One of our worst fears as parents has manifested itself on Tuesday, Feb 9th, 2021. Our sweet and bubbly princess Madelyn was diagnosed with Acute T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). She has a mass on the left side of her chest that pushing her trachea to the right with traces of the cancer in her kidneys, that are now enlarged. Over 50% of the cells in her bone marrow are cancerous. Recent spinal fluid tests have revealed her diagnosis places her into the CNS 3 category. We’ve experienced heartache in our lives, but nothing to this extent. Initially, we felt crushed, hopeless, and weakened. How could this happen to our sweet girl? Anyone who knows Maddie, knows how full of life she is. She’s got such a spark to her and has such a tender soul that will brighten anyone’s day. Her laugh is so contagious that you can’t help but smile when you’re trying to be firm with her. I couldn’t stay mad at her very often and she’s gotten away with a lot (mostly my fault). She is constantly singing, dancing, and talking and at times, it’s a bit much, I admit that I have taken those beautiful moments for granted.
Our daily lives will forever be changed due to this unforeseen circumstance, but knowing our Maddie, she is very resilient, and will not let ANYTHING get her down, not even this disease. Our last few days have been filled with lots of tears, pain, and misery. She has moments where she’s able to perk up and give us some sassy remark, but quickly falls back into her funk. Our Maddie is so spunky, quirky, & a hot mess at times, but she is also very stubborn and hardheaded to accept the fact that anything is even wrong with her. Her personality and attitude have prepared us for this moment her entire life. If there’s anyone that can plow through this process, it’s absolutely our Maddie.
Our journey ahead consists of lots of hospital visits, chemotherapy, and everything in between. Completely different from the lives we’ve become accustomed to. We have no doubt in our minds that our Maddie will make it through this and go on to live a normal life. This path is a long one, one we’ve been mentally preparing for over the last several days. Please say a prayer, light a candle, send all the positive vibes, and anything else that will benefit our girl through this process. Although we’ll beat this thing, we’ll need a lot of help along the way. Thank you for supporting me and the more than 300,000 kids worldwide who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. By sharing the gifts of your time, talent and money with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, you're supporting research to give all kids with cancer a better chance for a cure.#livelikemaddie #marvelousmaddie
