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She was always such a healthy baby, never even so much as an ear infection. She was so very smart, she was praising the Lord in church by the time she was 6 months old. By the time she was 10 months old she was putting 2 words together, her pediatrician was amazed by how smart she was. Then on December 14th 2002 I was at work and my mom called me saying Megan had been throwing up and crying alot. I went home and took her to the local hospital and they said she was dehydrated from a "little" virus, they transported her to the hospital in the next town. All night I told them I felt like something was not right. They kept saying it was just a virus, she would be ok. The next morning her doctor came in and took an x-ray. She IMMEDIATLY sent her by ambulance to T.C. Thompsons Childrens Hospital. When we got there they called us in a little room and told us our little 11 month old daughter whom we loved so very much had Cardiomyapathy, a virus that attacked her heart, and that she had about 2 hours to live. We were devastated. They let us go back to ICU to see her, she was hooked up to about 14 different IV'S and she was on a breathing machine. By this time there were about 50 friends and family there. We all began to pray fervently. Her 2 hours turned into all night then they said she would not make it through the night. She did. They tried 3 times over the course of 3 weeks to get her off of the breathing machine and finally the 3rd try she was able to come off of it. She did great and they let her come home. She was home about 3 weeks and started getting sick again, her doctor once again had us take her to TC Thompsons, with each passing day she got worse. She was in heart failure once again. The last day she was there they put her back on the breathing machine, she had been there about 2 weeks this time. The day they put her back on the breathing machine they took her by life flight to Atlanta Childrens Hospital, to wait for a heart. She was immediatly put on the transplant list but we were told she was the sickest child in icu. They had her sedated and paralized so she did not use any of her own strength, she could not afford to, she was our little angel and she was dying. Every passing day Megan got worse, we kept praying, we never gave up on her although we told God if it was in his will to take her home we would understand, that was the hardest prayer I ever prayed.Megan received countless blood transfusions day after day, her skin was ice cold and she had purple blotches all over her from lack of blood flow. One day they called us up there to tell us that Megan's kidneys were failing and they were going to have to put her on "ECMO" a heart , lung & kidney machine, we had no choice, they told us all they were doing was buying time, hard words to hear. Her blood pressure was almost nothing at this point. They scheduled this for 7:00 P.M. but before 7:00 came Megan went into cardiac arrest at about 3:00 P.M. They did CPR on her several times and put her on ECMO right then. They came and told us she had died several times but they got her back. The ECMO machine was a terrible thing to look at. There were two HUGE tubes going in the left side of her neck, about the size of pencils, not tine IV tubes. The machine itself covered half the room and you could see the blood coming out of her body and being filtered back into her body. A sight I pray I never have to see again. They kept telling us she was not going to make it, we kept praying and believing in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Megan's testimony was too mighty to let her go. Megan had been on ECMO about 3 days when they came and told us her heart was so huge they had no choice but to go in through a heart catherazation and pierce the back of her heart to relieve the pressure but, he told us he did not think she would ever survive this surgery, she was just too weak. Well, she made it through that but while she was still in there she began bleeding from somewhere and the doctors could not figure out where the blood was coming from, he tried for several hours to stop the blood but they could not even figure out where the blood was coming from. We were devastated. Once again they said they felt sure she was dying. They came out and told us the only thing they had left to do was have the heart surgeon come in and cut her chest open to see if they could find out where the blood was coming from but they felt sure when they did that she would just be bleeding from everywhere and she would die right there on the table but if they did not do it she would bleed to death for sure. They let about 20 of us go in and kiss her good-bye, my husband got up there and kissed her and through his sobbing I heard him say to her "Megan, I know you are with Jesus now and if you want to stay with Him that's ok but if you want to come back to Mommy & Daddy just tell Jesus" They carried me out of there. We went back to the room where we had been waiting all day and got down on our knees and began praying crying out to God as loud as we could to please save our baby. My pastor went to the verse in the Bible that stops blood, Ezekiel 16:6 and he read it and we all claimed it, 10 minutes later they came out and said the blood just stopped!! They could not believe it! She was on blood thinners and ECMO, which also thins your blood. The doctor said there was no "earthly" reason why that blood should have stopped, but it did, we knew it was the Lord. They never cut her open, it stopped right before the doctor cut her. (Abraham & Issac!) They told us we could come see her in a little bit but they still did not think she would make it through the night. One hour later they came to get us again, they said they needed to speak to me and my husband alone, you know what we thought! But we were wrong, we could not believe what they had come to tell us, they had found our baby a heart! She got her new heart the next morning around 8:00 am. We were told there would be complications because she was so sick, there were none, we were told her chest would be open, it was closed, they told us she would be on a special venilator that shook you real hard, she was on a regular one, they told us she would still be on ECMO, she was not! GOD IS GREAT! Well, we thought our storm was over but when they started letting her wake up about 4 days later they realized she had a "severe" brain injury from her heart stopping so many times that one day. The neurology team said she was hopeless! WE KEPT PRAYING! She could not bend her arms or her legs, she just looked straight ahead, she would not respond to anything or anybody, we kept praying!! Megan went into several withdrawls from all the medications she had been on, this was a terrible thing to watch your baby go through. She had severe diareah for weeks on end, her body was shaped like a "C" but I knew God did not give her the perfect heart just to take her brain away. We did find out almost 2 years after transplant that Megan did also indeed suffer a stroke at around the time of the transplant which they tell us was most likely caused by the ECMO machine. The prayers never stopped! 8 weeks after her surgery, she came home! She is now moving her arms, moving her legs, laughing, smiling and learning everything over again but she's getting there.
