The Beginning

Madeleine's parents began to suspect that something was wrong after her 2-month routine wellness checkup with her pediatrician.  Madeleine was given a clean bill of health and sent home. Over the coming days Jeff and Veronica began to question why during the course of the checkup, the pediatrician made several inquiries about the size of Madeleine's head. Since the doctor raised no concern, the questions where dismissed. A couple of days passed, and Jeff allowed his curiosity to get the best of him.  He began to research reasons why one would be concerned about an infant's head size. After several hours of researching, Jeff came across a condition called Hydrocephalus. 

This condition, if left untreated, among other things could lead to death. Hydrocephalus presented itself in Madeleine most predominately with her fontanel becoming puffy, her "sunset vision" where her eyes were being forced downward and she would lift her head to compensate for her inability to raise her eyes to see. 




After talking it over as a family, Jeff and Veronica essentially self diagnosed their own daughter and took her to  Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA to confirm their suspicions. After a simple CT scan, Madeleine was in fact diagnosed with Hydrocephalus. Jeff and Veronica however were not prepared for the news that followed. The doctors continued to explain that Madeleine's condition was a result of a greater problem: Madeleine has a golf ball sized tumor located in the center of her brain. This is where Madeleine's journey truly begins...