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Love, match
Upcoming tennis benefit in Florida inspired by local girl
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by SUSAN CRATON
Madisen Abramson, 5, visits with her family at their home in Mechanicsville on Monday. She is the inspiration for Madisen's Match, a pro-am tennis clinic and exhibition to raise funds for pediatric brain tumor research that will be held Feb. 20 in Florida.
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Madisen Abramson is a 5-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl who lives in Mechanicsville with her mom and dad and two brothers.
She likes to watch "iCarly" on television.
Her favorite color is pink.
Madisen loves the movie "Snow White," and she likes to get together with her cousin, McKenzie, so they can act out the story together.
The walls in Madisen's bedroom are decorated with large butterflies that light up in pastel colors.
Madisen loves kindergarten at Lettie Marshall Dent Elementary — "I like to do everything in school," she says, — but she especially enjoys art.
Madisen Abramson is also the inspiration for a benefit tennis match that will be played in Florida later this month. Madisen has an inoperable brain tumor intertwined with her brain stem. The upcoming benefit is designed to raise money for pediatric brain tumor research to help children in Madisen's situation.
Madisen's Match, a pro-am clinic and exhibition, will be held Feb. 20 at the West Bay Beach and Golf Club, near Fort Myers, Fla., to raise money for the Tim and Tom Gullikson Family Support Fund, which benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and Barbara's Friends, the Children's Hospital Cancer Fund with Lee Memorial Health System Foundation. The match is in its second year and was organized by Madisen's uncle, Duane Chaney of Fort Myers.
Madisen's father, Mike Abramson, sat in the family's home in Golden Beach on Monday afternoon and held up his hands, wrapping his thumbs together to demonstrate how the tumor has become embedded in his daughter's brain stem.
"It's been a roller coaster, mildly put," he said.
Since Madisen's birth Sept. 7, 2004, she has been dogged by a variety of health problems. There have been respiratory difficulties and steroid treatments (which caused her weight to balloon) to deal with respiratory syncytial virus. In the spring of 2008, she underwent a CAT scan as part of a sleep study, which was intended to help with Madisen's respiratory troubles. The doctor noted that something didn't look right on the scan and ordered an MRI, which showed the brain tumor.
The tumor was confirmed through a biopsy at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., that May.
Because of the tumor's location, surgery is not an option. Madisen began chemotherapy at Children's Hospital once a week. After several months, she developed an allergic reaction to the treatment and chemotherapy was stopped.
Last spring, social workers at Children's Hospital contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Madisen's behalf. "We fulfill wishes for children ages 2 to 18 who suffer from a life-threatening medical condition," said Mary Roth, vice president of program services for Make-A-Wish Foundation for the Mid-Atlantic, a nonprofit organization.
Representatives from the foundation visited with Madisen and asked her "what is your one true wish," Roth said. "And Madisen said a play set,"which now sits in the Abramsons'' front yard.
Though her treatment was halted, Madisen's health has not worsened. Madisen's condition is now monitored through an MRI every three months. So far, the tumor has remained stable and not grown, her parents said.
Aside from the "very scary" reminder every three months that something could go quickly wrong, according to Faye Abramson, Madisen's mother, their lives are fairly normal. If the tumor never grows, there could be no problem.
If it does grow, however, Madisen's parents aren't sure what the doctors' options are. "They would do radiation, I guess," Faye said.
Faye and Mike say they are aware of their current good fortune. They have excellent health insurance through Mike's work for Otis Elevator Company, based in Washington, D.C., and as they were dealing with the treatments and traveling and child care issues over the past two years, they have had support and assistance from family and friends.
"I'm surrounded by many great people," Faye said.
Through their frequent visits to Children's Hospital, they have met a variety of children with similar diagnoses to Madisen. And they haven't all been so lucky.
"It's just heartbreaking when you see kids go through this," Faye said.
Madisen talks about the chemotherapy as a sort of vague memory, or at least one she's not much interested in talking about. She shows the port on her chest, now healed, where the chemotherapy was administered. When asked about how she feels about going to the doctor, she shrugs.
She'd much rather talk her brothers into playing a game of Go Fish or demonstrate a cheer using her silver and pink pompoms.
Madisen's uncle, Duane, works as a financial planner. After graduating from Chopticon High School in 1996 and Frostburg University in 2000, he moved to Florida, partly so he could play tennis year round.
He applied that interest to do his part to help Madisen and other children like her. The first Madisen's Match netted about $7,000, he said. This year's benefit will surpass that, he believes. "We're on track to do far above that this year," he said, estimating the event will raise at least $30,000 after expenses this year.
"She's a character," Chaney said of his niece. "If you look at all the various treatments she's had … It's never deflated her spirit."
Madisen's family will travel to Florida for Madisen's Match. There, Madisen will be the star of the show as she is in charge of handing out awards.
"She eats up the attention," Chaney said.
"She definitely is always smiling," Faye said.
If you want to help
Madisen's Match, a pro-am tennis clinic and exhibition, will be held Feb. 19 and 20 at the West Bay Beach and Golf Club in Estero, Fla., to raise money for the Tim and Tom Gullikson Family Support Fund that benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Barbara Friends, the Children's Hospital Cancer Fund with Lee Memorial Health System Foundation. Tennis legends scheduled to participate include Tom Gullikson, Mikael Pernfors, Kathy Rinaldi, Jay Berger and Ricardo Acuna.
For additional details on Madisen Abramson's story, the upcoming benefit and donation information, visit www.MadisensMatch.com.
