We need another prayer for Madi

We received an update on Madi today. Although she's recovering well in the hospital, the pathology results came back today...

Well, the results are back, and it’s not what we hoped for. She has a Grade III fibrillary astrocytoma. This is generally very aggressive, and the oncologist didn’t really give us much more information yet to let it sink in. She will most probably get chemotherapy and radiation therapy after she makes it through this acute hospitalization. Odds are greatly stacked against us, but apparently it can be beaten. We know this type of astrocytoma has never faced Madison Paige Couser. We also know who we’re going to bet on.

Say your prayers for the Couser family. In this update they went on to say how they gave Madi 2 rides in the wagon today around the Peds ICU, and ate Teddy Grahams for breakfast. They are trying to remain so positive for her, even after receiving this news. I'll post the rest of their update below if you're interested, just because even in the bleak time, they are receiving so much hope from so many people.

I gave both boys and extra hug and kiss tonight. Tyler's new thing when I put him to bed at night is to ask for a kiss, "kiss! kiss!" he says, and then just as you start to walk away, it's "hug! hug!". Then he wants to give you a hug. It's not good enough to just give him a hug, but he has his own special way.

Tonight he told me, "Mommy, I need to hug you around your neck.",
and he puts his arm around my neck and gives me the strongest hug he can.
"I love you Mommy!", he whispers.
"I love you too Tyler, see you tomorrow.", I respond.
"Night Night, see you in the morning!", he whispers, "Tell Connor I love him too."

He is going to be an excellent big brother!


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Here is the rest of the post about Madi:
From an acute medical standpoint, she’s made great strides today. Her sodium seems to be stabilizing, and she's on a less concentrated sodium chloride solution now. As that's been happening, she's been perking up a bit. Right now she’s the most alert we’ve seen her, and she’s starting to talk more. Also, she's showing more deliberate motion of her right side, and her right eye is still swollen but now not completely shut.

Madi took two wagon rides today. She took the first ride with Mom around noon. She rested while riding in the wagon and watched the pictures drawn by children on the tiles of the peds ICU. This was after having a pudding cup and bag of Teddy Grahams for breakfast, with a popsicle for good measure. Shortly thereafter, the Mayo psychiatry residents stopped by and brought pretty much all of Disney’s characters for Madi in stuffed animal form. Thank you!

Later in the afternoon, Madi took a long wagon ride with mom and dad. After that, she ate three popsicles. Her kindergarten teacher, Anne Gerth, stopped by to bring Madi a cool purple monkey (with a smaller light purple monkey, both hanging now from the ceiling), and some cards from her classmates (that we’ve yet to read to her). Then Ms. Gerth read a book to Madi, and she seemed to really respond to this. (Thanks, Ms. Gerth and Folwell kindergarteners!) She was alert after that time and watched TV.

This news is still raw—we just found out. Please keep the prayers and the messages coming. Madi needs it more than ever now, as it looks like this is an ultra marathon as opposed to just a regular one. (Leave it to Madi--she skipped her first 5k, thinking it was too easy and instead opted for the ultra.) We’re excited to see the light come back into Madi’s eyes. Go Madi!



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