Since Megan came home from the hospital she has made leaps and bounds!!!! She has proved to be a miracle more times than once even since she came home. In December of 2004 Megan got bacterial pneumonia. Tests were run here by her pediatrician both blood work and chest x-rays proved she did indeed have bacterial pneumonia. Her fever was extremly high and they quickly decided she needed to be admitted in Atlanta Childrens Hospital once again. That was a two hour drive to the hospital. About half way there she began throwing up profusly and her fever sky rocketed. We had to stop in the middle of no where and call an ambulance to come and take her the rest of the way. All the way to Atlanta we prayed, prayed for God to once again intervene. When we got to the hospital of course they had to run their own tests. So, they done more blood work and took her down for more chest x-rays. When her transplant co-ordinator came back up from looking at her x-rays she was astonished. There was NO pneumonia-NONE, not one sign of it! Mind you, this was bacterial pneumonia we was talking about, it does not just "disapear", that is unless, God is on your side! Remember, I told you we prayed all the way there. And, once again God had answered our prayers for our sweet angel!!! A few months later Megan developed a bad cough. She had coughed for a few days and would cough throughout the night. One morning she sat up in bed and coughed one hard time and when she did we thought she had thrown up but when we turned the light on it was all blood!!! It actually looked like she was coughing up her lungs!!! We called 911 and began praying. By the time the ambulance got there the blood was starting to slow down but we still took her to Atlanta by ambulance. We prayed all the way there and we once again claimed the verse that had saved her when she was dying before, Ezec. 16:6. When her cardiologist came in he decided to keep her a few days "just in case" but she never done it again. They decided that was from where she had coughed one too many times too hard and had broken a capilary. Well, last year, in February of 2005 she had to go in to get her adnoids out. All went well but they chose not to remove her tonsils at the same time as they was too small at the time. By the time August rolled around Megan's tonsils had tripled in size! They had to take her for an emergency tonsilectomy. Well, she spent 2 days in the hospital with her stats dropping down into the 40's at times. Finally on that Monday morning they took her down as an emergency surgery. The doctor came back up and told us they had to take her to PICU and put her on the ventilator, a sight I had prayed I would never see again. The ENT told us he was very fearful that Megan had developed "Post Transplant Lymphoma", a type of cancer that some transplant patients get. He thought this because there was sooo much tissue when he got in there and he said her adnoids had grown back "all over the place". He said he had never seen anything like it. Megan stayed on that vent for 2 days and we prayed. Prayed many prayers that she would not have cancer. Sure enough, when the pathology tests came back there was no cancer. Yet again God had touched her. Megan came home happy and healthy. Nine days later I was changing her g-tube and she got mad and began to cry. When I sat her up she coughed one hard time and began throwing up blood PROFUSLY! It was so scary. I quickly called 911 and then called my husband to get home quickly. We took her back to Atlanta but by the time we got there the bleeding had seemed to stop. Her ENT told us he could go ahead and take her down to the OR right then to re-coterize the area but that meant putting her back under anestisia once again and since she was not bleeding right at that minute he preferred not to. He said why don't he keep her for the night and see how things looked in the morning. He also said that if the bleeding started again in the middle of the night he would come straight over and take her into the OR even if it was in the middle of the night. Well, sure enough at 1:00 AM she woke up throwing up that blood again. I was freaking out!! It looked to me like it was every ounce of blood in her body. The nurses had to calm me down. Her ENT was there in what seemed like just minutes. At 2:00 AM my baby went back to the OR. We waited again for her to come out of the OR. I was sitting in the waiting room all alone and once again God sent me an angel. One of the Chaplains there came in and put her arms around me and just began to pray and praise God for Megan and all He had already done. Soon afterwards her ENT came out and told us he thought he had got it all and he was pretty sure things would be good now. All day that day she done very well. She even ate a little and played in the playroom. So, at about 7:00 pm Gene decided he would go on home and go to work the next day as things were looking good. I told him I could handle it. Then, at 2:00 AM she woke up once again throwing up more blood than the last two times. This time I was freaking out worse because Gene had gone home. I called him in a state of panic telling him to hurry and get back. (This was a 2 hour drive for him). Thank God my mom was there with me. I had more blood on me than I had ever seen in my lifetime. They