 Monday, January 5, 2009 5:08 PM
Journal
January 5, 2008 11:00pm
I have a few quick things to add since last update. We heard back from the Dr. at UNC that wrote the article regarding Pulmonary Fibrosis that I mentioned below. He felt that based on Madi’s history that this is something that is certainly possible and recommended further evaluation. He offered to make a referral to someone at UNC b...
Saturday, January 3, 2009 4:09 PMJournal
January 3, 2009 10:00pm
Happy New Year! We hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season full of all the people you love. We had a great break from school and the normal routine. Madi got to enjoy a visit from her grandparents and spent as much time as possible with her friend Hannah over the break. She absolutely loves Hannah and her whole family!
...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 11:27 AMJournal
December 24, 2008 5:00pm
Merry Christmas to all of our family & friends! May 2009 bring all of you good health, good fortune, & happiness! Thank you to all of you that sent awesome Christmas cards. We just love the picture cards! Just so you know, if you sent us one, it is hanging from ribbon in my kitchen for all our visitors to see!
Since las...
Thursday, December 11, 2008 4:24 PMJournal
December 11, 2008 10:25pm
Madison’s chronic headaches for the first time this week have officially graduated into migraines….Since last update we’ve had a lot going on and Madison clearly hasn’t had a good week.
Madison came home early from school on Monday with a headache. She went to bed as soon as she got home and slept for 4 ½ hours. She ...
Thursday, December 11, 2008 4:22 PMJournal
December 12, 2008 10:20 pm
Madison’s chronic headaches for the first time this week have officially graduated into migraines….Since last update we’ve had a lot going on and Madison clearly hasn’t had a good week.
Madison came home early from school on Monday with a headache. She went to bed as soon as she got home and slept for 4 ½ hours. She...
Thursday, December 4, 2008 5:00 PMJournal
December 4, 2008 11:00pm
Madison had a great day today at both Duke and the UNC Pulmonary Clinic. Today we went to Duke for her regular cancer check up. Her blood looked absolutely beautiful and caused no reason for anyone to think that there is anything going on from a cancer standpoint. We will not go back for another check up with Oncology until April 20...
Monday, December 1, 2008 1:07 PMJournal
December 1, 2008
7:00 pm
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year we spent it in town visiting with Howard’s family. We enjoyed the time off that we all had together. We hope you and your families all did the same!
I heard from Madison’s doctor (Pulmonologist from Duke) the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Tuesday was actually his firs...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:22 PMJournal
November 18, 2008 10:00 pm
Since last update, I have received a copy of both of her tests that she completed at Duke’s pulmonary clinic. I have still not heard from the Doctor in reference to answering the questions that were sent to him via e-mail. I have not heard from anyone in that office. The doctor we’ve been waiting to hear from has been out a consider...
Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:08 PMJournal
November 13, 2008 10:00pm
Since last update we’ve been awaiting results of Madison’s metabolic exercise test. The Pulmonary clinic at Duke has been understaffed due to some illnesses and medical emergencies with family members of one of the Dr’s in particular. That doctor specifically being the same one that Madi is seen by.
At this point I a...
Friday, November 7, 2008 9:59 AMJournal
November 7, 2008 4:00pm
Madison was scheduled to go to Duke today. We were going review her results of the Metabolic Exercise Test. Duke called at the last minute today and postponed our appointment because they had 3 physicians out unexpectedly. We are supposed to be called later today or Monday to be reschedule for sometime next week. I have asked them to fo...
Friday, November 7, 2008 9:58 AMJournal
November 7, 2008 4:00pm
Madison was scheduled to go to Duke today. We were going review her results of the Metabolic Exercise Test. Duke called at the last minute today and postponed our appointment because they had 3 physicians out unexpectedly. We are supposed to be called later today or Monday to reschedule for sometime next week. I have asked them to forwa...
Monday, November 3, 2008 4:04 PMNovember 3, 2008 10:00 pm
Last Wednesday Madi went to Duke for the three tests that she had scheduled. Specifically, an EKG, an Echo, and a Metabolic Exercise Test (an extensive stress test). She made it through all of the tests. We had a few concerns surrounding her ability to actually complete the Exercise Test as it is very exhausting. We thought this because on a normal day ...
Saturday, October 18, 2008 4:38 AMOctober 18, 2008
Journal 10:00a.m.
This morning upon getting up and going outside I realized that fall is really here! You can now look around and not only see it but with the recent weather change it now feels like fall. Where this year has gone is beyond me but it won’t be long now and it will be Christmas once again.
This year, it is my hope that ...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 4:15 PMSeptember 24, 2008
Journal 9:00 p.m.
Today is a day of significance for our family. Exactly five years ago today marked the day that our lives changed forever. Madison was diagnosed with Leukemia in the early hours of September 24th 2003. Really, I can almost feel the numbness we felt that day all over again. Yesterday, September 23rd marked five years that Mad...
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 3:01 PMSeptember 9, 2008 9:00 pm
Journal
Well summer went by way too fast! Isn’t it funny how summer break for the kids seems like it’s a nice long break but then before you even blink it’s already over?
This summer Madison enjoyed vacationing with our family, a trip to her grandparent’s in the Midwest, summer camp, various bible schools and art camps, as ...
Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:40 PMJournal
August 7, 2008 11:00 pm
We have good news! Madison went in for her scheduled Hem/Onc appointment July 31, 2008 and all of her blood work was great! This was the visit that they were not only doing her regular follow up blood work that they always do but additional testing for 6 different auto immune/clotting disorders that are rare but aren’t good if you have them. ...
