Look mom I have a tatoo

Aunt Melissa's amazing creation!! Mason looked amazing.

You think you're having a bad day!!! Well...... it could be worse :)

Like Father Like Son

Mason's braces

Update on Mason

We are home from the hospital. They let us come home yesterday. Mason had a good night and slept from 8 - 5. :) He seems to be doing well today w/ pain. If you could pray that he would poop that would be great. :) He gets constipated easily and it's been a few days. We will post pictures soon. Thank you again for praying.

Mason's Hand Surgery Update

I want to first begin by saying a huge thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragment. They were felt and greatly appreciated today. We arrived this morning at 5 am and Mason received his first pair of scrubs. He looked so cute and was loving every minute of them. They took him back to begin surgery at 8:00. They anticipated about 2 hours. At 3 hours and 45 minutes we figured out that this was more complicated than expected. First, they made an incision in both wrists to release the tendon holding the thumb down. Then they had to cut joints and tendons between his thumb and index finger. (P.S. this is a 1st grade summary of all the big doctor words that he used with us.) They placed pins in both thumbs and took skin graphs in the elbows to place near the thumbs. In the words of our surgeon, they had to do alot of surgery. As you'll see in the pics below, they casted his entire hand and have heavily sedated him. We are in ICU for tonight and hopefully going home sometime tomorrow. He is running a slight temperature but otherwise comfortable on all his pain meds. He will remain in his casts over the next six weeks. We will have a long six weeks but we eagerly anticipate the outcome.

Last weekend I read the book "Choosing to See" by MaryBeth Chapman. ( I highly recommend the book). Their family has been through some very difficult days. I know many of you know their story and the tragedy that struck them a couple years ago. In the book, she refers to the song "Fingerprints of God" written by her husband in 2007. All week I've been singing this song to Mason. Since we have yet to see Mason's fingerprints/handprint, I thought this was very appropriate. As we were driving at 4:30 this morning to the hospital, low and behold that song came on the radio. I smiled so big and sang as loud as I could to Mason. The chorus says: (Mason) is a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds and He will be covered with the Fingerprints of God. I thanked God for the gentle reminder that He continues to walk with us in this journey.

Again, I want to thank you for keeping Mason in your prayes. Our family would not know what to do without you. We will give you an update later this week. Have a blessed day,
The Whitehouse

Hand Surgery

Just wanted to give you a quick update about Mason's surgery. We will go in tomorrow at 5:15 am and they will do surgery at 7:30. They are doing both hands at that time. I will post pictures and write more tomorrow. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.

I also wanted to give you an update on Lily. She has started radiation treatments. They created a caring bridge sight for her. I wanted to post it so you will know specifically how to pray for her.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lilyrajala

Rays Visit

When Mason was in the hospital for his tonsils, the Rays mascot and catcher John Jaso came by to visit him. It was sooooo exciting. He signed a baseball for him to keep. So cute

Tonsil Update

Mason did awesome today! Thank you, thank you for all your prayers. His breathing has been steady and we have not had any episodes at this point. They are going to give us an asthma inhaler for emergencies when we go home. He had some wheezing but nothing close to what happened in July. We are praising God for a wonderful day. He is resting well and they are keeping him on pain meds round the clock. If he does well tonight, then we should be able to go home tomorrow.

I have a VERY important prayer request. As we were in the waiting room today, I recognized a girl that went to Northside with me. Her name was Jenny Schuller at the time but now is Jenny Rajala. Her little girl Lily was having brain surgery today. Last week they found a tumor the size of a lemon on her brain. She and her husband are in shock but have a strong faith and know that God is in complete control. They were able to remove the tumor but have concerns because it seems that it may have spread. There has been some complications with functions that she has and memory. Lily is 3 years old and you can imagine the fear that they may be feeling. I told them that I would ask my blog family to please lift them up in prayer. They have some difficult days ahead.

Thank you for being so faithful in prayer for our family and other families. We love and appreciate all the words of encouragement that you have sent. Have a blessed evening.
Under His Mercy,
Wendy

Blessings come through rain drops

I'm glad I've waited to update you on Mason's progress because you may have been confused with the rollercoaster this past month has been. Although all the things that we've learned have a positive outcome, it has been alot to digest.