ran in and started pushing IV fluids through her faster than I had ever seen in my life. They had to give her 2 units of blood too. This time it seemed like hours before they got ahold of her ENT. The blood finally began to slow down and the ENT called and said he would be taking her down to surgery around 6 or 7 AM. When he got there he informed us that this time he would be taking her straight to the PICU and putting her on a vent for the whole weekend. During all this I had been talking to Brenda, my pastors wife and she was praying like crazy!! She read Ezec. 16:6 to me and claimed that the blood would stop in the name of Jesus. I beleive in the Lord and I beleive He was going to take this blood away once again. Her ENT had told us that he fully expected all of that to be ripped open by the way she had been bleeding but we knew God had already healed her and we knew that blood was gone!! Sure enough, her ENT came out with a look of amazement on his face. He could not beleive it. He said he could not find one spot of blood, not one. Well, a few hours later her cardiologist could not accept that the blood was just "gone", he wanted more tests ran. We told him we knew God had healed it all but he insisted we take her down to have her GI track checked for internal bleeding. So, for the 3rd time in 2 days time she went back to the OR to have a scope ran down into her stomach to check for the bleeding. But, need I even tell you, there was nothing! Not one spot of blood anywhere!! Once again God had took that bleeding away!!! Megan has defied all odds. She is now beginning to talk in sentences (she was never supposed to talk again), she is beginning to walk, (never supposed to walk again), and we have been told she will be placed in a regular Kindergarten classroom because she is so smart!!! God is so good and we just praise him for all He has done and all He is going to do in her life!!
*********UPDATES***********
June 18, 2003
Megan's therapist said this morning she can't believe how well Megan is doing!!
Everybody that knows Megan good knows her favorite thing to say was "what's that?" and this morning we were laying there with her and just out of the blue me and Gene BOTH heard her say, "what's that?" Gene said , "did you hear that?" I said I sure did!! Also, yesterday, my mom said when I walked out of the room Megan said MOM VERY plain!! and she has just been saying MA instead of mom!! PRAISE GOD PRAISE GOD!!! EVERYBODY PRAISE GOD!!!!
Nobody knows what Gene and I have been through but we want to share with the world what GOD can and will do if you only believe!!!
We love you all!!
Gene, Tammy & Megan
***UPDATE***
7/16/03 Gene & I would just like to take the time to thank you all for being there for us during this terrible storm we endured. Megan still needs prayer but I honestly believe God is going to COMPLETLEY heal her! John Taylor told me something that has stuck with me through all of this, he said "God does not do ANYTHING half way!" I will never forget those words. I truly believe that! We love you all! We are now going to different church's each Sunday speaking her testimony, this was our promise to the Lord. We are now booked up 2 weeks ahead! We have not called one person, God has sent all of them to us. Please don't ever forget what the kindness you all showed to us meant to us! We love you all!
The Madden Family
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2003
Megan is doing far better than anyone ever dreamed she would! She is now starting to say a few words here and there. She can now pick up small toys and hold them for a while, (something we have prayed fervently about!)
We put her back in her walker last night for the first time but she had to have a little blanket to help hold her up, but it's a start!
Praise God she is once again raising her hand and praising the Lord when we sing in church! She is no longer as afraid of everybody like she was when she first came home.
We now know that Megan's heart came from a precious little 3 year old boy named Bailey, Bailey lived in Kentucky and we have just recently been told that his family wants to meet us! We are so excited about meeting them!
We want to ask that everyone continue to pray for Megan's muscles, she desperatly needs prayer for her being able to sit on her own and to walk again!
And we ask that everyone remember Bailey's family in your prayers!
Thanks everyone for your prayers!
Gene, Tammy & Megan
Update 10/28/03
Megan is now starting to stand a little when we stand her up to the couch, although she still cannot sit up on her own. She is now on the feeding only 12 hours a night and off through the day. Although her appitite is not real good yet, we are working on it.
God Bless you all!
The Madden's
Update: December 12 2003
On November 28th 2003 Bailey's family came to meet us! We live in Georgia and they came from Kentucky to meet us. We love and cherish them very much. We plan to go to their house during Christmas vacation, we are very excited to meet the rest of their family. Megan is getting better every single day and I beleive she will make a full recovery. Every day she does something new! God is so good! I found this poem on another web site and it reminded me so much of Megan I just had to add it to this site, so this is for you Megan!