Monday, July 14, 2008 6:39 AMJournal
July 14, 2008
Well Madison survived Camp Kaleidescope! We dropped her off to meet the bus on Sunday July 6th and returned to pick her up from the bus on Friday July 11th. Yes she did stay the whole time. I was especially thinking that she wasn’t going to stay as result of the terrible weather that we had all last week. At camp they were kind of roughing it...
Monday, June 23, 2008 11:20 AMJune 23, 2008 5:00 pm
Hope all of you are doing well. We are happy that school is finally out! We had a great school year but like most of the teacher’s, we were really ready for a break! We have lots of fun summer plans that include, vacationing with family, summer camps, and hopefully lots, and lots of swimming! Our pool should be done with any luck in the next week or so. It ...
Sunday, June 15, 2008 5:29 PM Journal June 15, 2008
For those of you just joining us, on April 25, 2008 Madison was found to have Venous Thrombosis or in simple terms, an obstruction in three of her veins that are responsible for carrying her blood back to her heart. They were able to determine that the left innominate vein, the subclavian vein, and the left internal jugular veins are 100% occluded. Madison’s b...
Monday, June 9, 2008 6:17 PMJune 09, 2008 11:45pm
I have a special & important message to get out in reference to the 2008 Man & Woman of the Year Campaign! With all of your help, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society reached their goal of raising the millioneth dollar since the campaign’s inception. Special congratulations go out to Dr. Mark Yofee and Robin Smith for winning the official title for 2008. It was m...
Friday, June 6, 2008 7:46 AMFriday June 6, 2008 1:10pm
Madison came home last night and had a pretty good night. She seems to feel pretty good for the exception of some tenderness at the cath sites. We had breakfast out this morning but she is just going to relax at home today. Last night she developed red puffy rings around both of her eyes. I gave her some Benedryl and it had improved some by this morning. I...
Friday, June 6, 2008 7:37 AMFriday June 6, 2008 1:10pm
Madison came home last night and had a pretty good night. She seems to feel pretty good for the exception of some tenderness at the cath sites. We had breakfast out this morning but she is just going to relax at home today. Last night she developed red puffy rings around both of her eyes. I gave her some Benedryl and it had improved some by this morning. I...
Friday, June 6, 2008 7:09 AMUpdate - Friday, June 6, 2008 7:01 AM
Friday June 6, 2008 1:10pm
Madison came home last night and had a pretty good night. She seems to feel pretty good for the exception of some tenderness at the cath sites. We had breakfast out this morning but she is just going to relax at home today. Last night she developed red puffy rings around both of her eyes. I gave her some...
Friday, June 6, 2008 7:01 AMFriday June 6, 2008 1:00pm
Madison came home last night and had a pretty good night. She seems to feel pretty good for the exception of some tenderness at the cath sites. We had breakfast out this morning but she is just going to relax at home today. Last night she developed red puffy rings around both of her eyes. I gave her some Benedryl and it had improved some by this morning....
Thursday, June 5, 2008 1:26 PM
Thursday June 5, 2008 7:30pm
Thursday, June 5, 2008 10:51 AM
Thursday June 5, 2008 4:50
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Thursday June 5, 2008 3:20pm
Thursday, June 5, 2008 7:58 AM
Thursday June 5, 2008 1:55pm
Thursday, June 5, 2008 7:07 AM
Thursday June 5, 2008 1:00pm
Thursday, June 5, 2008 5:50 AM
Thursday June 5, 2008 11:45am
Thursday, June 5, 2008 4:42 AM
Thursday June 5, 2008 10:40am
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:10 AM
June 4, 2008 4:00 pm
Sunday, June 1, 2008 10:53 AM
June 1, 2008 4:50pm
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 5:24 PM
Wednesday May 28, 2008 11:00pm<...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 10:45 AM
Wednesday May 21, 2008 ...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 5:05 PM
May 19, 2008 10:00pm
Monday, May 19, 2008 11:33 PM
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008 7:28 PM
May 14, 2008 5:15pm
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 12:09 AM
May 13, 2008 10:45 p.m....
Thursday, May 8, 2008 11:53 AM
May 8, 2008
Madi...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 11:38 PM
Journal May 6, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008 2:22 AM
Journal May 3, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008 8:11 AM
May 1, 2008
We are still...
Monday, April 7, 2008 12:09 AMMadi is scheduled for her regular Hem/Onc follow up tomorrow April 7, 2008. Other than the chronic headaches that she has daily, she has been doing pretty well.
After Easter we heard back from Dr. Rhodes office. He is the Cardiologist that she saw at Duke for the PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) that she has. He has scheduled Madi for an Angiogram on April 25, 2008. This test will look...
Saturday, March 22, 2008 4:29 PMJournal
March 22, 2008
Happy Easter to all of you! We hope this Easter finds you together with the one’s you love.
Since last update Madison had her appointment with the Cardiologist at Duke regarding the hole in her heart referred to as PFO which stands for Patent Foramen Ovale. Her appointment was February 27,2008 and although we really don’t know an...
