Le Bonheur Pumpkin Run

For almost a decade, 17-year-old Madi Bell, a Wildersville, Tenn., native, had battled excruciating headaches. Diagnosed with classic migraines by a Le Bonheur neurologist when she was in the seventh grade, her headaches could be managed with medication.

But four years later, her headaches became completely debilitating as her medications no longer controlled her symptoms. Madi’s eye started drooping, and she began losing her vision. Madi lost feeling in her feet, and she had to quit running cross country ─ a sport that she loved dearly.

Madi returned to Le Bonheur in Memphis and underwent an MRI that revealed the cause of all her pain and symptoms ─ a Chiari malformation. Madi’s brain was extending 17mm through the base of the skull and into her spinal canal, causing a buildup of pressure that led to the severe pain and other symptoms she was experiencing.

Madi and her family immediately met with a Le Bonheur neurosurgeon, who conducted surgery a few days later. He removed part of the first vertebra (C1) in her cervical spine to relieve the pressure in her brain and allow the spinal fluid to flow more freely, and performed a craniotomy, to remove part of her skull and relieve pressure.

Since her surgery, Madi’s debilitating headaches have declined in frequency and intensity. She continues to stay on medication and is monitored by her Le Bonheur care team. Thanks to Le Bonheur’s Outpatient Center in Jackson, Tenn., Madi will be able to have some of her follow-up appointments near her West Tennessee home.

For now, Madi is focused on recovery and returning to the activities that she loves like soccer and singing.

“My care team has given me peace of mind and hope that I can go back to what I was like before the migraines became debilitating,” said Madi. “My quality of life had decreased, and now I have hope that I can go back to being an active and social 17-year-old girl.”

Le Bonheur is proud to provide West Tennessee kids specialized pediatric care close to home. When you participate in this year’s Pumpkin Run, you are making a difference for kids like Madi.