I cannot change the way I am,
I never really try,
God made me different and unique,
I never ask him why.
If I appear peculiar,
There's nothing I can do,
You must accept me as I am,
As I've accepted you.
God made a casting of each life,
Then threw the old away,
Each child is different from the rest,
Unlike as night from day.
So often we will criticize,
The things that others do,
But, do you know, they do not think,
The same as me and you.
So God in all his wisdom,
Who knows us all by name,
He didn't want us to be bored,
That's why we're not the same.
Update-01/25/04
Well, I can't beleive it! Megan is 2!! She had her birthday party yesterday. She went the other day to get fitted for her braces for her legs. The othopedic doctor that looked at her legs says he feels sure that she will walk good and that these braces will help her. She is still trying to get her speech down. Some days she will say things and we will never hear her say it again. But, I know God is going to completly heal her, as I have said all along. She now rolls everywhere! She can go anywhere she want in her walker, all over the house. Gosh, I remember the days when all she did was lay there and stare straight ahead. Isn't God great!! She is so very smart! I would like to again ask everyone to please keep the Braswell family in your prayers.
God bless you all and thank you for praying for her. Oh yea, if you have not signed her guest book, please do! Or if you have signed it and want to sign it again please feel free!!
The Madden's
Update- 03/30/04
Well, I can't beleive it but Megan has had her heart for over a year now! It was a year on March 7th! She went Friday for her annual physical and boy did they ever put her through the ringer! But, the good news is they said everything was doing GREAT! STILL, no rejection to her heart! We praise God again! Megan is still not walking but we no she will get there in time. She rolls everywhere and she can go anywhere she wants to go in her walker. They have ordered her gait trainer walker which will help her to learn to walk again. She's getting stronger every day. She's using her left hand so much more now, we are so proud of her. She sits up all by herself now with no problems, just sits there and plays with her toys! Pretty awsome for a girl he did not know anything or anybody this time last year. God has been so good to us. We know Megan has a special work for the Lord. Well, i ask that everyone please continue to pray for her to walk and as her speech is getting better she still needs alot of prayer there too. And, as I always say, please continue to pray for the Braswell family, they truly are angels to us.
God Bless,
The Madden's
Update 10-01-04
Well, Megan has now started pre-school!! She goes 2 times a week for 3 hours each day and she loves being around other children. She has been using her hands very good! Her walking will come soon I know with God's healing touch. She is also doing much better in speech thanks to the people at Looper Speech and Hearing center. Megan has the best speech teacher ever! She still has had no problems with her heart and we praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ every day for that!! Please continue to pray for her total healing!!
Update 10/14/04
Well, today has been a good day. Megan had been sick for the past week with a nasty virus but after a trip to Atlanta Children's Hospital and some IV's I do think she's getting better. Now, next month we will be taking Megan to the Marcus Institute in Atlanta for her evaluation for her feeding issues. If she is a good canidate we will then be scheduled to go into their 8 week intense feeding program (this has a 90% success rate of getting children off the feeding tube). However, this is very costly and Megan and I will literally have to live in Atlanta for those 8 weeks so we are asking for donations to help get her here. All donations can be sent to:
Megan Madden
1103 North 3rd Ave. #14
Chatsworth, Ga. 30705
Thank you and God Bless!!
Update: 01/03/05
Well, it's a new year and Megan is doing awsome! She had a bout with pneumonia but is doing much better now. She was in the hospital for 3 days. Christmas was great thanks to some wonderful people who helped make Megan's Christmas so special! I must mention a few of these people and thank them for all they do for her. First off, Glenn and Melissa Cochrane, who to us, is Megan's angels! And secondly Gwyn and Darlene Fitch, you guys are awsome! Thanks for always being there for Megan. Now then, we hope 2005 will bring walking days for Megan! She is finally trying to stand up all alone (holding on to stuff). I know walking will be next. Yesterday she pulled up all by herself from sitting on her Aunt's leg (which was almost to the floor). So, God is good and she's getting better!! I will update again soon. She has another biopsy this Friday, Jan. 7th and also I forgot to add she will be going to her first dentist appointment on Feb. 18th.
Thanks for all the prayers!!
Update
01/24/05
Well, Megan's 3rd Birthday is come and gone! I can't believe she's 3!! How awsome is that! Pretty good for a baby that was only given 2 hours to live 2 years ago. Megan will be going in to have her adnoids out and tubes in her ears in a few months, I will try to remember to update about all that. She's doing great with her therapy! She wants to learn so that helps. I want to let anyone who reads this know that we do go to different churches speaking her testimony so if you would like to schedule that just e-mail us!! Please continue to pray!!
