I Feel the Love Project- Nov./Dec. 2011

I Feel The Love November/December

In loving memory of Korrine Lannie Croghan
4/18/94 - 10/27/08

The Pediatric Oncology Unit at Kaiser Hospital (Oakland, CA)

 will be the recipient of our handcrafted CHRISTMAS cards for the months of November/December.   

Korrine Croghan was a vivacious 14-year-old girl who lived all of her life in Livermore, CA. She had a love for animals, sports, and most of all, family. On December 20th, 2007, Korrine was diagnosed with Choriocarcinoma with a germ cell element. Choriocarcinoma is a very rare type of cancer in teenage girls and inflicts less than 200 nationwide each year.  Although the cancer started in her left ovary, the cancer had spread to her right ovary, lungs and liver. After the removal of a cantaloupe sized tumor in her left ovary on December 21st of 2007, Korrine, endured 10 months of intense chemotherapy designed for adult men.

During the course of her treatment, Korrine suffered many complications. In early April of 2007, her liver began to bleed. After staying at Kaiser Oakland for almost two weeks, Korrine was transfered to UCSF and spent a month in the intensive care unit. The doctors at UCSF Medical Center were finally able to stop her bleeding liver, but, not before it filled her abdomen with 5 liters of blood that had to be drained via a tube inserted into her stomach. On top of that, both of Korrines’ lungs collapsed while undergoing a CT scan that almost took her life. Because of that, 2 liters of fluid needed to be drained off of her lungs with the use of another drainage tube. Throughout her treatment Korrine needed numerous blood and platelet transfusions. She had nosebleeds that lasted an hour on several occasions. At one point, she had 18 intravenous tubes running through her body filled with anti-bacterials, anti-fungals, nutrition, painkillers and chemotherapy. Korrine miraculously made it through those tough days at UCSF and returned to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. She was finally stable and was released to go home in late June. Just as things were starting to look up for her, she suffered septic shock in July that forced her to go back into intensive care at Kaiser in Santa Clara for 2 weeks.

Korrine returned home in late July and went through imaging scans to see if the cancer had disappeared. The scans always came back good, but not great. In an effort to kill and stop the remaining cancer cells, she underwent an emergency round of chemotherapy in early September. Unfortunately, it did kill the remaining cancer and her doctors had run out of options.

Korrine spent her last days at home with her family reading books and loving on her cats and dog. She passed away quietly, at home, on October 27th, 2008. Through it all, Korrine had a positive attitude and never gave up or complained. Many consider Korrine a hero.

Korrine was a friend to many, including my cousin Alex.  It has been on my heart to be a part of a tribute for Korrine for some time and I believe this is the perfect time.  Korrine received treatment at The Pediatric Oncology Unit at Kaiser Hospital.  

We will be making Christmas cards for the month of November and during the first week of December.  After all the cards are made, I will be sending them to Korrine's parents and they will be hand delivering them to the children who are spending this Christmas in the hospital.  They will be delivering them on behalf of Team KC (Korrine Croghan) and thanks to all of you! Please consider joining us for this project and spreading the word.  

There are so many challenges out there right now asking for Christmas cards.  Now you know what you can do!  You can make a card with a deserving young person in mind!!  Doesn't that sound like a wonderful idea? 

Here is how you can help.  Each crafter can submit a card(s) by December 7th to:

Madison Womack

(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

Project #6

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card to my blog before you put it in the mail. Click HERE

This month you may submit a Christmas card to a child/teen who will be spending Christmas in the hospital (or family members)

Thank you in advance to all my online crafting friends.  Let's make this a huge success for those who need to "Feel the Love!"   

~Madison

I Feel the Love Project- October 2011

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT

I am honored to announce today that for the month of October, Ethan Pinter will be the recipient of our handcrafted BIRTHDAY cards.   

