Mattie Miracle Walk 2023 was a $131,249 success!

Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation Promotional Video

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to us that you take the time to write to us and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful to us and help support us through very challenging times. To you we are forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically stop writing on September 9, 2010. However, at the moment, I feel like our journey with grief still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with us, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki and Peter



The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation celebrates its 7th anniversary!

The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation was created in the honor of Mattie.

We are a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. We are dedicated to increasing childhood cancer awareness, education, advocacy, research and psychosocial support services to children, their families and medical personnel. Children and their families will be supported throughout the cancer treatment journey, to ensure access to quality psychosocial and mental health care, and to enable children to cope with cancer so they can lead happy and productive lives. Please visit the website at: www.mattiemiracle.com and take some time to explore the site.

We have only gotten this far because of people like yourself, who have supported us through thick and thin. So thank you for your continued support and caring, and remember:

.... Let's Make the Miracle Happen and Stomp Out Childhood Cancer!

A Remembrance Video of Mattie

October 20, 2008

Monday, October 20th, 2008 - UPDATE

Monday, October 20th, 2008 - UPDATE
Mattie is doing great! The Surgery went as planned! Those two statements alone are sufficient for Vicki and I to be screaming a collective "Ya-Hoo!" We are filled with a sense of Relief, Amazement, and Exhaustion. The Relief is that Mattie's surgery went as planned and promptly as scheduled, and we even had a smiling surgeon appear at the hospital room door, telling us that things were good. We cannot tell you what a relief it is to have Bob Henshaw leading Mattie's limb salvaging activities. It fills us with a sense of comfort, confidence and security knowing that we are the hands of such excellent care. The Amazement is that in the course of one day, in a matter of hours, Bob took a complete bone out of our son's arm, removed any questionable and possibly cancerous material, replaced it with a high-tech synthetic prosthesis and returned Mattie to us, in good shape (albeit tired and bandaged) with a complete arm. To top matters off, Mattie was wiggling his fingers and squeezing his right hand once back in the room. The Exhaustion is that we are completely depleted from today. The hours moved both slowly and with lightening speed. We do not even remember looking at our watches, although we know we were watching the hours pass painfully by.

We want to thank Bob Henshaw for what we deem as miracle work today. Bob, from the deepest part of both of us, we cannot thank you enough for what you have done for Mattie. We want to thank our Georgetown Team for all their support and caring today. From the Clinic to the PICU, from Art Therapists and Child Life Specialists to Case Managers and Social Workers and even Sedation Nurses, you guys were there for us today, so thank you.

We want to thank everyone who expressed their support and caring for us today, and in some way sent us a communicationn (be that by email, blog post, prayer, e-card, etc). The outpouring of support from our collective community of family and friends was tuly amazing. Thank you to each of for keeping your distance at a time when many of you want to help the most. We were able to get through the day staying focused on Mattie and his return to us after leaving him at 7:50am this morning.

Last, I think it goes without saying, but the collective thoughts and prayers for Mattie's well-being were indeed heard today by our Lord, and he in return protected Mattie for us. God Bless you all!

It is 8pm, and Mattie is in his room, and sleeping soundly. The perineural is working like a charm so far. We have had two visits one from Dr. Davis a surgerical resident who was in the OR today with Bob, and Dr. Casey the PICU resident on call tonight. Everyone is pleased with Mattie's progress. There is so much I would like to say tonight, but I concur with Peter, I am exhausted. But two comments. Bob sent us some photos of Mattie's surgery today. Fortunately Bob is smart enough not to send me these photos. I would need the G version of these surgerical pictures. Way too graphic for me right now. But Peter did share with me the picture of the bone Bob took out of Mattie's arm today. A part of me has been pining about this arm bone leaving Mattie's body, but after seeing this picture, I say thank God Bob removed it. It looks deformed and not human. It looks like a huge turkey leg bone. It had to come out, and there is some truth that a picture says 1000 words. I am happy to report too that Mattie held and squeezed our hand tonight using his right hand. That is simply amazing considering Mattie had muscles and nerves moved around today. The whole surgery is miraculous, but we also realize God performs miracles through those of us on earth. Today Bob performed what I would call a miracle.

I am not sure what tomorrow brings, but like the 12 step philosophy, we take it one day at a time. It is the only thing that works. Thank you Liz C. for a wonderful dinner tonight. You really spoiled us. The nurses wanted to have a party in our room when they saw the food coming in from the Cheesecake Factory!

Thank you for all the wonderful e-mails today. Hopefully tomorrow I can pull myself together to actually be more coherent on the blog. But we felt that there was a powerful force and community behind us today. Thank God for all of you, you keep us going through some very difficult moments!

4 comments:

Julia said...

Whoa. Amazing. Wow. We are just so happy to hear everything went so well! -Julia and Dave

Anonymous said...

Hi Vickie,
We just wanted to let you know we have been thinking about Mattie all day long. Your family is in our prayers. Toni,Jim and Brandon

Anonymous said...

This is such fabulous news! YEAH Mattie. Everyone is rooting for you, and the fact that you were moving your fingers is just tremendous.

Anonymous said...

Hurrah Mattie, Hurrah Mattie, Hurrah Mattie! (And Hurrah Vicki, Hurrah Pete!) Hurrah entire team Mattie!

We are all praying for continued smooth recovery and strength.

Love, Tad, Junko, Kazu, Bethie and Kazuko