Together we fight for Maddox

From one minute to the next, our world was turned upside down. Friday while playing basketball we noticed Maddox was favoring his right arm and kept putting his left arm and hand behind his head without realizing it & not using it to play or protect himself. He had told us earlier in the day he was falling asleep in class and had a headache accompanied by a nose bleed the day before. Something just wasn’t sitting right me and my Mama Instincts kicked in and told me to take him to the ER. When you know, you know.

After multiple test in the ER the doctors thought it was a possible stroke & did a CT scan. Luckily, no stroke but they found 2 calcified masses on his brain.

My world immediately flipped upside down as I heard those words and I went into shock and completely numb. I could feel myself slipping from reality. Within hours we were being rushed to Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital Neurosurgery PICU via ambulance.

Saturday we had a MRI, showing Maddox had a rare Cavernous Hemangioma (bleeding lesion) in his brain that required immediate neurosurgery for removal. Surgery was scheduled for Wednesday 2/14, a 6 hour surgery (longest 6 hours of my life).

After the surgery Maddox took 5 days to wake up & open his eyes. We celebrated the awakening of our child but the challenges we would face in the coming weeks would put our strength and faith to the test all over again. Weeks of physical, occupational and speech therapy would yield small progress in his rehabilitation.

We battled slow progress and many setbacks, nausea, vomiting and seizures all of which we were not prepared for. We have now been here in the hospital for 40 days and Maddox has had a total of 4 surgeries on his brain. The initial removal of the masses, the draining of fluid between the skull and skin, a Shunt operation to put an adjustable valve into his brain allow drainage of excess Cerebrospinal fluid that the spinal cord was not disposing of on its on and now this week an additional catheter into the 2 lateral ventricles at the center of his brain.

Since Maddox's initial surgery on 2/14, he is non verbal, still sleeping 75% of the day and requiring physical, speech and occupation therapy to regain his physical strength and cognitive skills.

As Maddox's stay in the hospital continues with no end in sight, the financial challenges grow more daunting by the day. The road ahead for Maddox is still unknown but we hope with the help of our family, friends and network the financial burden not covered by my personal insurance can be the least of our worries at this time while we focus on Maddox's recovery.

We have been shocked by the outpour of love & prayers we have received by so many. Please consider donating to help us continue to fighting for Maddox's recovery and to get him back on his feet and be the full of life child he once was.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for anything you can contribute. We will continue to provide regular updates on Maddox's progress.