August 19, 2014
Monday August 18 was a productive and emotional day for the Goyette/Stewart family. Extended family and friends gathered around Tom, Cathy, Madeline, Nick, and Tommy, to discuss how they could be of help to their family in the coming months and weeks to follow. The reason for this important family meeting? Tom and Cathy’s family is preparing to take on the biggest challenge they have ever faced. Their brave daughter, Madeline, will donate up to 65% of her liver to her father, Tom, to save his life. After 9 other members of their friends and family were rejected as potential matches for Tom, Madeline’s liver was found to be a perfect match and she was officially given the green light to proceed on August 12. Madeline is 19 years old, and is going into her Sophomore year at Central Michigan University. The surgery is set to take place on October 6, 2014 at Henry Ford Hospital. Anyone and everyone is invited to Henry Ford on October 6 to wait with the family during the surgeries. We have a big family, and Tom and Cathy have LOTS of friends, so we want to show as much support as possible.
Madeline will be the youngest liver donor yet at Henry Ford Hospital. Madeline’s surgery is expected to take approximately 7 to 8 hours, while Tom’s surgery is going to be about double that, lasting about 15 hours. Madeline will be in the hospital recovering for about 5 days, and then she will receive home care for 2 or 3 weeks before returning to school. Tom is expected to stay in the hospital for 3-6 weeks, but he will need much more time to recover at home. Tom is expected to be back to work at Goyette Mechanical in February. Extended family and friends are going to contribute in daily tasks such as driving the boys to the hospital, cooking meals, cleaning, mowing the lawn, etc. because Cathy has much more important things to worry about during that time. If you are committed to help the family in any way at all, there is a poster board in which you can sign your name as well as the task you are willing to help with. The poster board is currently at Genora Halligan’s house (Tom’s mother) in Grand Blanc. Also, Tom’s sister, Gina is setting up an online account through Tom and Cathy’s bank in which people can donate money to help with necessities such as gas and groceries. More details on that to follow.
To avoid flooding Cathy’s phone with the same types of questions, Henry Ford suggested that the family elect a “CEO” who will take charge of answering questions, as well as delegate tasks to people who are willing to help. Joe Parks is Tom’s brother-in-law and he is the official “CEO”. Therefore if you have any questions about the surgeries or if you’d like to know how you can help, please contact Joe Parks at (810) 247-7055.
For now, our family is staying strong and relying on faith to push us through this difficult time. If you are far away and would love to help, the power of prayer cannot be overstated. Tom and Cathy are wonderful people who deserve every ounce of the help and care they are receiving. Tom and Cathy's nieces, Rachel Goyette and AnneRenee Stoltman will continue to update this blog and Facebook page as new information surfaces.
Link to Facebook Page -
https://www.facebook.com/GoyetteStrong
Faith Over Fear, Goyette Strong
