I'M A GRANDPA AGAIN!

[cjj]

Best wishes and all the luck possible. I sure hope it all goes well...

[ram]

Wow I was just catching up with this and BLAM! Talk about a change in direction… Paul, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I’m visualizing you and Madeleine playing together for many years to come!

[jingle_jangle]

Spoke to Maddy's Mom (my daughter Andrea) this morning. Maddy continues to improve, and a new photo will arrive this weekend. She's still on the heart machine, and probably will be until a donor becomes available, as I said, but her condition continues to improve day-by-day.

A heart donor will (sadly) most probably be a young traffic accident victim, and Easter Week in Spain has the highest incidence of traffic fatalities, so the tragic irony is that someone else's heartbreak could likely hold the key to Madeleine's recovery.

It's things like this that make us aware of the tenuous nature of human life, and the part that chance plays in survival.

In Madeleine's ward (infant ICU cardio), there are three other newborns with similar conditions. One of the boys is Roma, and since they do not permit transplantation of body organs, he has had multiple operations in order to make the most of the heart he was born with.

On a positive note, visiting hours must be entertaining...

I'll post the photo as soon as it arrives.

[elreydlp]

My son posted on his Facebook page that he and his wife were expecting child #6. It almost put me in the Cardiac Ward at Scripps Memorial before I realized it was an April Fools joke! FIVE IS ENOUGH!

[jingle_jangle]

Andrea just sent this picture of Madeleine. What a difference between this and her newborn photos!

It's both heartbreaking and encouraging to see such a tiny person with so many tubes and bandages.

She's heavily sedated, so she is comfortable, nonetheless. And she's got lots of people pulling for her, too!

[collin]

Oh, wow --- poor thing.

I hope she finds a donor soon, and doesn't have to wait too long.

[elreydlp]

Andrea just sent this picture of Madeleine. What a difference between this and her newborn photos!

It's both heartbreaking and encouraging to see such a tiny person with so many tubes and bandages.

She's heavily sedated, so she is comfortable, nonetheless. And she's got lots of people pulling for her, too!

Madrid-20110331-00271.jpg

Add me to the list Paul! Thoughts and prayers for little Madeline!

[cjj]

Aw man...

[ram]

Paul, with all the tubes and wires and tape... if that's what it takes to help make her better then seeing them there isn't so bad.. in spite of it all she is a cute little thing! What a doll!

[jingle_jangle]

Today's update from my daughter Andrea and son-in-law Cristobal:

"Dear Family,

Maddy continues her stable path and looking great (picture attached).
She keeps herself in a good situation with the machine while awaiting
that little heart. All her vitals are stable.

After talking to the doctors, they will try to focus on "forcing " her
kidney to start working again (as that will put her in a much better
condition for the future transplant) and continuing to test her
respiratory system to see if it is possible to use a different machine
that only has the heart bypass. We will know more as the week progresses
and we will keep informing/updating you.

As usual, your many messages and, for those in Spain, your visits to the
hospital are gold for us and keep us optimistic and focused on a better
future for Maddy.

Besos and abrazos to all
Cristobal, Andrea, Madeleine Grace and Poppy"

Madeleine's looking better and better. I can hardly wait until she's home and we can visit, but there are still a lot of bridges to cross.

Everyone's thoughts and prayers are appreciated, believe me!

[ram]

Thanks for the update Paul... Maddy is one cute little girl. Keeping the prayers going her way - I for one believe that they do help!

[elreydlp]

Thank you for the update. That little girl has a lot of fans!

[melibreits]

Continuing to pray for little Maddy.... She's a beautiful tiny angel.

[jingle_jangle]

Update this morning from Andrea and Cris:

We know it has been almost a week since the last update. We have not
sent one earlier as not much has changed and we were hoping to have
something new to tell you.

Let’s get to the negative side first. Doctors don’t seem too confident
we can move her onto another machine in the mid-term. Although some of
the trials on her lungs have shown progress, she has not been able to
completely breath on her own. So it does not seem realistic at this
point to believe she could move on to a less aggressive machine that is
only focused on the heart bypass. Also, she still has not been able to
urinate on her own. The reason is not clear as so far she does not seem
to have any injuries to her kidneys. The results of all of this is that
she may have less time to wait for a transplant in good condition, how
long? Nobody can tell.

On the positive side, Maddy continues to be stable, eating and
tolerating her Mum’s milk most of the time. She continues to be a
beautiful baby with such a strong look and clearly a fighting character.
In fact, the doctors have said that she is doing much better than
expected after being hooked up to the ECMO (heart bypass machine) for
such a long time.

So obviously we keep hoping a heart will arrive soon and that we can see
her in her Mum’s arms as soon as possible.

Amen, Andrea. Grandpa wants to give her a hug, too!

[wmthor]

My continued thoughts and prayers are with Maddy.