iracles from Mia Recipients:

2011 Cupid's Kisses Recipients

Olivia:
Olivia Rose is two years old and was born with myelomeningocele, which is the worst form of Spina Bifida. Olivia is paralyzed from her mid thigh down, her left hip is dislocated from the socket and one of her feet is club foot and the other foot is deformed. She also has bilateral kidney reflux and has lost her bowel and bladder control. She has a whole team of doctors and has therapy every week. She has been on a waiting list for Aqua Therapy for over a year and a half. Olivia is also growing abnormally fast for a child with Spina Bifida which causes her tendons in her lower limbs to tighten and requires surgery every four to six months and requires new braces every four months. Despite all her obstacles she is a happy, funny and loving little angel.
Update January, 2012:Two months ago, Olivia started to walk without any devices. Her doctors are very surprised. In March Olivia is having major surgery. They are going to put rods and pinning her right leg and they are going to shave her left hip socket, remake her hip and reattach her left hip to her body. Her surgery is going to be very long with four doctors and a blood transfusion. She will be in the hospital for five days, then we come home for four weeks with Olivia being in a full body cast then Olivia and I check into the Rehab institute of Chicago for six weeks so she can receive intense therapy and hopefully be able to walk again. We are very excited (very nervous at the same time lol) for this surgery because this has a high percentage rate of her walking more stable. Olivia has started preschool this year and loves it. The first couple of weeks none of the kids would talk or play with her but then the kids started to ask the teachers about Olivia and Olivia would talk for herself and tell them about Spina Bifida and about her medical equipment. Now she has tons of friends she plays with :) Thank you again for everything you did for us, you all are truly amazing!!

Moriah:
Moriah was born on May 30, 2005.  At 18 months of age she was diagnosed with merosin deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy.  The muscle weakness affects her gross motor skills.  She requires assistance with dressing and bathing but can scoot short distances and get in and out of a low chair.  She has had weekly physical therapy sessions since the diagnosis and will have hip flexor surgery in the near future to align her hips and legs.  Moriah is cheerful, smart, and loves to play with her dolls, pretend store, and scrapbooking.  She is daily working on strengthening her muscles and her ability to walk, but in the meantime she is excited about being more independent when she receives her motorized wheelchair this year.
Update January, 2012:Moriah is currently homeschooled in the 1st grade. She has gained more independence with her new wheelchair which she received in May of 2011.

Kylie:
Kylie was diagnosed on August 27, 2009 with 2 brain tumors and 5 spinal tumors. She was officially diagnosed with P.N.E.T (Primitive Neuro Ectodermal Tumors). Her treatment consisted of six induction rounds of Chemo from Sept ’09 thru Feb ‘10, High Intense Chemo with a Stem Cell Transplant on March 30th & 7 weeks of full cranial & spinal Radiation from May 20th thru July 12th. She has had several scans and biopsies throughout this time. She also dealt with a fungal infection of her liver & lungs which delayed her start for transplant. Kylie is a wonderful child with an amazing personality and due to all of the treatment that she had endured she has lost her outgoing and carefree spirit. All of our treatments have been inpatient and each time we would end up back with fevers for a week or more. Website

Matthew:

Matthew is a beautiful 2 year old boy. His birth was expected to be perfect, and although mom Carrie was 2 weeks late there was not a cause for concern. At birth he did not cry and soon after started to have seizures. He has been diagnosed with quad spastic cerebral palsy, has chronic lung disease,and a tracheotomy to help him breathe. He is not really mobile and because he needs a lot of suctioning he is pretty much confined to the house.He is also 100% tube fed. He requires 24 hour nursing care, is severely disabled and medically fragile.

Past Recipients

Ashley:

Ashley is a three-year old who was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor in 2008, shortly after her second birthday. At the time of her diagnosis, the tumor was sitting on her lung and wrapped around her spinal cord. Rhabdoid tumors are very rare but also aggressive and her odds of surviving until her third birthday were only 5-7% . She has been undergoing treatment since then and has fought hard to beat this terrible disease, reaching and passing her third birthday, but sadly, she was called to heaven in February, 2010.

