Hello Maddie's Angels!

I just wanted to let you all know that the echo-cardiagram results for Maddie were good and her heart is looking fine!
Also her levels of jaundice greatly improved over night and went from 36 points to 17 pts. by this morning! (0 points is considered normal).
So, now we are just patiently praying that she gets over her respiratory illness, so the doctors can take the next step toward her recovery.
Thanks for keeping up the warm prayers and white light for her.
What an effect they have had so far!

Sometimes I feel funny about continually asking you all for prayers, but just when I do I feel the sincerity of your concern and I'm reminded of how special all you KnowFlakes are here!!
I plan on printing out all the posts here, so that when Maddie is older she can read them herself and see all the beautiful people who prayed for her in her time of need!
All my love, Lisa

Dani

Lisa you have made my day!!

I didn't expect to hear so soon how Maddie was doing. I am so glad to hear that things are looking up again! Maddie, her parents and her sister will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Love,
Rachel

Oh Lisa that's great to hear she's doing better. I'd been thinking a lot about here.

I'll send all my love to you, her and your family - it's been so many weeks and must be really stressful.

All my love and light

Lis

I'll pray for her too.

Joshua

Thanks, Dani, Rachel, Lis and Joshua!
Maddie's 2nd round of chemo began last
Thursday and she is taking it well so far
She is having a problem with digesting her formula and keeping her feedings down
The doctors say that that is the only thing that is keeping her in the hospital at this point, and if they can find out the source of the problem and get her drinking formula, then they will send her home! (we hope so!) If and when she is sent home she would return every 3 weeks for 3 days of chemo at the hospital.
Therapists are working with her to try and get her sucking instincts back, so that she can eventually take a bottle.
It is so wonderful to see her awake more now!
The first picture I saw of her with her eyes open made me cry with happiness!
She now smiles and enjoys listening to the sounds of her toys and music.
And her mother, Tricia is overjoyed to finally be able to hold her, bathe, dress her and even change her diapers !!!
Simple things new mothers often take for granted or find tedious have lifted Tricia's spirits and given her hope!
Thanks for all your concern, again.
The support you have given me through this has been a beautiful gift I will always cherish.
Love and light and warm fuzzy hugs of thank yous to you all, Lisa

Dani

Dear Blakeheart,

I am so happy to hear about the improvement on baby Maddie!

I hope she gets home fast!!!!

Thanks,Tish and Dani
Thought I'd share a poem with you that I've kept close to my heart throughout Maddie's illness

On Another's Sorrow

Can I see another's woe
and not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
and not seek for kind relief?

Can I see a fallen tear
and not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear:
No, No, never can it be!
Never, Never can it be!

And can he who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird's grief and care
Hear the woes that infant's bear;

And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in their breast;
And not sit the cradle near
Weaping tear on infant's tear:

And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
O, no, never can it be!
Never, never can it be!

He doth give his joy to all,
He becomes an infant small:
He becomes a man of woe,
He doth feel the sorrow too.

Think not thou can sigh a sigh
And thy maker is not by;
Think not thou canst weep a tear
And thy maker is not near.

O! he gives to us his joy
That our grief he may destroy:
Till our grief is fled and gone
He does sit by us and moan.

--William Blake

Dear Lisa,
Whenever I read about Maddie and what you are all going through it reminds me of when one of my nieces was born. It was a rough first few months, so I know exactly how you feel. Luckily everything turned out great for our Emily. I had envisioned her becoming a delicate girl, but she is quite the tomboy with three older brothers and quite robust!

Hope all your dreams Maddie come true too.

Love,

Piscesdreamer

Dear, Piscesdreamer,
Maddie's older sister is named Emily!
Glad to hear that your neice is strong and healthy!
That's part of how I have prayed for Maddie-- envisioning her older as strong and healthy.
Happy and running and playing with her sister Emily and my 2 little girls
It helps to hear stories like yours where the wee one (hi,tink! ) has made it through and flourished!!
Thank you, Love, Lisa

OH!!

That is a very sentimental poem, it reminded me when my son was in the hospital and I wished I could change myself for him.

My heart is with you and your family Dear Lisa!!!!

Hi Lisa,

Thought I'd pull up Maddie's thread again before the weekend and then Thanksgiving next week! Just to let you know I still think of her and hoping she and her family are doing well!

The holiday season always reminds me of all the things I have to be thankful for. I hope that in the coming month Maddie will truly thrive and her parents can have her home to celebrate all together as a family. I think about her sister too, she must be a very special soul to have come to your family knowing (I believe) what would be happening now. You remind her parents when they are feeling guilty about taking so much time for Maddie that they feel they are neglecting their other child how much that little girl must of loved them to come first to help ease over this difficult time with Maddie. She may not fully understand now what is going on but she knew when she picked them for parents that this time would come.