The Madden's
Update 02/23/05
Well, tomorrow Megan will go to CHOA to get her adnoids out and tubes in her ears. We hope this will help her in lots of ways. Also, Megan was tested last week and her receptive language is great! Right at 3 years, where she should be. Everything else tested at 2 years 7 months!! (except of course she still can't walk but she's trying hard!) I will update everyone on how she does on her surgery!!
God Bless,
The Madden's
Update
03/19/05
Well, Megan's surgery was a great success!! She is eating better, sleeping better and even talking better!!! God is so awsome! Dr. Steven Soble at Emory Clinic in Atlanta is who done her surgery and I would highly reccomend him to anyone needing a good pediatric ENT!! He is truly the best! Megan feels so much better now. I have never seen her enjoy food like she does now. So, everyone, rally with me in prayer for that feeding tube to be the next thing to go! We have to start thinking about her gums now. She may have to go the OR to get those fixed as well. I am praying that with her eating more now the gums will begin to receed back on their own without the need for surgery. I am going to try to start Megan back to preschool wothin the next two weeks if the weather gets better but if we don't get to it's not a big deal either. I would like to take this time on this update to thank every single person I can think of that has helped us along the way. This is going to be a long list but if I leave your name off please just e-mail me and ask me what my problem is!! LOL!! OK, here it goes, special thanks goes to (and each of you know what your here for):
Glenn & Melissa Cochran, Kelly,Jeff, Beth & Sam Alexander, Betty Hodge (my MOM),Dan, Lisa, Ben & Madison Ringenberg, Goldie & Glen Creech, (Gene's Mom and stepdad), Gene & Anna Madden (Gene's Dad and step mom), Delphia & Paul Jenkins, Neil & Regina Hodge, Kevin, Deanna, Ryan & Andrew Hodge, Robin, Dwayne & Tabitha Ratliff, Katrina & Michael Knight, Amanda & William Summey, Hank & Amanda Madden, Ruby Madden, Kirk Madden, Brother McCartney, Dr. Robert Vincent, Dr. Kirk Kanter, The entire staff in the cath lab at Eggelston, The entire 2nd floor step down unitat Eggelston, The entire PICU at Eggelston, the entire CICU at Eggelston, The whole entire staff at T.C. Thompson's, Every person at Faith Worship Center, Every person at Homeland Baptist Church, Every single church that had her on their prayer list and still prays for her, Alex Berg, Kim Woodall, Dr. Mahaley, Dr. Weisman, The entire Madden family, The entire Hodge family, Lisa Ringenberg's family, House of Prayer in Lafayette, Dr. Soble, Cindy Michaels, Tessa P., Becky Harrison, Michelle Timmerman, Elizabeth (speech), Frank,Misty,Patrick & Kayla Kovach, The staff at MCHS, all the employees at Durkan Carpet, Greg & Tippy Ridley, The entire staff at Carmike Cinema's, James & Pamela Mullins, Everyone at the Cowboy Church, Mira & Greg Witt, City View Church of God, Brenda Foster, Darlene & Gwyn Fitch, Trinity's God's Little Sprouts, Harold & Diane Poteet. Ok guys, I know there is many more and if you do not see yourself included please let me know!! I will add you!!
Update 04-07-05
Not much to tell right now. Megan has gone back to she don't want to eat again so we may still have to resort to The marcus Institute. We have not raised enough money yet for that. We are still going to try to have a golf tournament in August if all goes well. We are relying on God to send us people for that. Megan wants to walk so bad. I pray every night about that. Last night I sat up for about 2 hours in the middle of the night holding her, crying and praying for her legs and praying for God to let her eat. I have tried letting her go all day without feeds and still she won't eat. I don't know, that's what The Marcus Institute works on. Megan is doing GREAT with her hands and her intelligence. We are going to get to take her to Key Largo Florida to have therapy with the Dolphins in May. Thanks to the Dolphin place giving us a full scholorship and thanks to Glenn & Melissa Cochrane for helping make this dream a reality! We will leave May 20th and be gone a whole week! We are all excited. Please pray for us to have a safe trip. Again I say thank you to all of you for your prayers and again I say feel free to pass Megan's page onto whoever you wish!