Ethan was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called Biliary Atresia at the age of 2 months old. Thanks to a liver transplant and the wonderful care he received from his doctors, Ethan will be celebrating his 2nd birthday in November.  We will be joining the celebration by making handmade birthday cards for this precious little boy:)  

When Ethan was 10 months old, he and his mother lived at the Ronald McDonald house while they waited for a liver transplant for Ethan.  He received his gift of life on Feb 18, 2011.  Ethan is doing quite well but he will be in the danger zone till the age of 5. He has been in and out of the hospital since the age of two months. His mother had to live at the Ronald McDonald House for 9 months. She said that it was the hardest 9 months of her life.  She was separated from her daughter, Haley, who is now 8 years old and her now husband, Chris, for this period of time. Ethan's mom believes that it is important to "live each day to the fullest and do not take life for granted."

Here is how you can help.  Each crafter can submit a card(s) by October 31st to:

Madison Womack

(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

Project #5

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card to my blog before you put it in the mail.

This month you may submit a birthday card to a little boy who is turning 2.  

Thank you in advance to all my online crafting friends.  Let's make this a huge success for those who need to "Feel the Love!"   

~Madison

I Feel the Love Project- September 2011

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT

Today I would like to announce the 
recipients for the month of September

"I Feel the Love Project"

Spreading the Love One Card at a Time- Funky Cards


The Children at

Pediatirc Specialty Care (PSC) has been successfully serving medically fragile children and their families for nearly 20 years.  Many of the children who reside at PSC were born severely prematurely -- NICU babies whose lungs never had the chance to develop in-utero.  While miracles of medicine have enabled some of the tiniest babies to survive and thrive with no developmental delays or physical problems, some require a lifetime of assistance to breathe, using a ventilator.

Some babies suffer the effects of having become drug-addicted or alcohol dependent while their moms were pregnant.  Others have had a traumatic birth, where they were "anoxic" or starved of oxygen, affecting their brains. Some have syndromes or diseases, like muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, and cerebral palsy.

Some kids only spend a month or two at PSC while they receive specialized medical care that is considered "sub-acute", that is, not quite severe enough to spend the days in the hospital, but not quite well enough to go home.  Sometimes, those homes may be unstable or unsafe -- a family facing eviction, for example, or a home that still needs to have ramps built for a wheelchair.      

Other kids have spent much of their entire lives at PSC -- decades, because their care is too complex to be carried out at what had been their home.  Now, PSC has become their home where they can live and grow up with families.  These kids can go out on a school bus with a nurse to be educated in the community, either in special classrooms and/or mainstreamed.

Please help us fill these children's rooms with Halloween cards this year:)  Nothing scary, just fun!  We will be creating Halloween cards for the month of September so that they can be mailed at the beginning of October and handed out to the kids by Halloween.

Here is how you can help.  Each crafter can submit one or more cards by September 30th to:

Madison Womack
(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

                      Project #4

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card/s to my blog before you put it/them in the mail.

Please submit a card that would be appropriate to give to a medically fragile child for Halloween.  Nothing scary please.  

Thank you in advance to all my online crafting friends.  Let's make this a huge success for these kids who need to "Feel the Love!" 
~Madison

I Feel the Love Project- August 2011

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT

I am excited to announce today that for the month of August, Kate McRae and her family will be the recipients of our handcrafted cards.   

Will- Brother, Aaron-Dad, Holly-Mom, Kate, Olivia, Sister

Monday June 29th, 2009 was supposed to be a day filled with summer fun. The kids and I were going to the water park to celebrate summer. However, I noticed that a slight tremor in her right hand that had developed over the past few days had notably worsened. We decided to take her to her Pediatrician, just for safe measure. A CT of Kate's head was ordered. We proceeded to Phoenix Childrens Hospital for a stat CT of her head.

At 5:30 I, Holly, Kate's mom, was taken into a room alone and told Kate had a massive tumor on the left temporal lobe of her brain. The world seemed to stopped for us that day. I called her dad and through sobs told him to come to the hospital quickly. Our long journey had begun. Kate was directly admitted to the PICU. One minute thoughts of the water park the next our child is critically ill in the intensive care unit awaiting emergent brain surgery within a matter of days.  We would have never chosen to be a part of this journey with childhood cancer, but it was chosen for us, and our sweet Kate. 

