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

July 13, 2016

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2005. Around the July 4th holiday! This was Mattie's third vacation at the beach in North Carolina. As you can see he truly enjoyed it. I am so happy I snapped this photo of Mattie laughing outside with Peter! I literally just found this photo on our Shutterfly account. I am so happy we uploaded and stored photos back then, because despite being organized it is very easy to lose photos on one's computer. 


Quote of the day: Cats always know whether people like or dislike them. They do not always care enough to do anything about it.Winifred Carriere


My day started with physical therapy. However, having slept poorly again last night translated into a high level of pain. I told my therapist about the fact that I saw a rheumatologist, based on her suggestion. She was happy to hear this but unhappy to hear that her suspicions were confirmed. I guess my question is..... I see so many doctors, how is it that none of them were able to make such an astute observation?! This is really a rhetorical question! Because I know the answer..... doctors do not spend enough time with you to effectively assess a problem, nor do they work with you in context. Whereas, therapists, like physical therapists see you often and observe your body actively doing things. Throughout these sessions there is also conversation and I can assure you that in my five months of therapy, I know about the lives of both of my therapists as well as the lives of all my therapist assistants. Does this ever happen with a doctor? Okay maybe a handful of doctors this could potentially happen with, but for the most part this is rare! It shouldn't be, but it is. To me this centers around medical training and the simple fact that doctors view medicine as only a science and taking into account feelings and the patient's insights are irrelevant and doesn't impact the diagnosis! I would say this not only limits medicine but in some cases makes it ineffective.   

Later in the day I had to capture Indie and box her to take her to the vet for her well visit. As you can see by my arm, it was no easy endeavor. I tried using the same technique I used to use to box Patches. Clearly it did not work. 

Indie did not mean to scratch me, it was just her fear level was high, especially since we only brought her to live in our home less than a week ago! 

Our vet was happy to see me today. She is the same vet that cared for Patches for many years. However, the room that I took Indie into to be examined was the SAME room we put Patches to sleep in! A room you never forget. 

When the tech came in to take her weight and temperature, things started to get fun! Holding Indie on the exam table was like trying to hold back the ocean. 

After the tech was finished with her, Indie hopped off the table and jumped into the sink that was in the room. She sat in the sink until the vet came in to talk with me and exam Indie. But here is the ironic part. As soon as the vet picked up Indie and started to exam her, Indie calmed down. It was like the vet was the pied piper! She had a good visit and got a clean bill of health. 

I wish things were as easy for Sunny, the dog. We were supposed to get Sunny on Saturday, but it turns out Sunny and all the other dogs in the shelter in South Carolina are being quarantined. I guess there was an outbreak of something and all the dogs need to be monitored for a month. Needless to say I am trying to find out what exactly caused the outbreak. Since we already know that Sunny has heart worm and needs treatment for at least that!

1 comment:

Margy Jost said...

Vicki, I am sorry about Sunny but happy Indie got a clean bill of health. Your Vet for Indie sounds like a real keeper. The scratches on your arm look like she put up a good fight, before you caught her. I hope they heal quickly!!!

It is not surprising the PT was correct about the diagnosis, you received. I feel badly she was correct in her assessment of your pain. While I don't want you to have this, I find myself feeling grateful you have a diagnosis. A diagnosis doesn't solve the problems but it is a step towards knowing options to help you. I find it disappointing that none of the Drs.picked up on thee pattern of your pain. You are correct, some are not great listeners, they are in a rush, and some don't think outside the box. I know some wonderful Drs. that make you feel like you are the only patient, they have. They sometimes run late but I never mind this if I know that when it is my turn, if I have an important issue, I won't be rushed.

As always, I love he picture, you posted of Mattie. I too, snap pictures, that we store in SHUTTERFLY. I love the special shots of an occasion but truthfully, those random pictures snapped because they were cute are really precious. I love Mattie's smile and especially when it appears that a laugh will follow❤️🌝