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

November 24, 2020

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Tuesday, November 24, 2020 -- Mattie died 582 weeks ago today. 

Tonight's picture was taken on November 21, 2008. Mattie was playing on my computer with his left leg! Why? Because all his other limbs were operated on and wrapped up! Nonetheless, "Curious George," the name we gave Mattie's left leg, became quite skilled. Mattie's foot and toes were as good as a hand and fingers!


Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 12,589,221
  • number of people who died from the virus: 259,874


Sharing some photos from Boston. Peter sent me several today, as Sunny is having a wonderful adventure. He loves his outdoor time and daily walks in the woods. You can see how alert Sunny is with his ears perked up and his tail raised high. 
Look who took over the couch! Sunny is an emotional beast and he knows how to ingratiate himself with his hosts. 
Even Indie is getting in the act. Typically she is a very shy and anxious cat when we aren't at home. But since she has visited Peter's parents a couple of times, she is now exploring the house. 
My mom's birthday is on Thanksgiving. Today we surprised her with flowers for our Thanksgiving table. 
Because I am balancing a lot here on any given day, I have decided to prep a Thanksgiving dish on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Hopefully making Thursday more manageable. Yesterday I prepped stuffing.
Tonight I prepped a sweet potato soufflé. 















It was a typical busy day in paradise! The new wound care specialist visited this morning. She was a night and day difference from the previous horror show. Today's specialist was knowledgeable, open to questions and felt that a less aggressive treatment approach could be taken given my dad's progress. The last specialist debrided my dad's pressure sores twice a week. It involved thoroughly cleaning the wound and removing all thickened skin, infected, and dead tissue, foreign debris, and residual material from dressings. That may not sound bad, but it involved invasive scraping and causing my dad's back to bleed. 

The other nightmare was a laundry room flood. Try over two inches high of water. I literally thought I was going to lose it! Mind you I have had a plumber come to fix the washing machine five times. Just when we think the problem is solved it gets worse. There is absolutely NO peace here. 

Meanwhile, tomorrow will be the LAST day we can go out for lunch. All outdoor dining will be closed in LA County starting at 10pm on Wednesday. My parents go daily to the same restaurant about five minutes from their home. Given that they are frequent flyers there, everyone in the restaurant knows them. It is like going to Cheers. Which is great stimulation for my dad, not to mention it is the reason he has gained weight and his health is improving. Today we spoke to the owner of this neighborhood restaurant. He is devastated by LA County's mandate for restaurants to close in-person dining. He told us he employees 16 people and many of his servers were in tears today as they do not know how they will be able to support their families. I honestly do not know how LA will be able to make it with this continued level of lockdowns. 

This neighborhood restaurant was packed today. Every allowed outdoor table was filled, and as diners left, new ones came. It was like people know change was coming and they were spending every possible moment out and about. What a horrific commentary. Yet all the servers and the restaurant owner were working very hard today, trying to make their diners feel special, cared for, and appreciated. Which to me was noteworthy, given the pending lockdown and impact on their livelihood. This restaurant is important to me because the staff really do look after my parents when I am not here. They meet their every dining need and they also make sure my parents get a table as quickly as possible. These folks will be missed and my concerns now begin as I worry...... will my dad eat at home now that we return to lockdowns?


No comments: