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
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.
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