Funeral expenses for Madison Curbow, Class of 2020

Update: It's with a heavy heart that I share that Madison gained her angel wings on the evening of June 2nd. Please pray for her family and friends, and give them privacy during this difficult time. We never expect to bury our children. If you're able, please donate to help the family with burial expenses. No amount is too small. If you're unable to help monetarily, please share this post and pray for the family.

My name is Stephanie Eichman, a Pleasanton educator of 22 years. I've known Madison and her family since she walked into my kindergarten classroom in 2007. Madison is the daughter of Shane and Melissa Curbow of Pleasanton. Her younger sister, Mackinzy is a Pleasanton graduate of 2022.

On Saturday, April 8th, Madison suffered a seizure while driving near her home in Pleasanton. Thankfully, her mother was with her and was able to get her to the hospital immediately. After initial testing, it was determined that she had a mass the size of a golf ball in her head and was quickly transferred to Stone Oak Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. After more testing, they received some relieving news, the mass was a benign meningioma outside of the brain. It was also determined that what she thought were some after-effects of COVID, Madison was having seizures for 8 months. A symptom of the mass growing and constricting the arteries, sensory nerves, and optic nerve for so long. They learned that it would have to be surgically removed. Madison was put on steroids for a week to reduce the swelling around the mass and surgery was scheduled for Friday, April 14th. After more than four hours of surgery, the doctors informed the family that the mass was much larger, the width of a baseball! Madison awoke with weakness on the left side of her body. Early on Sunday, April 16th, Madison was running a low-grade fever due to swelling in her brain. The doctor rushed her to surgery where they removed a portion of her skull to allow for the swelling. She was left on a ventilator and sedated for a few days to allow for her brain to rest and for the swelling to go down. Once she was taken off the ventilator and the sedation, she continued to have weakness on the left side of her body. Madison fought hard for 31 days (3 weeks in ICU) and was finally transferred to a rehabilitation facility on May 8th. She has a long road to a full recovery with physical, occupational, and speech therapy daily, which began, on May 9th, as well as another surgery to put back the portion of skull that was removed.

I am doing this fundraiser to help offset medical costs for Madison that her insurance may not cover. (One medication that the doctor fought the insurance over was $16,000 for a two-week supply.) I hate for Madison to have to worry about medical bills and the stress they cause during and after her recovery. If you are able, please donate, there is no donation too small! If you are not able to help financially, please pray for her to have a full recovery and share her story.

(Cash App and PayPal are also available upon request.)

Thank you for your consideration!