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Mooresville leukemia survivor gets dream trip from Make-A-Wish
Photo courtesy of Tammy Johnson
Madison Johnson bonds with a slippery friend in the shallows of Dolphin Cay on her vacation in the Bahamas.
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Published: November 28, 2008
For one week, Madison Johnson was able to be an average 12-year-old. She raced her younger brother down the waterslides, she watched crisp blue waves crash onto the shore and she even swam with a dolphin, all part of a dream come true thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
When Madison, a lifelong Mooresville resident, was diagnosed with leukemia in January 2007, the avid swimmer's love of the water was put aside for chemotherapy treatments and hospital stints after a trip to Carolinas Medical Center one Saturday morning – prompted by excessive bruising and unexplained red dots on her body – turned into shocking news.
"I thought it was some virus and they'd just give her a shot," said Tammy Johnson, Madison's mother.
But Madison said she knew something more serious was happening.
"I just had a feeling," said the soon-to-be teenager – Madison turns 13 on Christmas day – who told her parents when diagnosed that Saturday, "God's working on my blood right now and I'm gonna be fine."
Today, 22 months after her diagnosis, Madison's cancer is in remission, but she still regularly undergoes a variety of treatments as part of the two-and-a-half year process required for leukemia patients. And not only is the young teen back in the swimming pool, racking up the laps at Mecklenburg Aquatic Club, but she has recently returned from a week-long dream vacation, courtesy of Make-A-Wish, to Atlantis in the Bahamas.
"It was really cool," said Madison on Monday, recalling how excited she was to see "the blue, clear water" and visit a place all about the ocean and swimming.
The best part, she mentioned, was "probably swimming with the dolphins."
For Madison and her family – which also includes dad, Tony, 10-year-old brother, Alex, and 11-month-old sister, Charlee – the vacation was a milestone and an adventure that wouldn't have been possible without Make-A-Wish.
"It's something we have dreamed about in the past, but financially we wouldn't have been able to take this trip," said Tammy, who noted the various fundraisers held for Madison in the last two years that helped the family afford medical expenses alone.
"(The trip) was wonderful," she added. "I just wanted to make sure that Madison had a good time. It was all about her. We'd get up and ask her what she wanted to do that day."
And whether it was repeatedly riding the "lazy river" with her brother or getting her hair braided – a memorable moment for the pre-teen who, several months ago, lost all of her hair due to eight days of radiation – Madison said she had an amazing time and would love to return to the Atlantis some day.
A Long Journey
Battling leukemia since shortly after her eleventh birthday, Madison said it's been her family – including her grandmother who also lives at the Johnson's Curtis Pond residence – that has helped her get through the last two years and keep her fighting day to day.
Whether it was mom and dad who took shifts at Madison's bedside during the eight total weeks she spent in the hospital or Charlee, the sister Madison always hoped for, who arrived two days before Christmas last year and provided an outlet for happiness and joy, Madison said they are the ones who keep her fighting day to day.
With an anticipated end to Madison's leukemia treatments in May 2009, Tammy said the family "feels like we're on the down hill slide now."
"We're kind of coasting. It's a routine for us now," she added, noting the chemo medication Madison must take each evening, the monthly antibiotic she receives through a port in her chest and a chemo spinal tap the 12-year-old receives every 84 days.
Madison also has her blood counts checked every two weeks at CMC to ensure the cancer remains in remission.
"We're counting down now," Tammy mentioned. "It feels really good to be this close to the end."
The pre-teen agreed.
"I'm just looking forward to it being over. It's a light at the end of the tunnel."
Recalling the extensive physical therapy Madison had to have just to learn to walk again at one point and the days she couldn't stand to eat because she felt too sick, Tammy said her daughter "has really been through a lot," which has made her and the entire family grow in many ways.
"We don't take anything for granted anymore," she said. "We just live each day to the fullest. We hug each other more. It's really just changed our perspective on life."
Armed with the belief she got cancer just so she can help other children in the future, Madison said she hopes to become a pediatric oncologist when she's older, encouraging and treating kids just like her.
"I've been through this," she said of her leukemia, adding that she feels as if it's her duty to help others. "I feel like that's what God is calling me to do."
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