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

January 30, 2020

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken on January 14, 2009. Mattie was in NYC to receive his first dosage of experimental treatment. Before treatment began, we asked Mattie what he wanted to see in the City. We gave him options and he chose to go up the elevator of the Empire States Building. Mattie grew up in Washington, DC where there is a height cap on the buildings! So to Mattie, NYC was fascinating with skyscrapers everywhere! We went to both observation floors of the building and Peter snapped this photo of us at the 102 floor!


Quote of the day: Improvements in cancer treatment have led to increases in the childhood cancer survivor population. Many survivors are at risk for serious late effects from their cancer treatment, including second cancers, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory problems. ~ Jennifer Ford


I received an article today entitled, Barriers and Facilitators of Risk-Based Health Care for Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Report From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. I think our society has a real misconception 
about surviving cancer. In that, the thinking is if you survived treatment, you are cured, and life goes on. Unfortunately that couldn't be further from the truth. High dose chemotherapy, like what Mattie endured, has both physical and mental health consequences. What intrigued me about this research article, was the study investigated the reasons why childhood cancer survivors do not receive follow up care (survivorship care). After all with all the secondary issues that arise from treatment, these individuals will truly need to be monitored all their lives. 

The main barriers for seeking healthcare in the non-cancer populations are lack of health insurance and transportation issues. These are not the same barriers for cancer survivors (I am not saying this, the research is). One of the main issues for adult survivors of childhood cancer is they become disconnected from the hospital they received their care from when they were a child and finding another facility for cancer-related care may present a problem. It is of concern that survivors do not have the necessary information to facilitate follow-up care in that fewer than 20% reported having a cancer treatment summary. Imagine being diagnosed with cancer as a child, surviving it, and then as an adult being asked about the medical treatment you received as a child. Chances are adult survivors of childhood cancer won't know and without having access to a treatment summary, it makes it very hard to be proactive in survivorship care.  

This research study discussed the benefits of educational interventions for patients and improving awareness of a patient's treatment history. Both of these suggestions are accurate, but I would take it one step further and say that the educational interventions also need to be supplied to primary care physicians. Many of whom are not well versed in the long term effects of childhood cancer and they do not understand the relationship between cancer in childhood and the affects on health and well-being in adult survivors. In any medical relationship, there has to be a collaboration between the patient and the physician for care to be effective. The responsibility for follow up cancer care doesn't only belong to the patient, but it belongs to any physician caring for an adult survivor of childhood cancer. 


To read the article, click on this link:
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cncr.32568?referrer_access_token=IzUd2bp71caT5NQmXLGRgE4keas67K9QMdWULTWMo8P5bzzagg-gaNlhOk_NpiuJ_FYe0ZbkaUmI-UQGrUKQ2i4TDHEBk8fL22hMtPvZn9kfAY4wqula3cHfoHd9FRYeygNfyoeS5OB74TVOQ2palQ%3D%3D


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