Temple bone marrow drive eyes ‘Match for Madi’

Madi Bergstrom, pictured with Travis Shaw of the Boston Red Sox, served as a Jimmy Fund Clinic Patient Partner for Stop & Shop’s Help Cure Childhood Cancer campaign. (Photo courtesy of Stop & Shop)

Temple Beth Abraham is sponsoring its annual Be the Match bone marrow drive on Sunday, October 30, during the 28th annual Canton Fall Classic Road race, which is also held at the temple. This year’s drive is a personal one with a local connection. Many people hope that this fall, someone will come forward and be a match for Madi.

Madi is 8-year-old Madison Bergstrom. She started second grade at the Hansen School on September 6, which was the same day that her mother, Shauna McLaughlin, and Shauna’s fiancé, Pat Gibbs, welcomed the birth of their son, Liam. When Madi complained of headaches that day, the couple at first thought that they were behavioral in nature and not a symptom of illness. Six days later, however, McLaughlin took both children to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed Madi with acute lymphoblastic leukemia for the third time.

Madi was first diagnosed with leukemia when she was 19 months old. At that time her mother took her to the pediatrician because Madi had an earache and her stomach was distended. The doctor sent them to Good Samaritan Hospital, and after going for an x-ray, they headed to Children’s Hospital in Boston for more testing.

“They saw the cancer in her blood,” McLaughlin said.

Madi spent the next two months at Children’s and then underwent chemotherapy for just over two years. She returned to the hospital during those two years depending on her condition. “All sorts of different complications,” McLaughlin said. “I couldn’t rattle them off.” Finally, her daughter was considered to be cured and in remission.

But in November of 2013, Madi relapsed. “She had some neurological issues,” her mother said. “She was losing her balance.”

Tests showed that the leukemia had returned and was in both her blood and cerebral spinal fluid, which surrounds her brain and spine. Madi underwent treatment that her mother described as really hard chemotherapy. She was home, in the hospital, and treated as an outpatient for the next two years. In April of this year, she was again declared to be in remission and cured. Then she complained of headaches on the first day of school.

Madi is now at the point where she needs a bone marrow transplant. McLaughlin said that her daughter is okay, but added that she is about as good as can be expected for someone with her illness. Madi is dependent on a wheelchair, has lost her hair, and is on pain medication.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen her,” McLaughlin said. “It’s hard, because she’s older and she gets it.”

Kim Boucher is a cousin of Pat Gibbs. When her father passed away last spring, McLaughlin was very supportive of Boucher. When she heard about Madi in September, she immediately wanted to help her cousin and his family.

“How can I help Madi and other people suffering?” she asked.

She contacted bethematch.org, the website of the National Marrow Donor Program, to inquire about setting up a drive, and learned that one was scheduled at Temple Beth Abraham for October 30. A member of the temple’s community received a bone marrow transplant years ago, and the temple has held a bone marrow drive every year since. Boucher decided she would advertise the drive by contacting her Facebook friends.

The drive will be held from 8-11 a.m. at Temple Beth Abraham, located at 1301 Washington Street in Canton. The hours for the drive are the same as the hours for the race. Boucher explained that the registration and testing are very simple. “A little bit of paperwork and a cheek swab,” she said. A second bone marrow drive is scheduled for that same day, October 30, at noon at Florian Hall in Dorchester.

Be the Match is looking for donors between the ages of 18 and 44. There is no cost for donors between those ages to join the registry. Donors between the ages of 45 and 60 must register online and make a payment to cover the cost of joining. People who are already registered and wish to update their contact information may do so by going to the website or by calling 1-800-MARROW.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with expenses related to Madi’s treatment. To donate, go to www.gofundme.com/8r6xj6xvtg.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Oct 28 2016. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.