Saturday, January 26, 2008 9:47 PM
January 26, 2008
Journal
Well we have had a lot going on since last update. We’ve had a slight scare in December and have more recently noticed some positive changes in some things that have been going on with Madison. Last update we reported that Madison had been falling excessively and having chronic headaches. Because of her history combined with ...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 10:27 AMJournal
December 4, 2007
First I would like to say thank you to all of you that prayed for the Adams family, specifically Sherilyn. Sherilyn got her wings and her wish to go to heaven on November 14, 2007. Sherilyn suffered through a four year battle with Leukemia. During that time she was diagnosed and subsequently relapsed twice. Sherilyn was a brave and beautiful girl whose smi...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 10:21 AMJournal
December 5, 2007
First I would like to say thank you to all of you that prayed for the Adams family, specifically Sherilyn. Sherilyn got her wings and her wish to go to heaven on November 14, 2007. Sherilyn suffered through a four year battle with Leukemia. During that time she was diagnosed and subsequently relapsed twice. Sherilyn was a brave and beautiful girl whose smi...
Friday, October 12, 2007 7:22 PMJournal
October 21, 2007
Madison’s MRI of her brain was completely normal. Duke is referring her to Neurology for an exam to make sure that they aren’t missing something. This appointment is presently scheduled for November 19th which is the first regular appointment available. This is a precautionary appointment only and would have been scheduled quicker if Duke was rea...
Friday, October 12, 2007 7:21 PMJournal
October 13, 2007
Last time I updated was around July 4th, a lot has happened since then! We had a wonderful summer. Complete with a trip to St. Louis, the beach and lots of fun with friends and family! Summer never seems to be quite long enough.
Madison started back to school August 27th to begin her second grade year. This year her teacher...
Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:59 PMJuly 08, 2007
Journal
Well summer is well underway now. We have been having a great summer so far… Madison has been doing great! As we had hoped she finished the school year with straight A’s. We are very proud of her progress this year. She finished the first grade a good reader! At the beginning of the year she was reading very little so this was great progress...
Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:58 PMJuly 06, 2007
Journal
Well summer is well underway now. We have been having a great summer so far… Madison has been doing great! As we had hoped she finished the school year with straight A’s. We are very proud of her progress this year. She finished the first grade a good reader! At the beginning of the year she was reading very little so this was great progress...
Friday, July 6, 2007 10:20 AMJuly 06, 2007
Journal
Well summer is well underway now. We have been having a great summer so far… Madison has been doing great! As we had hoped she finished the school year with straight A’s. We are very proud of her progress this year. She finished the first grade a good reader! At the beginning of the year she was reading very little so this was great progress...
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 12:35 AMMay 21, 2007
Journal
Things are going wonderful for Madison. She has grown much stronger over the course of this year. For those of you that see us on a regular basis I think most would agree that if one looked at Madi today and didn’t know better you wouldn’t believe that she had ever been sick the way she had. We really have a lot to be thankful for.
...
Saturday, February 24, 2007 11:27 PMFebruary 24, 2007
Journal
Just when I think I’m back on a regular schedule of updating this site, I fall far, far, behind. Sorry for such a long delay! The good news is that I don’t have any ugly leukemic news to report about Madi. If I were updating real often, that would probably mean things weren’t going so great. She went for her first TWO-MONTH check up at the be...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 2:31 PMDecember 27 2006
Journal
We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We were able to spend with family out of town and have truly had a really nice time.
Madison has been doing pretty well. She was really looking forward to Christmas break. It is now almost over. It always seems to go so quick.
Since last update, Madison went to Duke...
Saturday, November 18, 2006 7:29 PMJournal
November 18, 2006
Wow what a week we’ve had! We are presently on our way back from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We have some friends from the Dunn area that also went. Their daughter Sophie has seven more months of Chemotherapy for leukemia. Make a Wish of North Carolina sent them on her wish. Sophie is responding wonderfully to treatment. We we...
Friday, October 20, 2006 4:50 PMOctober 18, 2006
Doesn’t it seem crazy that fall is here and Thanksgiving is a little over a month away? It always amazes me how quick the years slip by. Fall for us means the infamous State Fair which happens to be going on this week. We will be going to the fair this afternoon. As long as Madison is at school until 11:30 she will be counted present for the whole day. You see, w...
Sunday, September 17, 2006 10:25 PMMore and more time has been elapsing between these updates. As always, I’m sorry for the long delay but praise God that we don’t have terrible frequent things to write about!
Madison started first grade this year and got a wonderful teacher by the name of Mrs. Godwin. Madison really likes her and I think Madison will really do well with her. There are four first grade classes at he...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 4:29 PMA lot has been changing at the Smith house! Things are getting back to normal, I think. Things have been outside of the normal run of the mill household for such a long time sometimes I wonder if our definition of normal is now distorted!
Hmmm…..lets see, where should I start? Well first, we were able to find a new nanny. Her name is Debra and she has been with us since June 1...
Sunday, May 14, 2006 1:54 PMIsn't amazing how the weeks turn into months and months into years! I am completely amazed that school will be out in four short weeks. It seems crazy to me that Madison has already almost completed her first year of school. In some ways it seems possible but in a lot of ways it seems as though, I just had her! CRAZY…Mama said it would be like this!
Things have been going great...
Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:21 PMDear Nona from Allstate, I dedicate this update to you! Thank you for always being so incredibly loyal to our site, even when I haven't updated it. Everyone else also thanks you for motivating me to finally get it done!!! Love ya, girl!
Yes, that's right, it has been almost two months since I've updated. So here goes with what will probably seem like a marathon update. At least we...