Here is how you can help.   Submit one card by August 31st to:

Madison Womack

(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

                                Project #3

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card to my blog before you put it in the mail:

I Feel the Love Project- July 2011

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT

I am honored to announce today that for the month of July, Marley Moore (right end) and her family will be the recipient of our handcrafted cards.   

Mia- Sister, Brent-Dad, Nikki-Mom and Marley Moore:)

On Friday, August 7, 2009, Marley was taken to the hospital due to concerns from her family as well as their family physician.  A CT scan found a tumor (pilocytic astrocytoma), about the size of a lemon, located on her brain. Marley was immediately rushed to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City where the doctors went to work...they began to drain fluid from her brain to release the pressure that had been causing her immense pain for weeks prior. 

The tumor was located around/near the optic nerve, the brain stem, and the pituatary gland. Because it was near several very sensitive areas of the brain, the doctor's scheduled a surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they possibly could. That surgery took place on Monday, August 10, 2009. The surgeon was able to remove a larger portion than he had originally thought, but that evening, as a result of trauma to the brain from surgery, Marley suffered a stroke, leaving her right side paralyzed.  You can follow the rest of her story through our journal updates. Click HERE.

Caring Bridge Journal Entry: "Marley is a little angel. She is a beautiful, strong, little girl, and she's well on her way to fighting through this. We believe in a mighty God...one that is with her every step of the way." 


Here is how you can help.  Each crafter can submit one card by July 31st to:

Madison Womack

(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

Please note that this is project #2 and I would like for you to include the project # on the bottom left hand corner (front side) of the envelope.  The mailing address and a sample of this is on my blog and can always be found by going to my home page and clicking on mailing address on the top bar.

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card to my blog before you put it in the mail:

This month you may submit a card that would be appropriate to give to a young child who is battling a cancerous brain tumor, her young sister, or her parents.  This entire family has been feeling the effects of this experience so you can choose to make the card for any one or all of the family members.  If you would like to be included as part of the "I Feel the Love Project" team and appear on the photo page, please submit a head shot of yourself to: Funkycards @ charter dot net (no spaces).

Thank you in advance to all my online crafting friends.  Let's make this a huge success for those who need to "Feel the Love!"   This family needs your support.  Please take a moment to show you care.

~Madison

I Feel the Love Project- June 2011

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT

Today I would like to introduce the

"I Feel the Love Project"

Spreading the Love One Card at a Time- Funky Cards

I am honored to announce today that for the month of June, Ms. Jill Pentoney will be the recipient of our handcrafted cards.   

Ms. Pentoney is a junior high school English teacher from my home town who was first diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer in December of 2008.  The cancer came back in 2010.  You can read all about Ms. Pentoney's battle with this disease on her blog, Kicking Cancer's Butt, My Cancer Journey, Round Two.  Ms. Pentoney is a true fighter and I can't tell you how honored I would be to bring her a basket of handmade cards to lift her spirits.  Here is how you can help.  Each crafter can submit one card by June 30th to:

Madison Womack
(IFTL) Funky Cards

P.O. Box 1203

Atascadero, CA  93423

Please note that this is project #1 and I would like for you to include the project # on the bottom left hand corner (front side) of the envelope.  The mailing address and a sample of this is on my blog and can always be found by going to my home page and clicking on mailing address on the top bar.

It would be fun to share our cards with one another, so please feel free to link a photo of your card to my blog before you put it in the mail:

Please submit a card that would be appropriate to give to someone who is battling cancer.  If you would like to be included as part of the "I Feel the Love Project" team and appear on the photo page, please submit a head shot of yourself to: Funkycards @ charter dot net (no spaces).

Thank you in advance to all my online crafting friends.  Let's make this a huge success for those who need to "Feel the Love!" 
~Madison