Madison Update

There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Madison would fly through her surgery so it was no surprise to me that she did just that. Not only did she recover quickly, but her neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon were amazed by her progress and she was released from the hospital in only 5 days. For those of you who prayed for Madison, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I know that I can speak for her family when I say that all of your thoughts and prayers are what got them through this. I have become great friends with Madison's mom, Kelley and know that I have made a friend for life. To Kelley, I am proud to be your friend and lucky to have met you. You are one of the strongest women I know and I am amazed by your will to fight and your courage to tackle the obstacles your family and Madison have been thrown. You have taught me more than you will ever know and I look forward to watching Madison, as well as all of your kids, grow and make every doctor that ever told you that "you couldn't" eat their words. Oh yeah, and as always, Madison rocks!

 

 

 

Notre Dame

 

 

 

 

ND vs Duke

 

 

 

 

ND Pictures

 

 

 

 

More Chicago Pictures

 

 

 

 

Windy Chicago

Brian and I were lucky enough to fly to Chicago last week for some desperately needed rest and relaxation not to mention going to South Bend on Saturday to see Notre Dame ram a football down Duke's throat (sometimes the truth can be brutal).

 

 

 

 

Post-It Note Prayer Chain

Meet Miss Madison. She is the 16 month old daughter of Jay and Kelley Howald from Fort Wayne, Indiana. We met Madison through Little Charlie Rocks and have become great friends. Little Madison was diagnosed with hydrocephalus when Kelley was 25 weeks pregnant and delivered 6 weeks premature. Madison's hydrocephalus was severe enough that the doctors didn't give Jay and Kelley much hope concerning her prognosis and they were even told that Madison only had 10% of functioning brain. At birth, Madison weighed 8lbs. Her body weighed 3lbs and the remaining 5lbs was her head. Madison has a shunt but her head remains larger in comparison to her body. Given her prognosis, Madison is doing wonderfully. She gets therapy 4 times per week, has learned sign language and even has a 70 word vocabulary. She is adapting extremely well given the strain hydrocephalus puts on her little body and is even starting to cruise and take steps. Her doctors are shocked at her accomplishments and have even told the Howald's that Madison is a "miracle baby", which I, no doubt, agree. Now, unfortunately, Madison has been diagnosed with macropephary cranial synostosis (I hope I got that right) which requires a complete cranial reconstruction, very similar to the one Charlie had. Her surgery is scheduled for Thursday, November 15th at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her parents are making the two hour trip with the plan to stay until Madison is ready to go home. Jay, Kelley, Madison and the rest of the Howald family (they have three other children) really need our prayers at this time. We all know what prayer can do and once again I'm asking for your help. We are beginning our third "post-it" note campaign for Miss Madison and are hoping that everyone who reads this will write "pray for Madison" on post-it notes and display them in various places (office, car, bathroom, kitchen, etc.) and everytime you see one, stop what you are doing and say a quick prayer for this little girl and her family. Pray for her safety during surgery, a quick recovery and for the doctors who will be performing the surgery. I also ask that you pray for her family to have the courage they need, because, unless you have been through it, believe me, it takes alot of courage to hand your baby over for a surgery this significant. So, now is the time, get out your post-it notes and get to praying for Madison. I know I appreciate it and I think I can speak for her parents when I say that it means alot to have family and friends for support. Feel free to circulate this to your family and friends so they can get on board the post-it note prayer train and let's help this baby and her family. If you would like to send the Howald's a card, please e-mail me or call me and I will see that they get your well wishes.

 

For more on Madison, you can visit their myspace page by clicking on the link to the right or by going to http://www.myspace.com/howaldfamily

Happy Halloween!

You just knew that I would be posting photos of the kids in their costumes (Brian is Mike Tyson - just in case you are wondering). We hope you had a great halloween...