Sunday, February 5, 2006 7:17 PMSince last update a lot has changed at the Smith house. Madison is doing beautifully! She was seen at Duke on January 31st for her regularly scheduled check up. They did blood work and she received her IV-IG. The visit took the better part of the day. Madi seemed to have some sort of reaction to the pre-meds they gave her so she wouldn't have a reaction to the IV-IG like she has in the past. She...
Saturday, January 7, 2006 5:09 PMIt has been an amazing year! We received great news that the mass in Madison's chest that had once encompassed almost her entire upper chest cavity was all but gone. She had a CT scan on December 23rd which proved that all that seems to be left of the mass is calcified scar tissue. This was awesome news for us, and a great blessing for us to get around the holidays.
We had a wonde...
Sunday, December 11, 2005 8:36 PMMadison has had a good month! She started going back to school for a full day around Thanksgiving and has been doing great with it. Shortly after school started (around October) we started pulling her out half days. She was so tired. We would pick her up from school and then she would come home and sleep for three and half to four hours. The thirty minute nap she was getting at school wasn't en...
Saturday, November 19, 2005 10:12 AMSince last update we have had a couple un-expected trips back to Duke! A couple weeks ago she had to go in for a UTI. She was treated and released (no big deal) and is now much better!
We spent the better part of yesterday up there again trying to figure out why she is has been having severe headaches that are coming and going. After completing a CT Scan they confirmed that her bra...
Thursday, October 20, 2005 8:18 PMSince last update we have had an interesting couple of weeks! Things seem to be getting back on track now though.
It all started with Madi having a little fever and another all nighter at Duke's ER on Friday October 7th.
We were there all night she had a fever and a headache but no other real symptoms. Her counts were found to be great so they sent us home after sh...
Tuesday, October 4, 2005 10:21 PM
 Thank you for making the benefit for Road To Life a huge success! Together we have raised roughly $27,000 & checks are still coming in. We hope to have a finalized total in a few more weeks.
For t...
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 3:23 PMMadison celebrated her birthday on Sunday September 11, 2005. It didn't turn out to be such a great day but we made up for it later! Madi woke up on her birthday with some sort of stomach virus. She was sick all day! We never even cut her cake!
On Monday the 12th she seemed to be much better. Monday was her regularly scheduled trip to Duke. She was scheduled for a spinal tap a...
Monday, September 5, 2005 10:18 AMFor those of you visiting Madi's site for the first time, we would like to welcome you here. Madison was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Leukemia Lymphoma September 23, 2003. We have used these journals to track her progress throughout her treatment. All past journals can be accessed on this site. Madison is currently on treatment almost two years into chemotherapy. In September of this year we wi...
Saturday, July 23, 2005 8:00 PMFor those of you visiting Madi's site for the first time, we would like to welcome you here. Madison was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Leukemia Lymphoma September 23, 2003. We have used these journals to track her progress throughout her treatment. All past journals can be accessed on this site. Madison is currently on treatment almost two years into chemotherapy. In September of this year we wi...
Saturday, June 25, 2005 7:30 PMJune has proved to be pretty busy month for us. The summer seems to be flying by but we're having fun! We took a long weekend trip to Myrtle Beach while Grandma Shirl was down and we had a blast. The weather was beautiful the whole time! God willing, we are planning on going to St. Louis in the coming days to visit family. We are very excited about this.
Since last update Madison ha...
Friday, June 3, 2005 12:30 AMYou know, I am getting worse and worse about taking the time to write these updates. I promise I will start doing better. Before, I tried to update every week or ten days because that was around Madi's schedule for going to Duke. Since around the first of the year we have mostly been making monthly visits to Duke for a few random exceptions. I guess the less frequent visits have resulted in less f...
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 8:30 PMIsn't it nice that spring is here and summer is fast approaching? We have really been enjoying this great weather and hope that it will continue. Things have been going exceptionally well with Madison and our family in general.
Last week Madi performed in her year end dance recital. All of the children worked really hard to prepare for it and much to my surprise they had quite a per...
Monday, April 18, 2005 6:00 PMMadison made it through both the prep for the colonoscopy and the colonoscopy itself last week. The results of the scope came back completely normal. So although she is still testing positive for blood, they don't see the culprit. Nor did there appear to be anything that looked suspicious in the way of cancer. They did send off some biopsies which they expect to come back completely normal. They e...
Tuesday, April 5, 2005 11:00 PMHooray for vacations! We have made it back from our week long vacation to the greater St. Louis area. We arrived home on Thursday March 31st. We had a great time, relaxed, and enjoyed spending time with family. Madison felt great the entire trip. We didn't have any unexpected trips to St. Louis Children's this time.
The Easter bunny managed to come see the girls there and they got t...
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:00 AMMadison went to Duke yesterday for her regularly scheduled treatment. She was scheduled to receive her chemo, an IV antibiotic that she gets monthly and a spinal tap. Everything went as planned and actually went exceptionally well! The strength that she displays through all that she goes through continues to amaze me. Yesterday through them accessing her port (putting the needle in), taking it o...
Saturday, March 5, 2005 6:00 PMHello all! If you haven't done it yet save Madison's new page to your favorites. It is www.madisonsmith.org. Easy, isn't it? Thanks again to my little brother Dan who has made this site possible. He has spent hours on end making this site what it is today. We think he does a magnificent job and are extremely thankful for his generosity! Dan you ARE th...