God Bless,
The Madden's
05/09/05
Well, we are about 2 weeks away from going to Key Largo!! We are so excited about Megan getting therapy with the Dolphins!! We keep asking Megan if she's ready to go swim with the Dolphins and she says yea and starts laughing! Life is good!! She had a little cold last week but I think she's pretty much on the road to recovery now. She can now hold onto the couch and walk some. It's still a little challanging for her but she's doing it. She has not been brave enough to move from one peice of furniture to the next though. Her new braces on her legs are working great for her. We are scheduled to take her to the dentist on July 10th so we will soon be getting her gums fixed. Megan is FINALLY over 20 pounds! Can you believe that? She weighs almost 24 pounds now!! We are really excited about that. God has been so good to her. We went to a Mother/Daughter banquet the other night where I was the guest speaker and got to share her story with everyone there. I felt so honored to be asked to speak there. Megan and I had a great time and she actually ate great that night. Well, not too much else to tell. We will try to post some pictures of Key Largo when we get back!! Keep praying!!
The Madden's
Update 06/22/05
Well it's been a while since I have updated her page so I guess I have alot to get caught up on. Well, we went to Key Largo and had a ball!! Megan was afraid the of the Dolphins the first few days but liked it after that. I am hoping her little friend Maddy might get to go there next year. Megan is wearing panties now!! BIG STEP for Miss Megan. Today she started telling ME when she had to go instead of me guessing. I'm getting ready to pitch the diapers in the trash!! Her speech is getting alot better. She can say Mommy so good I can't believe it myself. She learns new sign language every week and catches on to that really fast. I think it's awsome because Maddy does sign too so one day they can play together (somewhere besides the hospital!) Megan just spent about 3 days in the hospital last week because she woke up last Wed. throwing up blood PROFUSLY! To make a long story short, she coughed so hard she broke a cappilary. THAT was a scary ordeal! God is good though, once again He brought us through that. Oh yea, another thing we have done recently is we was asked to be the "Feature Family" for this years United Way video! Megan done great in that too. She's still not walking, I truly believe this is going to be her biggest challange but the IS Megan we are talking about. I have no doubt she will do it. She sits up now from a laying down position, she does the "army" crawl really good. She can stand up to the couch and walk along the couch. She can also get down off the couch by herself. I can't even begin to tell you how smart she is about doing all these little songs that they do on Barney with all the hand motions they do. She does it better than US!! Well, I guess that's about it for now. Please continue to pray for her complete healing.
The Maddens
Update 7/10/05
Well, this past week has been pretty good although we was supposed to go visit our family in Ohio for vacation but we really was afraid of doing that because Megan ran a fever for over a week two weeks ago so we just stayed around here instead of risking that trip. We are planning the golf tournament again for August 20th in hopes we will get some response to it this time. Megan is facing 2 surgeries back to back very shortly. One is for sinus surgery and tonsils and the other will be the surgery on her gums. She will be in the hospital with both of these for a while plus in ICU the first night or so. We have to go to Atlanta this Friday for the ENT appt and to see GI. She acts likes she's feeling good these last few days which we are so happy about because Megan's blood was really really low last week to the point of them considering a blood transfusion. They decided to up her iron dose and do blood work again Monday to see what her levels are then they will decide on a blood transfusion. Please pray her blood levels to come up. Well, I guess that's about it!! If you know of anyone interested in her golf tournament or just wants to make a donation to Megan's fund they can contact me at 706-313-3706 or send a donation to:
Megan Madden
1103 North 3rd Ave. #14
Chatsworth, Ga. 30705
God Bless!!
The Maddens
Update 08/18/05
What a week we have had! Megan was brought to the hospital here in Atlanta last Saturday with her oxygen level dropping down in the 40's! Her tonsils were totally obstructing her airway. While they was not supposed to take them out until the 25th we had to go in this past Monday and do an emergency tonsilectomy. When the ENT came out he was very concerned as there was severe amounts of extra tissue in there. She was in PICU for 3 days and on the venilator for 2 days. He was almost certain Megan had PTLD. A form of cancer. We prayed. Oh did we pray! They came in today and told us all of her tests came back good!!! No sign of cancer!! Oh my GOD is good!!! This baby is going to serve the Lord in a mighty mighty way! We are going home tonight after we was just told we would be in here for three weeks!!! How awsome God is!! I can't say that enough!! Please continue to pray for Megan!!
Update 09/04/05
Megan was taken to the OR on August 15th to have an emergency tonsilectomy done. She was brought back to the PICU on a venilator where she stayed for three days. Two of which she stayed on the venilator. Nine days out of surgery Megan began throwing up blood PROFUSLY, I quickly called 911 and then called my husband at work (this was about noon). We rushed her to Atlanta where they was in hopes the blood had stopped but would watch her overnight. At 1:00 AM she began throwing up blood profusly once again. They rushed her to surgery at 2:00 AM. The ENT came out and said he was in high hopes that he had fixed all the areas that was bleeding. Gene felt safe to come home. (We live 2 hours away from the hospital). That was on Thursday. At 2:00 AM Megan began to throw up blood even worse than the first time. This time it was uncontrollable clots of blood. I quickly called my husband to hurry and get back down there. I told him it was worse this time than the first time. They promptly took her into surgery where they ended up having to give her 2 units of blood. We done alot of praying. Everything was fine. ENT came out and told us they could not find a source of the bleeding. We prayed some more. Megan had not been back in her room 30 minutes when the GI docs came in to tell us that they had to take her back to the OR to see if she had a GI bleed. Then after that surgery they took her straight to get a CT scan to see if we could find anything there. Everything turned out good. She has not bled since. They prayed for her today at church. Well, they actually prayed for all of us. We needed it! Well, I have to run. She keeps me busy!! I hope to hear from you all soon!!