Sean:

Sean is a two-year old who was born with several health issues. Within his first year of life he was diagnosed with seizures and cerebral palsy, visual and hearing impairments as well as an overall developmental delay. Shortly after turning one, he was diagnosed with Chromosome 18q-, an abnormality in which part of Chromosome 18 is missing. Little is known about this abnormality so Sean's future is unknown. He sees 17 doctors and attends many weekly therapies. His fight to just be a kid is a day to day struggle.

Jackson:

Jackson was born on September 14, 2009.He was born with Pierre Robin Sequence. His jaw born was underdeveloped, and his tongue is tethered to the bottom of his mouth. He was given a tracheotomy to breath and several attempts at feeding tubes, also finding two hernias that had to be repaired. He is unable to suck and cannot tolerate anything in his stomach, a new feeding tube was just put in. It is suspected that he has a cleft palate and he has failed all hearing tests. He spent 89 days in the NICU at Central Dupage Hospital after he was born and has had 3 major surgeries to date. There will be many more, He has had a metal rod put in his jaw that his parents had to tighten on both sides 3 times a day to help bring his jaw forward, in that surgery his jaw was broken to correct it. It is unknown the outcome of Jackson’s health, he is simply too young to tell and there is no one to compare him too..
Update January, 2012: In the last year, Jackson has made great progress.  In April, he had a bronchoscopy which showed that all of the swelling in his trachea had resolved.  His doctors believed that the tracheostomy was ready to be removed.  However, a sleep study in June revealed that Jackson had some sleep apnea, so the tracheostomy remains.  The doctors were confident that the apnea would resolve, so Jackson will be going in for another study in the next few months.
Jackson is beginning to eat with his mouth now and his hearing has improved considerably as well.  We look forward to his continued progress in the next year.

Anastacio:

Anastacio was diagnosed with ALL (leukemia ) when he was 3 and a half. He was high risk which meant he had to do some stages of chemo twice. He has to complete 3 and a half years of chemo. and then 5 years of follow up tests to be considered cured. He has just finshed 2 and a half years of chemo and has been hospitalized 20 times due to fevers and various infections caused by the chemo.  His leukemia was put into remission 28 days after he started chemo and has thankfully stayed in remission. It has been a very long hard road for him . He has experienced so much pain from the cancer and then the said effects of the chemo. He has been so sick and scared and there were two times we were not sure he would come home. But he is a very strong boy and has surprised us all. It has been a long road and there's still a lot more to come.

Daniel:

In January 2009, Daniel was hospitalized with an unknown condition. He was unable to keep food down and had lost a considerable amount of weight. Because of this, he was unable attend school. His kidneys began to shut down and other vital organs began to be compromised. An unlikely combination of medications began to turn his health around but no one was able to diagnose his condition. With no where else to turn they went to see a rheumatologist at La Rabida Children's Hospital where they began to get answers. Ten months after Daniels initial hospitalization he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. Though the disease at this point can not be cured, he is continually monitored and medicated to stabilize the condition.

Joey is a three-year-old who was born three months premature with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. He had been receiving physical, occupational, developmental, aquatic and speech therapy through the state. However, these services ended once he turned three. Joey needs to continue these services if he has any chance of avoiding a wheel chair for the rest of his life. Joey has made significant progress thus far but still has long journey ahead of him.

Paris:

Paris is a one-year-old who was born with Neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that affects children. The cells affected are in the brain, spinal cord and nerves. These cells control thinking, sensation and movement. Paris has undergone several surgeries as well as chemo and radiation therapy. She continues to fight to become cancer-free.Website

Update January, 2012: Paris is a 4 year old girl who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at 9 days old in 2007. Neuroblastoma is a form of childhood cancer that affects approximately 650 children per year and of that approximately 50 children under the age of 1 per year. The cells affected are in the brain, spinal cord and nerves. The cells affected control thinking, sensation and movement. Beginning at 10 days Paris has undergone several surgeries as well as chemotherapy, radiation, antibody and clinical trials.  She has had a total of 4 relapses from 2007-2009.  
In September of 2009 Paris' scans indicated "stable" where there were areas in question however did not change in dimensions.
Paris is required to scan every 3 months at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York which consists of MRI of the brain/spine, CT, MIBG injection and scan, urine collection and blood work.
Due to tumor impact which caused a 56 degree curvature within the spinal cord Paris underwent corrective spine surgery to place growing rods in February of 2011 which need to be surgically adjusted every 6 months.
Overall Paris is a very happy and sweet child who is currently in preschool and awaiting the arrival of her new baby sister. She has such a wonderful outlook on life.  Despite struggles that she is faced with she tends to overcome them causing us to truly grateful for each day.

