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PRINCESS MADISON'S WEB PAGE Welcome to Madi's Web Page. It has been provided to keep you updated about our Princess who was diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (iALL) August 8th, 2001 when she was 5 months old.
After a 2nd relapse, she went to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, for an Unrelated Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Transplant on April 30th, 2003. She returned to California on September 3rd, 2003, and was doing fine until October 14th, when we received the biopsy results of a small lump that was removed from her back. The tests showed that she was still 100% donor cells, but the leukemia had relapsed in her tissue. She developed a tumor on her brain and within 2 weeks her battle was over. We lost her on October 28, 2003.
We'd like to say thank you again for all of your prayers and support as we have made this journey with Madison. We still enjoy reading the guestbook entries so please let us know you were here.
Love, Mike & Marian Mitchem
GO HUG YOUR KIDS!!!!!
Journal
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 1:46 PM CDT Hi!
This is Mikey and I want to tell you a little about my experience with leukemia...
I was three-and-a-half years old when my five month-old sister Madison was diagnosed with leukemia. That was over nine years ago, on August 8th, 2001. She frequently received chemotherapy and we were in and out of hospitals repeatedly over the next two years as she bravely faced her treatments. One significant trip was to Duke University in North Carolina where we stayed for five months while she received a transplant. She was only two years old then.
I have some of the best memories from the two years, eight months, and four days that Madi was a part of my life. Something I look back at and laugh about now was when Madi used to twirl my hair around her finger while she was falling asleep. (I think she liked playing with mine because she never had much of her own.) Right when she was about to nod off, her arm would relax, and it felt like she was yanking the hair out of my head. That’s when I would yell, “OOOWWW! MADIII!!!” And she would say in her sleepy voice, “Sorry Brah” (that’s her version of “Brother.”) Since she would wake up a little from my yelling...the process would start all over again. She loved to do everything I did. It was like having a second shadow, and I loved it..........well, most of the time.
It drives me nuts now when my mom is continuously taking pictures of me, but I know it’s a good thing because she did it with Madi too, so I get to watch the videos and look at the pictures that mom took of her and me together to remember what it was like having a little sister.
A quote I heard after Madi died that has comforted me is, “Don’t cry because it’s over...Smile because it happened.” I’m twelve now and I still miss her, but I’m glad that, even though it was only for a short time, I was able to be her big brother. She was the best little sister anyone could ever ask for.
This year my family is participating again in the Light the Night Walk with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We have been doing these walks since 2002. I think it’s a great way to keep Madi’s memory alive. I hope you will join us this year...either by coming and walking with us at the event, or by sending a donation to support our efforts to find a cure.
The Light the Night Walk is on Saturday, October 16, 2010, between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. at California Baptist University, 8432 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, CA 92504.
To register for the walk or to donate online, click on this link to get to my web page: http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/InlandEm10/MikeyMitchem
Or, you can send a check made payable to ‘LLS’ to: c/o Mikey Mitchem 12182 Abington Street Riverside, CA 92503
If you raise at least $100 and become a "Champion For Cures", you'll get a walk t-shirt, a lighted balloon to carry, and a wrist band for the food court the night of the event. If you have any questions or would like more information about the walk, you can reach my mom, Marian, at 951-288-4976.
Thank you and God bless. I hope to see you October 16th.
Your friend,
Mikey Mitchem
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room: Madi is at rest awaiting the soon return of our Savior The Mitchem Family 12182 Abington Street Riverside, CA 92503 Cell (951) 288-4972
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