Daughter of the King- Madilyn's Journey

  It is with heavy hearts we share that Madilyn was taken home and received into the arms of her Lord late last evening, March 6. We are thankful we were able to care for her at home and be next to her as she drew her last breath.   We are terribly saddened and broken. Yet, we are not grieving for her - as we know that our daughter is now a perfect living member of His Kingdom forever and ever.  Adam and Laurissa

 We just finished the virtual meeting with the healthcare team. We are working towards having everything in place for Madilyn’s end-of-life care. They suspect Madilyn will have only days to maybe a few short weeks left here with us. Shes more awake and “functioning” today. She really wants to go to McDonalds so that’s our goal for today!

 We have a update regarding Madilyn:  This morning after waking up well and at her normal, Madilyn suddenly got an intense headache and started puking. 911 was called and by the time paramedics arrived Madilyn wasn’t responding. She was breathing normally but looked very unwell. Her eyes would open at times but unaware of anything going on around her. I carried her from the house to the ambulance and she was completely limp. She was brought to Wingham hospital where they confirmed she had another brain bleed from the tumour which induced seizure(s). After meeting with the healthcare team on Feb 24 (the day of her MRI) it was decided that Madilyn’s goals of care are comfort and to have her home through her end-of-life process. Home care was starting to be arranged. But after the events of this morning, it seems like the timeline for all this was accelerated. Madilyn is home with us now. She can’t move much on her own and is barely able to talk or swallow. Her vital signs are st...

Here is a bit of an overdue update on the last couple of weeks. Laurissa will be taking over the writing of the blog posts now that she has the time and brain space for it! The final half of Madilyn’s treatments went very well. Before many of her treatments, she even had Timmy, the therapy dog, hop up on the bed to keep her company while she waited. Quite often during our mornings in the PMDU, the child life specialists stopped by with a fun craft or activity to help pass the time. Despite the circumstances, it was a special time. Each time Madilyn was wheeled from the PMDU to the Radiation floor, she made sure I hoped on the bed first. And we got wheeled down the hall by the best porter/driver. January 14 th marked Madilyn’s fifteenth and final treatment. Before heading in for her very last one, she had the opportunity to ring the gong in the cancer centre waiting area to celebrate reaching this milestone. She rang it proud and loud! It brought on a loud round of applause from al...

Madilyn is over half way through her radiation treatment. She is regaining strength and use of her right side. The oncology team was very pleased with her improvement and have been titrating down her oral medication, which we are thankful for. We have been able to be home over the weekends and after Madilyn's last scheduled radiation treatment on January 14, we hope to be home indefinitely and resume as much normalcy in daily life as we can. Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers and support- we have much to be thankful for even in the midst of trials. 

Adam and Laurissa wrote this and wanted it passed on... We would like to express our wholehearted gratitude toward all those who have shown us love, care, support and encouragement over the past several weeks. It had been a truly humbling experience to see how much thoughtfulness has been extended to us by so many people. There honestly are too many people to thank individually. We think of our families, close friends, colleagues, community, church family and even people we have never met. Thank you all for your thoughts, messages, prayers, offers to help and generous support.  We hope this message is able to reach all those who have been there and graciously taken the time, effort and resources to support our family.

 After over 2 weeks in the hospital, Madilyn was finally able to come home! She's doing fine with the radiation treatments and now gets a few full days away from the hospital. Adam and Laurissa do have a some medications that they need to get Madilyn to take during this time, which isn't easy. They also have to be careful, Madilyn is considered immunocompromised and should not be around others who are ill. Even the slightest fever means a trip to the ER. They will be heading back to London on Sunday evening, as Madilyn's next treatment is at 8:30am on Monday (December 29th). She's now considered an outpatient, which means she does not have to stay in a hospital room. They will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House between treatments, which gives them more freedom.  Adam, Laurissa and Madilyn drove straight from London to Palmerston for the Boonstra family Christmas. It was bittersweet. We were so excited that Madilyn was able to come. We are all so thankful we could c...

Madilyn's surgery (biopsy) was successful! After a day under observation in the PCCU, Madilyn was able to head back upstairs to her princess hospital room. They were able to take samples of the tumour and send them off to be analyzed. The results will hopefully identify the type of cancer/tumour and allow for more targeted radiation therapy. While the results won't be ready for a bit, they will still be starting radiation next week. For next week, the doctors are planning to do radiation on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec 22-24). If Madilyn responds well to radiation and is healthy enough, she will be allowed to come home for a few days over Christmas (Dec 24-28). Radiation would continue on the 29th.  Please pray that Madilyn would respond well to the radiation and that the family would be able to return home for these few days! After almost two weeks in the hospital, everyone is ready for a break, especially Madilyn. It would be such a blessing to be able to spend Christma...

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9  As God's children, we confess that his ways are higher than our ways. And yet, when something like this happens, it's impossible for us to understand what his purpose and plan are for Madilyn. Why? Why is God allowing such a young child to face such an awful disease? Countless tears and prayers and laments have gone up to God's throne with these questions in the past week. Although our human minds cannot possibly understand God's ways, we strive to take comfort in knowing that he is King. He is sovereign, and has chosen for himself many people to be his sons and daughters. That is exactly what Madilyn is. She is a daughter of the King. Yes, she is also a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece and friend to many here...