She was diagnosed with Ependymoma. Please once again, keep Madalynne in your prayers. Whatever faith you are does not matter. If you do not believe at all...send your most positive energy their way. I love you all.

Thanks

Constant prayers & Sent her way!!

Madalynne...what a beautiful name

prayers and good vibes headed your way

Thank you all soo much. This is a very very hard time for us all and I am trying to reach as many people as I know.

Prayers for her

Best wishes to you and your's.

Thank you fear...how you been these days?

This is the most recent post from Lisa Kersting...Madalynne's mother-


Most recent update
Two steps forward, one step back. When I arrived at the hospital today Mady was in great spirits. She was sitting on a bouncy chair and had just awoken from a catnap. She was all smiles!! I got a chance to hold her again and I was able to get her to laugh!! It was great to see her happy and laughing again. Her eyes are doing so much better!!! Still no swallowing, and we found out why. The ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor did a scope test down her throat and found out that her right vocal cord is paralyzed, the left one is fine. They were not suprised by the findings, due to the nature of the tumor. He was re-assuring that he thinks with time it will heal. For now, they do not want to do a swallow test until she is re-evaluated by the ENT next week. Speech therapy will continue to work with Mady in other ways to try and strengthen her speach. Unfortunately, the ENT reccommended an NJ tube with the hopes that she would stop throwing up. This tube is similar to the NG tube (feeding tube) but bypasses Mady's stomach and goes right to the small bowel (jejunum). This procedure is done using an x-ray monitor and uses local anesthesia. Due to the fact that Mady is not swallowing, the anesthesiologist was afraid to put her under and then have her aspirate. They decided to re-insert the breathing tube for the procedure, then remove it. After the NJ was placed and Mady was brought back up to the room, she was not the same happy baby that I saw only hours before. She has been creating much more secretions in her mouth and started to drool again, like she did post-op. We are really hoping that by intubating her again it did not cause any more damage to the vocal cords. Only time will tell.
We have been working with a wonderful woman named Diane. She is the coordinator for the Brain Tumor Center at Lutheran General. She is amazing. I cannot say enough good things about her. She is the one that has been organizing all the information for us, including the packet of info that will be sent to Children's Memorial. She definitely has been the go to person for everything, and I thank her immensely for that.

I want to give a big thank you to the Pivot Point Bloomingdale staff and students. They did a food drive for us today and Jennifer, Lisa and Marissa brought over 2 cars full of food!!! I could not believe all the food that was collected :) I have to go buy a deep freezer now because my refrigerator is completely full!! Thank you for all the wonderful cards and presents for Lilli too. It is so nice to work for a company that is SOOOO supportive. Thank you Pivot Point Bloomingdale!!!

I also need to thank Kathy for spoiling Lilli rotten today!! Lilli had a play date with Kathy's daughter Sierra today while I spent some time with Mady. When I went to pick Lilli up this afternoon, Kathy had taken the girls shopping and bought Lilli a Barbie Cinderella doll, a Cinderella dress-up dress and a Cinderella tiara. Guess what Lilli is going to be for Halloween!! Not to mention that Kathy also took the girls to McDonalds for lunch :) Needless to say Lilli did not want to leave when I came to pick her up, but fell asleep in the car only seconds after pulling out of the driveway. Thank you Kathy, in so many ways!!

The out pour of prayers is unfathomable. Jimi and I still cannot believe all the love and support we are receiving. Please know that we thank all of you for everything. Even if it is just a quick text message or a voicemail saying hi, it means the world to us. WE LOVE YOU ALL. Continue to Pray for Mady Mae.

Prayers are sent.

Prayers on the way!!!

May many Angels be watching over Mady Mae.....my heart & prayers goes out to Mady and her family.............

Thank you all soo much. I will keep you posted with updates. And btw, it is comforting to see the old familiar faces of this site. Much love!