Mason Update

Thank you for all the words of encouragement and advice. We greatly appreciate those of you that have shared your stories with us and given us things to ask the doctors. We have followed through with all the information we can get. Here is where we are with Mason. First, we went to Shriners last week to meet with Dr. Garcia the orthopedic surgeon. He was great and we were eager to hear what he had to say. He said that Mason will require surgery next year on his thumbs. (This was not a big surprise to us.) Our prayer is that the surgery will increase the mobility in Mason's hands. Mason is still not able to lift his head up and many of the things he is struggling with physically are the result of the limited use of his hands. He is having us put the hard braces on Mason all day. (We were a little bummed about that part) The hard braces go halfway up his arm and limit his ability for any discovery of his fingers. He loves sticking his hands in his mouth, rubbing his hair and eyes etc. We want to make sure his hands are as pliable as possible before the surgery. We will meet with him in another 3 months for another checkup.

Now, as far as his GI system goes we have some ups and downs. First the positive. Mason went 1 1/2 days without throwing up. Praise you Lord!!! Unfortunately he did not go #2 those days either. By 5 o'clock last night the throwing up came back with a vengeance. Kevin gave him an enema and we began the downward spiral. We were up with him all last night holding and praying with him as he cried trying to get everything out of his system. We spoke with the doctor again this morning and took her his recent diapers to test. She did not find blood in his stool which is a huge praise!!! Praise you Lord!!! We are switching a couple things around to see if they work. She did finally mention that a GTube may be inevitable. We had a feeling it may come to this but it is not a guarantee yet. Monday we go to All Children's for a OPMS (Swallow study) . They will take xrays of Mason eating to see if he is aspirating or what is going on when he tries to digest food. Wednesday we will meet with Dr. Condino again to go over the results of that study and further discuss the issue of the Gtube.

Kevin and I are both at the point that whatever it takes we want this roller coaster to end. It is a terrible quality of life for Mason. We need to be working with him on all his therapy but have to keep him laying there so much of the day so he won't throw up. He has to gain weight. So we feel like we're stuck. If you can pray that God will continue to give us wisdom beyond measure. We want to do what is best for him and we need peace to know what the right decision would be. Pray for our doctors that God will give them wisdom as they instruct us which road to take. Especially pray for Mason that he will continue to grow and develop into a healthy boy. He amazes me with his smile. At 4 o'clock, after he had the final push to get everything out of him. He just smiled a kicked his feet on the changing table. I praised God for giving us a child that can smile in the midst of pain and chaos. I've been listening to a Beth Moore study on Job in the car each day. The one thing Job did in the midst of everything going on was to cry out to Jesus. He knew that He would always be there. God's grace is so great and new everyday. I feel so blessed to call him my father. I've been watching many of the TV programs on the devastation in Haiti. I saw a baby (prob Mason's age)with burns all over his body. His mom was holding him tightly waiting for medical help. I burst into tears for that mother. I can't imagine not being able to pick up the phone and not get to a doctor to help my child. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for and I know I don't say it enough. My heart is broken for those people. I'm asking God to do a mighty work in that country. It helps me keep things in perspective when it seems like life is difficult. Praying that you have a blessed week, Wendy