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

February 24, 2021

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2008. Four months before Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. Doesn't he look fine? It would have never crossed my mind how drastically our life was going to change! It was not unusual to find us on Roosevelt Island every weekend. Case in point with this photo! Mattie thrived in fresh air, and I grew accustomed to spending time outside regardless of the weather! 


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

  • Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 28,321,796
  • Number of people who died from the virus: 504,738


I came across this article today entitled, "Communication During Crisis: 5 Principles for Professionals." The crisis in this particular case, which is why it probably caught my attention, was end of life communications. I have to say that most hospitals do not handle this entire subject matter well. 

Accordingly to the hospital Mattie was treated at, it is the physician who is required to initiate the talk to the patient/family about end of life issues. In our case that never happened. It was two of Mattie's nurses who had the courage to share the reality with me! Why is that? I frankly think there are many reasons for the hesitation. One is that physicians are healers, they aren't well versed in death and dying, much less helping patients and families navigate such a crisis. Two, in our case, I think all of Mattie's healthcare team were invested in his care and in supporting us. Therefore, I truly believe many of them were stunned that Mattie's cancer metastasized six weeks off of chemotherapy and they couldn't face end of life issues for Mattie any more than we could. Lastly, medical systems are programmed to do something! But with end of life issues the tasks and activities look slightly different. Medications are no longer given for curative purposes but for comfort and preserving dignity. A mind set change and one the healthcare system is just not set up (or even to have access to those trained in such care) to handle. 

With that in mind, we have to start somewhere and the easiest way to show support during a crisis is with communication. The article mentioned how good communication about end of life issues can help family members with grief. Whereas, poor communication can do the exact opposite, potentially causing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress in family members. How our doctors and health care providers talk to us during these life and death moments do have long term effects. 

I certainly remember on the day that Mattie died, we asked one of the doctors what he had learned from Mattie? He was a big researcher, and given that Mattie's cancer case was so rare, we were hoping that Mattie's experience enlightened him as a scientist. To this day, I still remember what he said! In front of me, Peter, my parents and many other healthcare providers surrounding Mattie's dead body, he said he....learned nothing! NOTHING! How is that possible!???? I certainly learned a lot, even about the science and the horrific treatments which were ineffective for Mattie! So why didn't he? Well that may require a LONGER response, that goes beyond the scope of this particular blog posting. Simply stated it comes down to communication and compassion. They have to go together. His answer was indicative of his character and narcissistic personality, because even in Mattie's death, he couldn't look beyond himself and have the insight to realize that Mattie's family needed words of understanding, hope, and most importantly we needed to know that his cancer journey mattered and made a difference.

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