My son is such a tremedous blessing in my life and we have not always had it easy but I am so thankful that he came to be with me. And I really believe he came to help me more than anything else. Just looking at him and seeing how much he loves me keeps me going, when if I didn't have him I probably would have given up. But I remember he trusted me to be the person to give him life and guide him through the beginning of his life and to help me though my life. It is an awesome thought when you think about it that way!

So I am sending your family love and light and a big hug to Maddie and her special sister, you all are still in my thoughts.

Love,
Rachel

Thank you, Rachel
You really opened my eyes with what you said about Emily.
Through all of the fear and grief, I hadn't really thought of it that way,
but it really does make sense because she is such an empathetic and wise little girl.
I will share your thoughts with Maddie's parents, because I think that would really help them to hear that right now.

They are feeling a bit dissappointed because they had hoped she would be coming home by now, but she is still having problems keeping her formula down and has been spitting up some blood and we don't yet know why. Perhaps it is a side effect of the chemo. The Dr.s say that now they want to wait until after her next chemo treatments after Thanksgiving to even consider the possibility of sending her home.
Of course we all understand and want to make sure she is completely up to going home first,but the stress of it all is really getting to Maddie's parents. Mark feels torn between spending time with Maddie and Tricia at the hospital and spending time with Emily. And Emily is really missing her parents and cries for them all the time.
She asked Tricia recently, "Mommy, if I was sick like Maddie would you stay with me?" and when Tricia said,"of course I would!", she went further and asked,"what if Maddie and me were both sick? Who would you stay with?" She is understandably feeling a bit jealous.
I understand how you feel about your son. 10 years ago I couldn't have imagined being a Mother to 2. It seemed so impossible at the time. But now I really believe that it was all meant to be and my whole life up until this point was a preparation to receive them.
I only hope I can give them what they have already given me. Like in Sinead O Connor's song "3 Babies" she says,

Each of these my three babies
have brought you closer to me.
No longer mad like a horse,
I'm still wild but not lost
from the thing that I've chosen to be.

And it's cuz you've thrilled me,
silenced me, stilled me,
proved things I never believed,
Oh,
the face on you
the smell of you
will always be with me.

I have sang that song as a lullaby to them since they were born.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank you so much for being such a caring person. All of your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Lots of love,
Lisa

Sweet Soul-sis

Think of it this way----it would be unbelievably hard to not celebrate Maddies Homecoming at Thanksgiving---I mean what a blessing to be thankful for right?

Flip side----that might not at all be what Maddie needs right now...... all the excitement and stimulation....she needs to be introduced to home quietly.

Be Thankful instead for the wonderful blessing of this childs spirit---the strength that she has shown has been far greater than the strength of anyone else around her......

Be Thankful for the wonderful Doctors who are so enlightened and see the drive and will this child has to fight.

Be Thankful that you are still all together and that you have each other to lean on in this terrible time.

And then my dear friend --lOOk into the eyes of YOUR girls.....and across the table into Duanes.......and be So So Very Thankful.

Does that help?

(((HUG)))

Dani

Lisa,

Bless Emily's heart! I bet she is so confused and lost right now. I will be sure to always keep her with Maddie in my prayers. And to both of their parents, I could not imagine having to have to deal with something like that. My heart goes out to them. I do believe more miracles seem to happen at Christmas time hopefully one will visit your family. But just to be safe I'll keep sending lots of love, white light and prayers that your family gets through this as fast as possible.

Maybe years from now you will be able to understand why this happened. My friend who has the little boy with a brain tumor is convinsed that because of all the trails her son had been given at the start of his life that he is destined to make a mark on this world. There must be some reason that he had to learn so young to fight so hard just to keep his life. We wonder what his life has planned for him that he needed so much spirit and strength. One day we'll know. In January he will be 2. My friend had to take him to the hospital the last two nights because of a high fever. But they didn't keep him and he seems to be taking the chemo pretty well. He is a survivor and I think Maddie will be also.

But oh the in between time!! All the tears and worries and what-ifs. I know what you're feeling.