Update-11/19/05
Well, Can you believe here it is almost Christmas again. Megan is doing good but is scheduled for yet another surgery on December 1st. The knot under her arm just continues to get bigger and does not look like it's going away although we have prayed many prayers for the Lord to remove it. So, they will be removing it on December 1st and biosing it for lymphoma. She has started preschool in the public schools with the special needs and she absolutly loves it. The teachers love her dearly as well as the other children. She is still not walking but I feel that gets closer every single day. God is so good to her. Her next biopsy will be January 6th. Our plans for Christmas was to take her to Ohio but those plans are looking slimmer and slimmer as our van and car have broken down. We know there is a reason if we don't get to go but I would have loved for her to see the snow and have Christmas where I grew up for once. Now that she understands everything I would love to show her the house I grew up in. The make-a-wish foundation came to visit us and her wish is going to be Disney World but all is not quite yet approved, they are working on it though and if all goes well we will be going in April! We will be flying! First time ever for us! Megan wants my neice, Tabitha to go so very bad so they are trying to get that approved. To her, without Tabitha a day is just not the same. Tabitha is her "sister" I guess, in her own way. She gets really excited when I ask her about going and signs when are we going? She knows all about Disney! She has a new speech teacher both at school and privatly and she is doing great with both of them although it's coming slowly I honestly believe she will get there. Until then, her signing is awsome! Megan's friend Madison is out of the hospital right now but expecting more surgery soon. You can check up on her at:
www.madisonfaith.com
She's awsome! Well, thats about it for now! Can you believe Megan will be 4 in January! Seems like yesterday she was born!
Love to you all!
The Maddens
Update 12/03/05
Well, Megan's surgery was postponed until after the Holidays. She will be having 4 different surgeries in January though! Two of which I am hoping they can do at the same time. The knot under her arm is about the same right now so please continue to pray for that. We are still waiting to hear an official YES from Make A Wish! I pray she gets to go. Last night we showed her the video of Disney World and she went CRAZY! She kept signing that her and her Daddy was going there! She is something else. I would not trade her for anything in this whole world! She makes us laugh all the time. Well, not too much to post today. Just please keep us in your prayers this Holiday Season. It's going to be a tough one to get through financially.
Love to all,
The Maddens
Update 12/30/05
Hello everyone! Wow it's been a long time since I updated you all!! She's doing awsome though! School is going great and Christmas was fantastic. We can't believe our little angel will soon be 4!!! JANUARY 21ST!!! It just don't seem like it now does it? We have the Disney World Trip all planned and ready to go! We will be leaving on April 22nd and coming home on the 27th. We will be FLYING! Pray for us!! It's the first time any of us have ever flown! My neice that lives with us will be going with us. She is 16 and just like Megan's sister. Megan is really excited about that too. She's still not walking but God knows she's giving it her all. We are just so proud of her. Her sign language is just not to be believed and she is now starting to put two words together!! She says things like " ALL DONE", "RIGHT NOW", BYE BYE", and several more. Her speech pathologist she has now is just great. I can't say enough good things about him and his devotion to Megan. Life is good. Megan is great! We are very very happy at our new Church although we still love and miss our old church family we know we are where God wants us. I have been praying about God finding a place for Megan in either our Church's Easter Play (if they have one, not sure of that) or for her to be able to be in next years Christmas play. I just sat and cried watching all the other kids in it this year and knowing Megan was not involved. Help me pray about that, it's something I would love to see!! Megan will be going for another heart biopsy on January 6th and then it's going to be like a snowball going down hill after that. The following week we have appointments with ENT and the dentist and then we will be scheduling the gum surgery and the knot under her arm. We are praying they can do those two at the same time. Please continue to pray for her because, without a doubt, it is ONLY God who has brought her this far! We love you all! Please forward this onto all that you know!
