Home Sign Our Guestbook View Madison's Pictures View Madison's Journal Archives Contact Us
Madison Smith's Website - Viewing Journal - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:00 PM
Thank you for taking time to inquire about Madison and how she is doing. Madison was diagnosed with high risk T-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on September 24, 2003 at Duke Hospital in North Carolina. She had just turned three at that time. Leukemia is a blood cancer that is not believed by medical professionals to be inherited at this time. She presented with a mass in her chest that encompassed the majority of the upper half of her chest area. The mass was related to the leukemia. It collapsed her left lung and a portion of her right lung and was shutting off the blood flow from her heart to the rest of her body. She was in the pediatric intensive care unit for almost two weeks on a ventilator. We weren't sure then if we would ever have a chance to fight the leukemia. Madi is a true fighter and pulled through! After getting off the vent, Madison was able to achieve remission by the 28th day of treatment. She underwent two and half years of aggressive chemotherapy (protocol 1961) and radiation for the mass. On Christmas Eve 2005, a little over two years after her diagnosis Madison had a chest CT done that revealed that the mass was finally gone! Madison finished her treatment in January 2006. Children that have cancer are not considered "cured" until they have been off treatment with no-reoccurrence for five years. Duke has followed Madison throughout her treatment. She will continue to be followed by Duke. In April 2008 Duke uncovered that Madison has an obstruction in 3 of her veins. The veins involved are the Left innominate vein, the left (lower) internal jugular vein, and her sub-clavian vein. These veins are responsible for carrying her blood back to her heart and hers are 100% occluded. What is going on with her right now is likely a result of the mass she had in 2003. There aren't really any easy fixes for what is going on with her and no real cases that it can be compared to. We are working with Duke in an effort to resolve this issue. In February 2011, Madi moved from in-remission to "CURED" from her disease We've come this far for a reason! Please continue to lift all of us up. The care and concern that we have felt from all of you continues to be an encouragement to us. Thank you...
 
- Allison

Update - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:00 PM


Hooray! 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. Monday proved to be a pretty rough day. She was scheduled for a spinal tap (again) and two shots in her leg. Between getting her labs drawn, the spinal tap and the shots the poor kid ended up getting stuck seven or eight times that day. We told Madi that we were going to tell everyone just how tough she was through all of it. She responded by saying 'mommy I have tried & tried and tried to be tough and it's just not working.' Needless to say, that broke my heart. How could she possibly think that she isn't tough is beyond me. The things that she has to go through on a regular basis are things that most of us couldn't even fathom having to endure. The strength that she continues to display through it all amazes us. We are thankful to have a child that has an outlook on things the way she does.

So far Madi hasn't been nauseated as a result of this most recent spinal tap. That is definitely a welcomed change from her past experience. Other than a few headaches that she has had this week Madi seems to be having a great week.

As mentioned in a previous update Madi has been chosen as a MAKE A WISH kid. We were contacted by a wish counselor a couple of weeks ago and Madi's wish of going to Disney was communicated. Madison's wish will be grated sometime this fall when her treatments aren't as frequent as they have been. Madison is ecstatic!

We previously asked for all of you to pray for Madi's friend Alexis who was getting ready under go a bone marrow transplant. She underwent the transplant on April 30th and is doing well. She will remain at Duke for approximately sixty more days. Please continue to keep her in your daily prayers. Pray that she continues to do well and that her body will not reject the transplant. Also pray for her grandparents that they will continue to have the strength they need to get through this tough time. Alexis and her grandparents are from Kentucky and the distance back and forth to Duke has been difficult on all of them.


Thank you for taking the time to check our site, please sign our guestbook.