Love,
Rachel

Yes,Dani, that helped tremendously
I do have so much to be thankful for,
especially the fact that Maddie has made it through so much and seems to be getting a little better everyday
Yes, Rachel, Maybe that will be our special Christmas present !
Me, I must admit that I'm pretty scared at the thought of her coming home,
because it is more steril at the hospital and if anything were to happen she would be there where she could get immediate help.
But then I also understand how much that they want her home, so that they can be together as a family again.
And Tricia has spent almost everyday at the hospital since Maddie was born, and I know how hard it must be for her to be away from home and Emily.
You guys are really the greatest.
You've really boosted my spirits.
This Thanksgiving will be I think the most memorable one for our family yet.
We can all gather around and truly be Thankful for the amazing Miracle of little Maddie's life.
She IS a survivor, Rachel, just as your friend's son is. What a little trooper!
Bless his heart! I'll will pray for him all I can. What is his name? How much more chemo treatment is needed?
So glad the fever wasn't anything serious.
These little babies sure have a lesson to teach us about strength, don't they?
All my love, Lisa

Hi Lisa,

My friends sons name is Jacob. He is in his 5th series of chemo and has 3 more. He should be done in April. We are keeping our fingers crossed!

I do hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm having family over ~ only my second time to cook, so it should be interesting!

Love,
Rachel

Dear Lisa,
I have just read about your dearest little daughter. It must be a very rough time for you, I know, my son was 2 months premature, emergency delivery and we were told not to even think about names. We prayed and believed and he came through and they didn't hold up much hope. Is now 22 months and in the upper percentiles with weight and height (an Australian thing but I presume you have similar). Faith can move mountains, faith and belief are everything. I'll keep you in our prayers.
Kindest regards and happy times ahead for you and your girls!

Dear BlakeHeart,

Just to let you know I am still praying for Maddie. I hope you and your family will have a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

These little babies show us so much, don't they?

Love, Piscesdreamer

Thanks so much RJ, Magician and Piscesdreamer!

I tried posting here last night, but my computer screen froze and I had to shut my computer off.
I was glad, though, because I was pretty down and feeling self-pitying in a way.
My Uncle is dying with Cancer at this moment also and is expected to go at any time, and I had bad news about Maddie yesterday that she has a staff infection in the chest tube that enters her heart.

But, this morning her Daddy, my brother Mark called me and sounded optimistic about her and so I was greatly relieved.
He said that the Doctors are confident that they detected the infection in time and that antibiotics will cure her of it. I hope so.
As soon as I heard of the infection, I became so panicked because my next door neighbor told me that the Doctor that she works for (she is a medical assistant) had a son who was born with the same form of cancer and he made it to be about a year old and survived all of the chemo and the tumor had almost completely dissappeared when he got an infection in his heart, due to the chest tube and died.
Knowing that story of that poor little boy, made me aware of just how dangerous an infection there can be. And knowing that his own Father is a doctor too, makes it even more frightening, cuz if he couldn't detect the infection in time, then how could we? In a way I hope she doesn't come home at all while the chest tube is still in her, but I know that that isn't possible.

So, once again little Maddie could use a few prayers and loving light.
I am very touched by your concern.

Rachel, I will pray for Jacob and please keep me updated about him. His poor Mother has been through so much. How strong she must be. I will pray for her also. Your concern for Maddie shows what a warm and loving person you must be! Thanks!

Magician, Hello! Welcome here to the sight!
Thank you so much for your caring.
I am so happy that your child is ok.
I believe that you are right and that anything is possible when the heart truly believes.

Piscesdreamer, Hi! I look forward to seeing you in the Dreamland threads!
Thank you so much for thinking of Maddie.
You seem to be such a kind person.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those of you Aussie's and other folk I hope you have a great day!!
Cherish everyone that you love.
Remember to keep the awareness alive and never take a moment of this precious life for granted.
Can you believe that we were given this beautiful life?
We're breathing in and out, loving ,experiencing, giving and taking....
existing!!
And communicating here at Linda's through the marvels of technology!
Thanks, dear souls,
Love, Lisa

Maddie's home!!!!!

I just found out moments ago and was so excited, I had to let you all know right away!!
My brother, Mark, took some wonderful pictures today of Maddie's sister Emily holding Maddie and kissing her!
She looks so happy and proud!

Maddie will have to go back to the hospital before Christmas (the 18th maybe) for her next round of chemo. So we are unsure if she will be home on Christmas or not, but it is enough for us all to know that she is finally at home with her family!
All she has known since she was born is the hospital environment, so it all must be so new and different for her!!

I will keep you all updated as to how her next chemo goes.
This baby is a living testiment to miracles and a reflection of the bright loving light you all have in your hearts!
Love and Christmas Miracles, Lisa

Dani!!!!!!!

Blakeheart Lisa Maddie :

I cannot express to you what I feel for Maddie. I've thought so much tonight--about myself and my own feelings....her arrival and presence renews my spirits!!!! Is this angel a Virgo?

With Love,
MS AVC

[This message has been edited by MS AVC (edited 12-08-2000).]

Lisa that's brilliant!

Brining her hoem must feel fantastic. I do hope she manages to get home for christmas - it would be so great for your family.

My thoughts and prayers are still vey much with her.

Love and hugs

Lis