Love to all,
Gene, Tammy & Megan
Update 02/24/06
Well hello all!! Megan has sure had a battle these past few months but I think we are finally on the road to recovery. She had pneumonia 2 times in three weeks and then she got a viral infection and conjuntivitis in her eyes upon all that. But, God is good and He once again took care of our angel. She is doing much better now and ready to head back to school next week. We go next Tuesday to get her new braces for her legs and they will be ordering her a new walker and a new stroller since she is outgrowing the baby strollers!! She ALMOST weighs 30 pounds now! Can you even believe that!!? In about two weeks will mark 3 years since she has had her heart. Please remember the family in prayer that she got her heart from. Well, I guess that's about it for now!!
God Bless,
The Maddens
Update:
April 14th, 2006
Well, another holiday is coming fast upon us and Disney World is right around the corner!! How we are praying for good health so Megan can enjoy her trip to Disney World! Our plane leaves next Saturday the 22nd at 2:00 pm!! We are all so so excited for Megan. She has so deserved something like this for so long! At long last she gets to just be a kid for a week!! No doctors or hospitals! (sorry docs, we love you anyway) Anyway, she's doing really good right now but last week she had a real bad bout with sinusitis. Her temp went well over 104!!! She really scared me that time around. We pick up her new leg braces next tuesday and are in high hopes they will help out alot. Oh my goodness, what can I say about this child and all she is accomplishing latley??!! She knows most all her colors now, her speech is doing awsome! She's really starting to take an interest in drawing and we have decided if we can afford it we are going to get her PIANO lessons!! This baby is going to play for our Lord and saviour! She loves a piano so we are going to put it to good use. She's still a night owl. Keeps us up half the night and then gets mad if you try to get her up early!! We have a new, "BIG" stroller on order for her because she is outgrowing the baby strollers. We also have a new walker on order for her as she is starting to walk using a walker now. However, my Mom has a cane and she seems to be more comfortable trying to walk with that! Funny, hu? But, this is Megan we are talking about! Her gum surgery had to be rescheduled to May 19th BUT they changed her blood pressure medicine in hopes that it will help her gums and by golly it's working! You can see her teeth alot better these days but we will still be having the surgery as scheduled. Her 3rd annual biopsy is scheduled for May 12th. Can you believe it's been 3 years? It just does not seem like it. Well, I'm gonna go. I can't seem to get her pictures fixed on here but I will be working on that today. Keep praying for her. God knows it's working!
Love to all,
The Maddens
Update 05/05/06
Hello everyone. I just wanted tro update you all on our sweet Megan. She got to go on her Make A Wish trip to Disney World in Florida!! We had a ball!!! We flew down and that was really awsome. Megan loved that plane. Everything went great that whole week. We went to Universal Studios, MGM and the Magic Kingdom. They treated her like a queen every where we went. Well, when we got back from the trip she got sick like two days later and ran a fever all week this week. She's doing much better now though. Today was the first day we ventured out since she got sick and I think she was thrilled that we was able to get out of the house. She is scheduled for her annual heart biopsy next Friday, May 12th and if it is ok I think she can go to having the heart biopsies only twice a year. Right now she goes once every 4 months. Then, on May 19th she will be having surgery on her gums. Please please pray for her to stay healthy for this. The last time we had to cancel because she got sick. She needs this surgery really bad. She is still not walking but has her new leg braces and is really giving it her all. She will do it, I have no doubt. Her speech is getting better and better every single day. I am going to try to post some new pictures of her if I can remember how to do that. Well, I guess that about sums it up for now!!
God Bless,
Tammy Madden
Update-06/18/06
Well, I guess it's been a while since I posted but Megan is doing great. Her heart biopsy went good. All the tests were great. Now, she only has to go two times a year. That is so awsome but scary at the same time. They have taken her off of one of her meds so we have to do labs in about a month to make sure that was a wise choice. Man, her speech is just getting to be so awsome. My brother and his friend was here last night and she was talking to my brother and his friend saying different things and what made me feel so good is THEY understood her! You know, "mommies" can always understand but it really made me feel good that others are beginning to understand her speech. Her speech pathologist is just totally amazed at her progress. She will be getting these new things called "theratogs" (look it up on the internet) it's like a body suit and it will actually help her to walk again! Kinda like that weighted vest taught her to sit up again. Well, what else? Oh yea, it seems as though all her therapists and her pre-school teacher all agree that when she starts kindergarten which won't be this coming year but the next year, they say she should be in a regular ed classroom with a little inclusion! Now how's THAT for a child that was gonna be a vegtable?! I say again, as I have so many times, MY GOD IS GOOD! Well, I guess that about sums it up for this time. Please take a minute and sign her guesbook! Love to everyone!
Update 12/17/06
For those of you that do not know, I no longer update this page. You can go to www.carepages.com
It only takes one minute to become a member and put in Megan's carepage name which is simply megansjourney just like that. No capitals and no spaces. Thanks for reading Megan's story!
We love you all!
The Madden's
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