Two years in the past, the Griffin household of Vancouver misplaced their daughter to a uncommon type of mind most cancers. Right now, they honor her reminiscence by creating holiday-themed reward baskets for households going through the identical struggle.
Maddy Griffin was 15 years outdated when she was identified with astrocytoma, a uncommon sort of most cancers that may happen within the mind or spinal twine. She died in 2022 when she was simply 16.
However Maddy’s mom, Melinda Griffin, needed her reminiscence to reside on.
Melinda Griffin, a instructor at Riverview Elementary Faculty, later created a Fb web page in her daughter’s honor referred to as Miracle Maddy, the place she spreads consciousness of childhood cancers. On 5 main holidays — Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas — the Griffins create goodie baskets to ship to pediatric oncology sufferers at two youngsters’s hospitals in Portland.
“I have befriended so many people in the cancer community because of this. I feel like Maddy has given me my mission now: to bring a little bit of joy,” Melinda Griffin mentioned. “It’s not a fix, but it’s a momentary bliss for kids who are stuck in their current situation.”
The Griffin household put collectively about 145 reward baskets this yr. They deliberate to make their first supply Friday to pediatric sufferers at Doernbecher Kids’s Hospital in Portland, the place Maddy additionally acquired remedy.
The hampers are made up of things donated by neighborhood members, together with toys, stuffed animals, hats, books, sweet and different holiday-themed stocking stuffers. They’re usually organized by age and gender, however all require one factor: a stuffed animal, Melinda Griffin mentioned.
“It’s kind of like you build this kinship with these families,” Melinda Griffin mentioned. “You connect to them and that’s really important to me. I don’t want to lose that.”
‘We couldn’t repair this’
In 2020, Maddy started experiencing complications and blurred imaginative and prescient. Her household thought that she may have a brand new prescription for her eyeglasses, so that they took her to an appointment at Mt. View EyeCare in Vancouver.
That appointment occurred to be on Aug. 11, 2020, Maddy’s fifteenth birthday.
Throughout the examination, optometrist Shannon Soper seen fluid behind Maddy’s eyes and referred her to a neighborhood emergency room for additional examination.
On the emergency room, a physician instructed the Griffin household that mind most cancers may very well be the reason for Maddy’s signs.
Maddy was transferred to Randall Kids’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland the place, after days of hospitalization, she was identified with an inoperable type of mind most cancers, grade 3 astrocytoma glioma.
Astrocytoma, made up of star-shaped cells referred to as astrocytes, targets the most important a part of the mind. This tumor grows rapidly and may unfold to close by mind tissue.
A grade 3 tumor signifies that it grows quicker and extra aggressively than grades 1 and a pair of. Grade 3 astrocytomas and glioblastomas account for 10 p.c of all childhood central nervous system tumors, in response to Cleveland Clinic.
“Even the way she battled this, we never let her know there was no cure,” Melinda Griffin mentioned. “It was inoperable, but I didn’t want her to see what the prognosis was. We couldn’t accept that we couldn’t fix this.”
Combating for household
Maddy instantly started chemotherapy and radiation remedies.
Melinda Griffin mentioned all through remedy, Maddy’s excessive spirits by no means wavered.
“She was an old soul,” Melinda Griffin mentioned.
Maddy was a scholar at Union Excessive Faculty, who liked classical music and spending time together with her buddies. She performed piano and violin and loved listening to music from the Forties and ’50s, like Johnny Money, her mom mentioned.
Over the course of her remedy, Maddy started to lose operate on one facet of her physique, that means it was troublesome for her to play.
That doesn’t imply she stopped making an attempt, in response to her piano instructor, Rebekah Meyers.
“We just picked out the melody with her one hand. Who cares about the two hands at that moment,” mentioned Meyers, who teaches at Beacock Music. “I didn’t want her to worry about having to use two hands. I wanted her to feel the joy in music.”
Within the final six months of Maddy’s life, she transitioned into hospice care. Maddy’s household took care of her at their Vancouver house.
After virtually two years of remedy, Maddy died Feb. 22, 2022.
All through their grieving course of, the Griffins mentioned they leaned on the neighborhood for help. Riverview Elementary Faculty raised sufficient cash for Melinda Griffin to take a yr off of instructing. Matt Griffin, Maddy’s father, is a supervisor at Fred Meyer and had flexibility inside his job to be with household.
The Vancouver neighborhood, Maddy’s academics, buddies and medical doctors had been all there as a help system, Matt Griffin mentioned.
Melinda Griffin mentioned the minute Maddy died, all of the anger she felt went away.
“It can happen to anyone. I think the reality is that it’s always someone else’s kid, but it touched us,” she mentioned. “I think it’s really hard for people who haven’t experienced losing someone to cancer.”
Now that Miracle Maddy is rising, the Griffins finally wish to begin a nonprofit to proceed making the reward baskets and spreading consciousness about childhood most cancers. After they end deliveries for Christmas, they may instantly start engaged on baskets for Valentine’s Day.
Melinda Griffin mentioned she will image Maddy smiling down at her and what she’s created.
“You have to find your why. I do it for her,” Melinda Griffin mentioned.