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 11:00 PMSince last update, Madi has had some ups and downs but for the most part has been feeling pretty good. A week ago Monday her doctors at Duke restarted her on the chemo at home and reduced the dosage to half in an effort to get her counts to rise back to the expected level.
Madison finished her antibiotic that they had her on as a last ditch effort to rid her of the diarrhea and sto...
Saturday, February 12, 2005 7:00 PMWow, what a week this has been! The beginning of the week started out rocky with a little scare but so far, it is finishing beautifully.
On Monday we went to Duke for Madison's scheduled CT scan of her stomach and bowels to also receive an antibody infusion also know as IV-IG (immune globulin). The CT scan came back great, well nothing suspicious anyway but there was also nothing ...
Sunday, February 6, 2005 4:00 PMIn a nutshell, we don't know anymore than we did last week about what is going on with Madison. From the last update, we mentioned that she has been having a pretty hard time over the last month or so with stomach pain and diarrhea. Duke got her an appointment with Gastroenterology this past week on Friday. We had hoped that it would give us some answers. Unfortunately, Madison' counts (immuni...
Sunday, January 30, 2005 5:00 PMGosh it seems that I get worse and worse about updating this website, sorry for the delay.
Madison went back to Duke on Monday January 24, 2005 for her regularly scheduled treatment. Despite some of the problems that she has been having for a month, her counts were great and she was able to receive all of the chemo that she was supposed to.
For the last month or so M...
Sunday, January 16, 2005 10:00 PMHope all of you are doing well. Things are going great around here. Madison hasn't made any unscheduled trips to Duke since her last appointment December 27th. She is scheduled to go to Duke again on Monday January 24, 2005.
About a week ago the flu went through our house and shut us down for a few days. It was some really bad stuff that included violent vomiting and diarrhea. Al...
Sunday, December 26, 2004 7:00 PMIt's the day after Christmas and I am delighted to report that we had a wonderful Christmas free from hospitals! We spent a quiet afternoon at our home in North Carolina with family and friends and truly enjoyed our time together. Madison got the Barbie bike and Hula hoop that she had hoped for. She even got to try her bike out some yesterday afternoon!
Madison has had to make a f...
Thursday, December 9, 2004 3:00 PMGosh, is it really December 9th ? That means that there is really only 15 more days left to procrastinate in my preparations for the holidays. Don't think I'm not counting! Kudos to all of you that I have heard from that are soooooo ready, already. Usually I am one of those but just haven't been able to get into yet. All the cookies have been baked and now Christmas cards have been addressed...
Monday, November 29, 2004 9:30 PMWe hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did! We were able to spend it with friends and family. It originally appeared that we were not going to be able to go on our scheduled trip because Madi's counts were too low. We had them checked again the Friday that we were supposed to leave and they had miraculously recovered! I say miraculously because on Monday the 15th they we...
Thursday, November 18, 2004 10:30 PMGosh the holiday season is already upon us. It seems crazy that another year is quickly drawing to a close. From our family to yours we truly hope that each and everyone of you will enjoy the time and memories that you will share with each other this Thanksgiving.
Although I have been trying, I am having a hard time getting into the spirit this year. I am not sure that it is the s...
Sunday, November 7, 2004 10:00 PMMadison has been doing exceptionally well lately. We have all been fighting colds on and off but so far Madi has been the least effected with symptoms. Last Monday her treatment at Duke went as planned and all went well.
We inquired about a flu shot for us and where we could get one. Our regular physician didn't have any to give. Last year they said that we needed flu shots and re...
Friday, October 29, 2004 1:30 PMWe are back from Madison's Make a Wish trip. It was truly a remarkable experience and all of us had a great time. We arrived in Orlando last Thursday afternoon. We were treated first class from the moment the limo picked us up to take us to the airport until it brought us back home on Wednesday evening. Madison felt great the whole time we were gone. Any time we go somewhere in the back of our...
Sunday, October 17, 2004 5:00 PMWhat a great couple of weeks we've had!!! Madison is feeling much better than she has over the last couple of months. Life seems to be getting back to normal, our normal anyway. We had become so accustom to not being in the hospital after our nine month break that when she was hospitalized twice in a one month period we didn't know if we were coming or going.
This week Madison f...
Friday, October 8, 2004 2:00 PMMadison's spinal tap went well on Monday. They didn't find any abnormalities with it. Madison has been in the hospital since Wednesday. She picked up a stomach virus that has made its way through our whole house. They just put her in to administer fluids from where she got a little dehydrated. She is coming home this afternoon. We think we are on the tail end of the virus and hope that it will ...
Thursday, October 7, 2004 11:00 PMMadison is currently admitted to Duke Hospital. She apparently contracted a virus and begun running a temperature. She is receiving care to make her stronger and should be home soon. Please keep her in your prayers....
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 8:00 PMThe final results are in from Madi's bone marrow test. There were NO leukemia cells present, Madison HAS NOT relapsed! We finally got the news around 2:00 today. A huge weight has been taken off of all of us.
Madison will be going in on Monday for a spinal tap if her counts are high enough. We expect them to be back up by then. This is the spinal tap that we have been trying to ...
Tuesday, September 28, 2004 11:00 PMMadison went in for her Bone Marrow test on Monday. On Monday afternoon her doctor looked at the slides and said from what she saw under the microscope things looked good. She said she didn't see anything that should cause concern but that her results were strictly preliminary and not the official results. The key thing that we walked away with was that based on what she saw, she wasn't scared.<...
