We Are Madison Strong

Hi, my name is Michelle and I have had the opportunity to work along side Madison’s dad Steve over the last year. He has been sharing Madison’s story with me and God has been pulling on my heart to jump in and rally the community to surround this family with love and support.

Madison Roberts is a beautiful, young, vibrant, and always smiling 14 year old from our community in Huntley. She loves to Irish dance and is getting ready to head in to her freshman year of high school. This past February, Madison was not feeling well. Tired, swollen lymph nodes, symptoms of what they thought was most likely mono. After testing, the doctor delivered the news that no one ever wants to hear let alone a parent about their child or a 14 year old with her whole life ahead of her, that she has T-CELL Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). imagine at the age of, then 13, being told this. At this age should be spending time hanging with your friends, thinking about what you are going ti wear for your upcoming 8th grade graduation, etc. Madison’s mom, Laura, described the moment they found out the news that flipped their world upside down, “At that moment of time your whole world stops dead in its tracks. You see the fear in your child's eyes and you as a parent cannot fix it. The feeling of helplessness overwhelms you. You watch your daughter break down in tears and all you can do is hold her tight, let her cry, and be angry as she asks ‘Why me?’ You hear the Dr say, ‘Bad luck’ and you think, how dare you say that to my child. But that is the truth. It is bad luck.”

Madison is now on a 2 year treatment plan. Chemo has been rough. There are days where she cannot get out of bed, needs help to walk or even be carried up the stairs. The most recent treatments have been the toughest on her body. She has had to stay in the hospital longer with each 24 hour chemo treatment until her body was able to flush the chemo to an acceptable level where she was cleared to go home.

Due to having to start treatment immediately, Madison was not able to dance this past Irish season. Something she loves and really misses. She was able to make some appearances where she received standing ovations and brought the crowd to tears. Through all of this she has touched so many lives and shown so much strength. She is a fighter! The morning of recital day Madison received news from her doctor that the bone marrow was negative, no new blasts, and she is in remission. Being in remission with Luekumia is very different from other types of cancer, but still wonderful news!

The road ahead is still a long one. Madison and the Roberts family need our help! They make many many trips downtown to Lurie’s where Madison is receiving her treatment and countless doctor appointments. With gas prices soaring, medical bills, therapy visits to help Madison regain strength (sometimes in just the few days she has inbetween treatments), Madison’s mom Laura taking a leave from work to help care for Madison, and Steve also working full time to help make ends meet then heading wherever he is needed to help, it is a lot for this family. My hope and my prayer is we can come together as a community to uplift Madison so she knows she is not alone in this fight, and to support this family with an outpouring of love and support. It takes a village! All funds raised will go directly to help Madison in her treatment and the needs of the family.