Mark:

Mark is 14 years old and was recently treated for cancer for the third time. After thinking he was cured in 1999 and again in 2003-04, the cancer reoccurred in late 2007 and his treatment had to start all over again. He had to undergo a bone-marrow transplant and was treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Currently, he is being treated for graft vs host disease and fighting a lingering BK virus. He is still trying to attend school, but is only able to do so on a part-time basis.

Update January, 2011: Mark still has check ups with his oncologist every 8-10 weeks.  He had to be re-vaccinated for all of his infant and childhood vaccines and is currently waiting for one more result to see if his new immune system has accepted the vaccine for pneumonia and meningitis.  He continues to take penicillin until those results are normal.   
Mark is on the honor roll as a junior in high school, was inducted into the National Honor Society and is thinking about colleges.  He is on the school bowling team again this year, he got his drivers license last May and started taking flying lessons last June.  He has made a lot of new friends at his school and is a very happy young man.   
Mark and his brother, Brian, delivered Christmas presents to the oncology patients at Children's Memorial Hospital on December 22nd, accompanied by his doctor and the child life specialist.  The kids smiled, waved and cheered from their rooms.  They are hoping to make this an annual tradition.

Andrew:

Andrew is a six-year old diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease. This disease prevents his cells from producing energy. He also suffers from lactic acidosis, which is extremely painful, causes severe dehydration and muscle fatigue, and can be fatal. He sleeps with a C-PAP machine to keep his airways clear and has a feeding pump to ensure that he gets the proper nutrition. Despite his lack of energy, Andrew loves to play ball and has a love for music.

Mason:

Mason was born three months premature and weighed only 2 pounds. While he was in the hospital, he contracted the E-Coli virus which attacked his foot, ankle, leg, knee and hip. Amputation was his only chance at survival and he now is learning to walk with the use of a walker and a prosthetic leg. He has undergone many surgeries to help repair the damage to his leg, and also for blindness. He will continue to undergo surgery as he grows and his future holds much rehabilitation and nursing. Despite his setbacks, Mason is an energetic five-year old with a personality that inspires all.
Update January, 2012:Mason is doing great. Now an elementary school student he is a smart, funny boy, who loves to kid around with his mom. He is now a patient a Mayo Clinic, where they to continue to work on his foot,leg and knee prosthetic. Because he is growing he will go through many legs, but so far they have been able to fit him with his best yet. With a bendable knee, flexible foot and rotating ankle he is walking and balancing better than ever. While none of these are perfect Mason continues to defy expectations. He has run into bullies this year, but has handled them with his usual humor. He has also started to ask why he only has one leg. What happened to the other one? A question we would all like to know! With a great loving family he is sure to grow with love alone. He is truly one amazing kid, no doubt he will do big things! Website

Mckenna:

McKenna was born born premature with a multitude of issues ranging from a rare genetic disorder, a portion of her brain missing, Cerebral Palsy, Primordial Dwarfism, Epilepsy and blindness. In the face of unbelievable medical challenges,Since her conditions are so rare, doctors are unsure what her future holds. It is a true miracle that she has made it to her first birthday, and hopefully there will be many more to come.
Update January, 2012:McKenna Reese is truly a miracle at 4 years old. In the last 18 months McKenna has overcome tremendous obstacles--open heart surgery, multiple pneumonia's and increased seizures--and throughout all of it she has remained one of sweetest little girls around with a heart full of love. McKenna has also managed to add an amazing 10 lbs. to her tiny frame as well as become a big sister. Website