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 12:00 AMWe took Madison locally to have her blood drawn on Monday. Her doctors from Duke had requested that we do this to see if her counts would be high enough for them to move forward with the spinal tap and bone marrow test on Tuesday (today). Still, her counts were found to be too low so we didn't end up going in for the two tests.
We ended up having to take her up to Duke on Monday af...
Friday, September 17, 2004 1:00 PMMadison came home yesterday evening after being admitted for four days at Duke. Two of Duke's three requirements were met for her release. Although she has been fever free and bacteria free for 48 hours her counts are still very low. With her low counts we were surprised that they released her. However, her blood work yesterday indicated that they should start to rise back up to where they belon...
Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:45 AMMadison although still admitted is doing well. Again she was admitted because she spiked a fever and her counts were below the magic number. Since being admitted they have been able to keep her fever away but unfortunately her counts have continued to move in a downward trend.
Her cultures have not revealed any particular infection however Duke treated her as though she did have o...
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 10:00 PMOn Monday, September 13, Madison went to Duke Hospital as scheduled. However, due to low blood counts, they were unable to do the bone marrow test. Later in the day she began to run a fever. As a result she was admitted to Duke that evening. In accordance with normal procedures, she will need to stay at Duke until she has been fever free for 48 hours, no bacterial growth, and her blood count...
Friday, September 10, 2004 12:00 AMMadison went to Duke this week. She is in a phase of her treatment where they go ahead and administer her chemo regardless of her counts. Her counts are still below the magic number so she has been staying in this week. Despite her low counts she has been feeling pretty good.
Madison's Birthday is on Saturday the 11th and he is having a Dora the Explorer party with a few friends an...
Tuesday, August 31, 2004 12:00 AMMadison made it through last week with low counts but without hospitalization. She received chemo every day last week through Thursday. Still, we didn't seem to see any real side effects from it. Thursday we had to have her hemoglobin checked again based on the fact that it was borderline low last Monday when we went to Duke. They thought that she would possibly need a transfusion before we got b...
Wednesday, August 25, 2004 5:30 PMOn the morning of August 24, 2004 Alexis Chapman succumbed to complications from Neuroblastoma in the comforts of her Kentucky home. The Chapman's and their family are deeply saddened by their great loss however, feel relief that their precious child isn't suffering anymore.
It is their wish to express their utter gratitude to all of you that have let them know that you care. Thank...
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:30 PMMadi had a very long day at Duke on Monday. We left for Duke Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. and got back home that night at 9:00. The day was long but she really had a good day. It always amazes me how all these kids up there get through hours and hours of boring, boring treatment! We pass the time by reading books, (lots and lots of books), watching movies, and there is a wonderful woman who come...
Monday, August 9, 2004 10:30 PMWow the past couple of weeks have been pretty tough on Madi. Last Monday she went to Duke as scheduled and all she had to do was blood work. Madi had been experiencing severe back pain along with foot and leg pain. This is expected with one of the drugs in particular that she receives. She has however had this drug since originally being diagnosed and has had some pains associated with it but th...
Monday, August 9, 2004 10:00 PMFor Alexis Chapman
Since our last update Alexis and Linda left Duke to head to Kentucky (home) for a week. The entire family was really looking forward to being together for a whole week. They have now been home for more than two weeks.
Duke had made a referral for Alexis to go to Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This facility is recognized for treating Neu...
Sunday, August 1, 2004 7:00 PMMadison went to Duke on Monday July 26, 2004. Overall the day went really well. She received several different types of chemo and fortunately didn't have to have a spinal tap.
Over the last week Madison has not been sick, but has had a significant decrease in energy. She has been really tired and just hasn't been 100%. Early in the week she complained of back and head pain again. ...
Thursday, July 22, 2004 5:30 PMMadison's trip to Duke on Monday went well. She finished a week of being on a steroid on Monday of this week. We are still seeing the effects of it though. She has been eating enough for a grown man each day and has been a little hyper from it but overall it has been fine.
This week Madison hasn't felt nauseated at all but has been having quite a bit of pain in her legs and feet. ...
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 4:30 PMMadison had her regularly scheduled treatment on Monday July 12th. Please click on the link at the end of this page to read her updated progress.
Today I am not writing to talk about Madison, today I am writing to tell you more about a little girl, Madi's friend, and her family that I have previously asked all of you to pray for through this website. Today, I am writing to ask for y...
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 4:00 PMMadison had her regularly scheduled day of chemo at Duke on Monday, July 12, 2004. The day was an extremely long day for her. She had a spinal tap, one shot in each of her legs and received four different drugs for chemo. She also had an echocardiogram scheduled, they wanted to check and make sure that everything was still okay. Some of the drugs that she is getting can be damaging to her heart....
Friday, July 9, 2004 8:00 PMMadison is scheduled for her regularly scheduled treatment on Monday July 12. Fortunately, she received a break and hasn't had a treatment since the second to last week in June. Things have been going remarkable well, so well that we were able to take a much needed vacation. We went to the mountains of North Carolina and a good time was had by all!
Today I am not writing to talk ab...
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 9:35 PMToday marks exactly nine months from the date that Madison was originally on a life flight to Duke. She was officially diagnosed with Leukemia in the wee hours of the morning on September 23, 2003. It is remarkable to me how far we have come since that day.
Madi had her regularly scheduled treatment yesterday. Everything was status quo if there is such a term with Leukemia. She ha...
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 11:20 AMMadison had her regularly scheduled treatment on Thursday June 10th.
