March 2011

Dear family and friends,

This month has been one of the toughest for the entire extended Douglas family.  Our niece, 3 year old Madi Douglas, has been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). The family is devastated…  Madi has been given a grim prognosis, 9-12 months to live, even with aggressive radiation therapy and chemotherapy treatments.  For those of you that know Madi, Jay or Angie and would like to hear more about  how she is doing, you can read the updates etc at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/miraclemadidouglas/journal. 

 

Despite this shattering news, Jay and Angie, have exhibited great faith and strength.  Family, church, and friends have rallied around this little family, and we are in fervent prayer that sweet Madi will be able to handle the treatments well - in fact we’re praying for a miracle.

After this 6 week radiation/chemotherapy treatment, Madi will have a “good period” when she will be able to visit Disneyland, the beach etc…When (and if) the tumor grows back again she will undergo a clinical study at Egleston here in Atlanta—receiving chemotherapy drugs for 30 weeks.

It is times like these, that we try to trust in the Lord’s wisdom, and patiently wait.  We also are grateful for the eternal nature of families, and the promise of life after death.  Jay gave Madi a beautiful and powerful blessing, we could all feel the Lord’s love for Madi and His spirit so strongly.

 

There were a few rays of light this month; namely, the visit of a best friend.  Natalie arrived with her 2 girls the day we received the news about Madi.  She was a rock, and handled the house and kids for a portion of each day while I made phone calls, visited the hospital, etc… It was such a blessing to have her here, especially since Scott was traveling. 

We were able to do some fun things too like the Children’s Museum, Morgan Falls park, Monkey Joes, and the aquarium.  The part all the kids seemed to enjoy most was just playing outside on all the ride toys, trampoline, etc…

 

And our little TayBee turned 2!  This was no surprise to her, considering she has been saying she is “2!” whenever asked for the last 6 months.  She received a trampoline, her first Barbie (and horse), and more accessories for her doll house.  And of course she had a Dora Cake—her absolute favorite character.  She has been cracking us up with Knock-Knock jokes - the punch line always being ‘Poo-poo-ies!’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday cake

“Happy birthday to Tay!”

 

In Scott news, he continues to fly to Miami every Monday morning and return Thursday in time for dinner.  Luckily this is only an 8-week project, and again SO thankful to have FaceTime where the kids can see and visit with their dad everyday.  We think he is doing well, but it is hard to gauge—I guess the mystery will be solved soon!

 

And my news is just as brief, with the highlight being that I ‘finished’ my job at Peachford Hospital – work just isn’t for everyone apparently :-) .  Not only was I getting paid half of what I was getting in San Diego, but the hospital was also disorganized, dirty, understaffed, chaotic, and downright dangerous in my opinion for the patients!  So it was time to move on, and it’s back to the drawing board…and I am taking my time!

 

 And Jackson and the River Cats baseball team are in full swing with an undefeated season!  Jackson is playing up with the 5 and 6 year olds; therefore he is the shortest and the slowest player.  However when it comes to baseball skills and understanding the game, he is at the top of the pack.  He is having a blast, and even earned the game ball when he was the only one who could hit off the pitch when they took away the tee.

The game-ball winning hit

The bequeathing of the game ball

 

And that’s the news for the month.  We hope you all are doing great, and we’ll look forward to touching base again at the start of May.

Lots of love,