School unites to support ill classmate

COEUR d'ALENE - Madison Valentine loves purple. It's the color the 5-year-old's toenails are painted as she lies in a Spokane hospital bed, recovering from major surgery she underwent last week to remove a large tumor from her liver.

COEUR d'ALENE - Madison Valentine loves purple.

It's the color the 5-year-old's toenails are painted as she lies in a Spokane hospital bed, recovering from major surgery she underwent last week to remove a large tumor from her liver.

Children at Holy Family Catholic School painted their own fingernails Thursday - bright versions of the violet hue - to honor Madison, a pre-kindergarten student at the Kathleen Avenue elementary school.

"They're still trying to get Dad to do it, but I'm a baker. I'll do my toes," said Madison's father, John Valentine. "She lost her hair to chemo. I promised I'd shave my head."

Holy Family teachers and students have been gathering to pray for Madison and her family every day since May 20, when surgeons worked on the little girl at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital.

The procedure was expected to take six hours at most, but time dragged on as doctors worked to remove a tumor far larger than they anticipated - the size of three softballs.

"That was the longest 12 hours of my life," said John Valentine. "There was a lot of pacing and looking at the clock."

Madison lost 60 percent of her liver, but Valentine said that was better than the 80 percent surgeons expected her to lose.

The little girl didn't awaken from the anesthesia for another four days following the surgery.

"She's doing good now. She's finally breathing on her own," Valentine said.

Madison is now trying to speak, he said, but it's more of a whisper at this point.

She is expected to remain hospitalized for at least another month as she receives rehabilitation therapy.

Valentine said he and his wife, Cynthia, are grateful for the support they've received from the people at their church and from the teachers and students at the school, where Madison has two older sisters in second and fourth grade.

It's that care and concern, combined with their own faith, that's getting the family through, he said.

There are three big posters on the wall in Madison's hospital room, created by the students at Holy Family, kids who watched their friend's condition decline until she could no longer play or attend school.

The first sign that something might be wrong with Madison appeared last fall when she began gaining weight.

She was eventually diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, a condition that occurs when the body is exposed to high levels of the hormone cortisol for a long time.

Certain tumors are one of the causes of the disorder in which extreme weight gain is a symptom.

The 5-year-old ballooned from 45 to more than 100 pounds before she was diagnosed with Cushing's. It became difficult for Madison to sit, stand or walk.

Stormie Woolsey, the development director at Holy Family Catholic, said Madison's young classmates responded with compassion and sensitivity.

"The students didn't comment on her size. It was 'We miss our friend. We want our friend back,'" Woolsey said. "It was just so full of love and warmth. It was so awesome."

The family is still waiting for biopsy results, so there is still some uncertainty about the future. But things are looking better than they have in months for Madison, said her dad.

"She is a fighter," Valentine said. "I've got four daughters, and she's probably the toughest."