Her counts were up and she received all of the chemo that she was scheduled for. She had to have another spinal tap. All went very well.
After her treatment she wasn't sick, she usually is the evening that she gets the treatment. She has seemed to feel pretty good for the exception of Sunday.
...
Wednesday, June 2, 2004 11:00 PMOn Monday, May 31st Madi had her regularly scheduled treatment. Her counts were way up this time. It has been a while since her counts were so good. She received all of the chemo that she was supposed to receive. The day went really well.
Madi's step-brother Cody has come to stay with us for the week and between the two of them and the friends that they have had over to play they ha...
Monday, May 24, 2004 9:50 AMMadison had her regularly scheduled treatment on Thursday May 20th. She only had to have two drugs, so it was expected to be an easy day. It turned out like we expected but she was only able to get one of the drugs because her counts were too low for the other.
She has been doing quite well and has been enjoying the nice weather that we have been having. Her stepbrother, Cody was h...
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:00 PMHooray! We made it through another period with Madison's counts being low without being hospitalized. This is a major win! Madison's counts stayed low for about a week before rebounding but as of Monday they were above the magic number. She was able to get rid of her cough and runny nose without it turning into anything else.
Madi had her regularly scheduled treatment on Monday. Mo...
Saturday, May 1, 2004 6:00 PMGreetings! The last few weeks have been some what of a whirlwind. I apologize for this update not posting sooner, it was originally written last Tuesday (the normal day that we update) but then due to OPERATOR ERROR it was lost and this is the first opportunity that the operator has had to re-write it. Sometimes I am a little technologically challenged. Hats off to my brother for all of the change...
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:00 PMMadison's scheduled treatment went pretty well on Monday. She had another spinal tap. It always amazes me how brave she is while it is going on. Her mannerism is very calm and as a result it seems to make things go much smoother.
Again this week her port is still accessed and will continue to be through Thursday. Home health is coming out each day to administer her chemo. This shou...
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 10:30 PMOn Monday of this week we went back to Duke to get the treatment that Madi was supposed to receive last Monday. Last weeks treatment was postponed due to her counts being too low. Her counts were found to be much higher this week.
She was scheduled to have a spinal tap with a chemo injection in addition to two other drugs administered through her port. One of the drugs calls for two...
Tuesday, April 6, 2004 10:00 PMMadison went to Duke on Monday for her scheduled treatment. Upon getting the results of her routine blood work it was determined that her counts were too low to receive what she was scheduled for. You can bet that there weren't any complaints from Madi about that! This makes two weeks in a row that she hasn't had any chemo and therefore, she has been feeling quite well.
Providing th...
Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:00 PMMadison had her regular treatment yesterday and all went well. Her counts had dropped in half since last Monday. This week they will likely continue to drop. This is expected during this phase of treatment.
Yesterday Madison went back on the steroid for another week. Still, so far, so good, she hasn't had any side effects. Although, we don't want to jinx ourselves this is unheard of...
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 9:00 PMMadison had yet another great week last week. We expected things to be relatively bad as a result of the chemo that she received combined with going back on the steroid. Surprisingly but thankfully she was only nauseated the first part of last week and appeared to feel good otherwise.
When Madison was originally diagnosed she was put on a steroid for a relatively short period of tim...
Monday, March 8, 2004 8:35 PMToday Madison started the phase of her treatment known as delayed intensification. We went to Duke as scheduled and she had a long day but as always, pulled through. Her counts were found to be good so her treatment was carried out. Unfortunately, she had to have another spinal tap and two shots in addition to the chemotherapy today. She will also be starting a steroid again this week. The stero...
Monday, March 1, 2004 9:00 PMWow, things have been really busy around here lately. Busy, but good!! As mentioned in our last update Madison welcomed her new baby sister to our family on February 15th. We named her Maiya Elizabeth and Madison is enjoying being a big sister (most of the time anyway.) We have truly been blessed with a wonderful, happy baby who so far hasn?t seen the need to get up more than once during the nigh...
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 7:00 PMAll is going well at the Smith house. Madison has done fine since her last treatment and is scheduled for her next appointment tomorrow (Thursday, February 19, 2004) at Duke. Thankfully, she has not had to be admitted since Christmas.
We welcomed Maiya Elizabeth into our lives on Sunday, February 15, 2004 at 10:08 A.M. She weighed in at a hefty 9lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long. We we...
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 7:00 PMMadison went to Duke for her regular treatment as planned yesterday. She was scheduled to have another spinal tap. The procedure was completed but didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. When they do the procedure a needle is inserted to draw fluid from her spinal column. With each spinal tap that Madison has had more scar tissue has formed in that area. The doctor has to be able to get through the...
Sunday, January 25, 2004 7:00 PMOver the last week or so we have experienced some problems with our server, as a result the site has been down a few times. At one point we thought we lost everything. We apologize for any confusion and appreciate your patience. The site should be back to normal now. I would like to thank my brother Dan for his diligent work in creating and maintaining this site as well for picking up the pieces a...
Wednesday, January 7, 2004 7:00 PMMadison had her regular treatment at Duke on Monday. She had to have another spinal tap. This was the first one in several weeks. All went well, and for the first time Madison didn't cry even the first tear. It's amazing to us how truly brave she is. The procedure is extremely painful and the woman who preformed it did a remarkable job.
Since our trip to Children's in St. Louis Mad...
