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

December 14, 2018

Friday, December 14, 2018

Friday, December 14, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie was in Los Angeles visiting my parents for Christmas. But Mattie was the boy in constant motion. He explored every aspect of my parent's backyard! Outdoor time for Mattie was crucial as it helped him expend energy and take in new experiences. If you look closely, Mattie had pulled out rocks from the planter bays. He then lined up the rocks on top of the bricks and was sorting and playing with them. 


Quote of the day: The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel. ~ Stephen Furtick



I have been having a hard time with our local CVS. Either prescriptions were unable to be placed by doctors (because the phone line wasn't operational) or I would get automated calls from the pharmacy saying scripts were ready to be picked up. Yet when I would show up, there was no script there, and CVS had  no record of a doctor's order. This debacle has happened three times already, and that is three too often. Especially when you are ill and need things filled without a hassle. 

I received a call yesterday from CVS, telling me that my script was ready for pick up. My doctor's office called as well, letting me know that they sent the script in. So that was two confirmations! Today, I went to pick it up and guess what..... it wasn't there and the pharmacy had no record of the doctor's call or script. YET AGAIN! On November 8th, at around midnight, I called my doctor. I was feeling awful and it did not help that I woke her up and she wasn't happy with me. However, her frustration grew as she couldn't get through to CVS to provide a script for me. I was literally besides myself when she told me, because when you are in pain, you need relief asap. 

Today I had a conversation with the CVS manager about my three experiences. The store was busy, as it is the holiday season, but the manager really dealt with my needs and that of other customers very professionally. In fact, she felt so bad, that she comped my entire order today. She encouraged me to reach out to the 1-800 feedback number of the corporate CVS. I have to admit I was leery about doing this, as I figured NO ONE was going to listen much less care about my feedback. 

Thankfully, I tried calling and I was connected to a wonderful representative. Cassandra first asked for my name, phone number and address. Then I filled her in about the issues I was having and she attentively listened to all of my stories and experiences. She was very concerned about what I was reporting, especially the haywire phone system that I and my doctor have experienced on multiple occasions. In any case, the regional manager is expected to report back to me in two days. Of course, I do not know what the outcome will be or whether they will proactively correct the phone issues, but so far the experience went so much better than I thought. I realize not everyone will speak up, but having access to medical care and pharmaceutical support are crucial to me, and when such access is impeded it makes me nervous. If I am having these issues with CVS, so are others, and if my calling can improve service for myself and others, then it was worth all the talking. 

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