About 3 weeks ago we went to Shriners for Mason's overall orthopedic evaluation. They took an xray of his spine and it showed us a problem. In October, his scoliosis was causing his spine to be 14 degrees off now it is 25 degrees off. Once it gets to 50 degrees off they would have to do surgery to put a metal rod in his back. So they casted him for a body brace that he will need to wear during the day everyday. It goes from under his neck to past his hips. He was amazing during the whole casting process. We had 4 people holding him down and wrapping him w/ plaster. As I tried to fight back tears, I looked at my little boy and was so proud of him. God has given him an amazing fight to endure so many things. We're grateful that this was caught in time to avoid surgery. Now our prayer is the brace will fix the problem for good.


Two days after that we met with another surgeon to do his hand surgery. We felt very confident with him and were excited that the ball was finally rolling with his hands. He said he wanted to do both hands at the same time. He will cut some of the tendons and put a pin in both thumbs. Mason will wear casts to his shoulders for 6 weeks. Even though it will be a long 6 weeks the reward was that Kevin would finally get to see his sons handprint on Father's Day. We have waited 2 long years for this day to come. In order to do the surgery we needed to get clearance from Pulmonology. We went and met w/ Dr. Kriseman who said yes that is fine but had some concerns about Mason's tonsils. They looked large to him and he was concerned about his ability to breathe during and after surgery. He asked us to follow up with ENT.



This past Monday we went and saw ENT (Ear,Nose and Throat). Dr. Orobello said yes they're huge and yes it would greatly affect is ability to breathe and NO he could not do the hand surgery until they came out. Talk about taking all the air out of you. :( To say I was discouraged would be putting it mildly. Here's where all the blessings come in to play. Dr. O is always difficult to get in w/ surgery but God always makes a way when there seems to be no way. This Tuesday May 3rd Mason will be getting his tonsils removed. He will keep him in ICU overnight and then a regular room. Then we have to wait two weeks before any other surgeries. We were able to get an appointment w/ Dr. Hess (Hand Surgeon who is also booked) May 26th.

Not exactly how we would have planned it but God in all His wisdom has protected Mason once again. Praise the Lord that we went to ENT and discovered this problem. The way his tonsils look they wouldn't have been able to get the oxygen tube down his throat to even try and do the surgery. We are so grateful for all these blessings and the doctors that God has brought into Mason's life.

It has been a long month with many lessons to be learned. When I first received the news at Shriners about his brace, my heart sank. As I was driving home, I asked God "why can't the kid get a break". I was frustrated that it was one more thing to add to the list. Can't something just be normal. After throwing another successful pity party, God sweetly reminded me of all the blessings. When I came home that night, I was reading a caring bridge site of a little girl battling cancer. As I read my heart broke for this precious family. They don't have a surgery or a brace to "fix" what is happening to their little girl. I was humbly reminded that becoming bitter is never better. The difference between that is "I". God has his hand on Mason's life and he sees full well the bigger picture. It is my job to stay on my knees and ask him each day to mold me to be the wife, mom, friend, daughter that will bring honor and glory to His name.

Blessings at times can seem difficult to find but when you look closely they will pour over your life like a tidal wave. One huge blessing came last Friday when Carrie Underwood sang "How Great Thou Art". What made an impression on me most was watching the crowd. As they stood to their feet mid song and applauded "her", I looked at Kevin and said little do they know they are applauding the Lord Jesus Christ. When you hear his name and see the magnitude of His glory, you can't help but get off your feet and raise your hands and applaud him. I wonder what was going through their heads as she sang. I know what went through mine was thank you CBS for allowing this to air so the world can hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So I've put the CEO/President of CBS address below and I want to encourage you to write her and thank her for airing this song. I can promise you she will be receiving mail from those that did not approve, I want her to hear a million times over for those of us that did. Have a blessed week. We will update you next week from the hospital.
Under His Mercy,
Wendy

Nina Tassler
7800 Beverly Blvd. LA, CA 90039-2112 (323) 575 -2747

Happy Easter

HOW GREAT THOU ART