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 3:00 PMAfter being admitted to Barnes Jewish Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Mo for five days, Madison was released yesterday afternoon. She was admitted due to being neutropenic again along with a fever. This means that she had little or no ability to fight infection.
Although her counts are still low enough that she is still considered neutropenic, they are on an upswing and she has n...
Sunday, December 28, 2003 7:00 PMYesterday Madison's counts had slightly improved to 35 from the previous day at 16. Unfortunately, they were at zero today when they were checked. Madison is not sick, she doesn't have any sort of infection at this time, she hasn't had a fever in almost two days and they found 0 bacteria in the culture that was taken from the ER.All of which is great news.
Because everything else s...
Friday, December 26, 2003 7:00 PMMadison is still admitted at Barnes-Jewish Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Since being admitted her counts have not made a change for the better or worse. This means that they are still way too low for her to be able to leave the hospital. Her doctor gave her a medicine today that is supposed to help boost her white blood cells and in turn should help her counts rebound. She has not had this...
Thursday, December 25, 2003 7:00 PMMerry Christmas! In fulfillment of our continuing joke of being on the Holiday and weekend plan, Madison was admitted into the hospital in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Two days prior to admittance Madison started running a low grade fever that continued to rise. In having her checked, her ability to fight infection is as low as it has ever been since being diagnosed.
As prot...
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 7:00 PMWe hope all of you are preparing to enjoy the things that this holiday season brings.
Madison had her regular appointment at Duke on Monday. We were there by 8:00a.m. and unbelievably we were walking out of there at 10:45a.m. This never happens, in fact most treatment days are an all day affair lasting until as late as 8:00p.m. Well it was too good to be true as her doctors were ca...
Thursday, December 18, 2003 7:00 PMAs a follow up to yesterday's update, Madison's platelets were still low today. In fact they were considerably lower than what they were on Monday. She did have to have a platelet transfusion today. It went well and was pretty quick. Madi seems to be feeling good. Her counts were back up today and really should not go back down for a little while. This is a good thing and with her counts up it mea...
Thursday, December 11, 2003 10:30 PMThursday, December 11, 2003 After having a long weekend (last weekend) due to another admission at Duke we have been enjoying what has been a great week. Madi has felt good this week, is off the IV at home, has been eating much better, hasn't been nauseated and so far hasn't had the head and back pain that she had been experiencing. HOORAH!
As mentioned in a previous update, Madi's...
Thursday, December 4, 2003 8:00 PMMadison's surgery to insert her portacath began on time this morning around 8:45A.M. Again, the portacath is a line that is under the skin in her chest that has a port that can be accessed to administer drugs, IV's and get labs throughout her treatment. This reduces the necessity to stick her with needles in other places so frequently.
Overall the surgery went well, it took less th...
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 8:00 PMMadison has felt better the last two days than she has since she has been diagnosed. It seems as though she is really getting back to the Madison that we had become used to.Very chatty, I don't know where she gets it from!
We went for our normal treatment on Monday and everything went very well. They did her blood work and her counts had risen back up to a normal level. We followed...
Saturday, November 29, 2003 9:00 PMMadison was released from Duke Hospital on Friday, 28 November, 2003. Since being home she has been nauseated and has continued to have headaches off and on.
She was able to come home as her final blood culture revealed zero bacteria growing. Upon review of her head CT they found everything to be 'normal' for the exception of some air pockets that have formed in the fluid surroundi...
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 9:00 PMMadison was re-admitted to Duke University Hospital on Wednesday, November 26th. She is currently neutropenic which means that her 'ANC' (absolute neutrophil counts) are below what is considered safe. Her counts being below the magic number means that she doesn't have the ability to fight infection. At any time throughout her treatment if she has a fever of 101 and above and is neutropenic she mus...
Thursday, November 20, 2003 5:00 PMMadison had a rough start to the week this week but as we are approaching the end of the week things have settled back down. Monday she was scheduled for her normal treatment day at Duke in addition to a planned spinal tap. As a result of the spinal tap being scheduled she wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink that morning prior to arriving.
Despite her empty stomach, she...
Saturday, November 15, 2003 7:00 PMWe apologize for the extended delay in updating Madison's site. Things have been pretty hectic just from going back and forth for treatments. We will try to update this more frequently to keep all of you in the loop of what is going on with her.
Since our update on October 31st there really hasn't been a significant change in anything going on. We refer to it as the 'hurry up and w...
Friday, October 31, 2003 7:00 PMMadison's surgery that was scheduled for Thursday, October 30, 2003 was postponed until further notice. She was initially scheduled to have a portacath surgically implanted. The purpose was so they would be able to administer drugs and or fluids through the port going into her body as opposed to sticking her each time throughout her treatment.
We went to Duke on Thursday as planned...
Friday, October 24, 2003 9:00 PMMadison is officially in "REMISSION"!!!!
Remission Definition: A disappearance of evidence of a disease, usually as a result of treatment.
The bone marrow and spinal tap that were done on 23 October 2003 revealed zero leukemia cells present. This day also marked the end of the "Induction Period" which is one of the three phases of treatment that she will go through ...
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 8:00 PMMadison was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia Lymphoma on 9/24/03 after being air lifted to Duke Hospital. She had a large malignant mass in her chest that caused her left lung to collapse and was starting to collapse her right lung.
The days following her arrival at Duke the mass didn't shrink despite her Doctors attempts with steroids as well as chemo. As a result they sent her to ra...
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