small they don't think they can do surgery since they have to take a certain amount of tissue around the tumor out too. This means they could accidentally cut into her bladder, vagina or other organs in the region of the tumor. A physician has given them a tiny glimmer of hope that surgery MIGHT be possible but he needs to do a lot more research to determine if it could be done. So, we need prayers for this too.

If you have a moment, please comment on this journal and leave a message for Madison and her family. I would love to be able to show them how many people around the world are thinking of them and praying for them - I know that it will lift their spirits and give them hope. Please spread the word.



{This is a photo of Madison from her first birthday on December 21, just days before she started her full doses of chemo treatment.}
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All the wonderful people praying for Madison - thank you!