Hi, From Mason...Long Time!!

Dearest Family and Friends,

     I know that it has been too long since I’ve sent out an update and let you know how things have been. For that I apologize, but in my case “No news is Good News!”

     Things here have been busy but good. Since I last wrote to you, so much has happened. For starters, I finally got the knack of walking. So much so that I even learned how to run! I love it. I have also learned how to climb! Mommy and Daddy aren’t so pleased about that one and I get told to “get down” a lot, but it sure it fun to get back up on things once I get down! One of my favorite things to climb on is the couch. Then I can get closer to the fish tank and play with the blinds on the windows! I attached a picture of me climbing up to see the fish.

Mr. Ryan, the physical therapist, was so pleased with my progress that he said I don’t have to have class with him anymore. Now I am working on Occupational Therapy with Ms. Candy. She’s working on helping me to use my hands and other fine motor skills. I’m making a lot of progress. Ms. Debbie says that I’m doing great with speech too. I can make all kinds of sounds now. Too bad Mommy and Daddy just don’t understand me yet. I’m sure they will figure it out soon though! To help them out, I have also learned some signs too. I can sign “more, music, please, eat, milk, I see you, bye-bye, and daddy.” I’m working on the sign for mommy, but it’s much more fun to just laugh at her when she says it!

      In August, the doctors did a sleep study on me to see if I was breathing enough at night. All those wires were annoying. Check out the picture to see what I mean. I didn’t think I would sleep much at all, but Mommy was there and I was able to still drink my “vanilla latte” (that's what Mommy calls my milk since the Vanilla flavored Pediasure smells like a Vanilla Latte), so that helped. The doctors told Mommy and Daddy that I do have mild sleep apnea, whatever that is, but it isn’t bad enough to worry about at this point. Because of this, the doctors decided to not do surgery on my cleft palate in October like they had originally planned. They said that it would be better to just wait and let my mouth grow more on its own before they do that.

     For Halloween, I was a cowboy and I got to go trick-or-treating with my big brother JJ. It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was walking up to the door and saying HI to everyone. They gave me candy too, but I didn’t eat any of it because I only had 1 tooth at the time, but Mommy and Daddy helped me to eat it all. I finally got my first tooth at the end of July and my second tooth in December. I had my two front teeth for Christmas! Now I am cutting to more teeth on top. One on each side. Maybe I’ll start chewing some food and will be able to move to table food soon!

     Right before Christmas, I was sick with a very bad stomach virus. After two weeks, it wasn’t getting any better and it started to hurt my hips a whole lot and I didn’t want to walk. The doctors got worried and put me in the hospital to run tests. The found out that the virus was causing inflammation in my joints and my immune system was attacking my joints thinking that it was part of the virus. The solution was that I have to take Ibuprofen and not Tylenol when I get sick from now on. Just 1 day on the Ibuprofen and I was ready to run again! The doctors could tell I was better when I tried to run down the hallway!

     After all that mess, Christmas came and went without a hitch! I really enjoyed opening my presents. I got to meet Santa Claus again. This time JJ was there and we got to have our picture taken together. For Christmas Eve, JJ and I also got matching pajamas! He is such a cool big brother! I love it when he is here because he always plays with me and lets me chew on his toy cars (at least the ones that he isn’t playing with at the time!)

     After Christmas, I was back to the doctors because the cardiologist found fluid around my heart. The tried a few medicines, but discovered that it was more inflammation from when I’d had the virus before Christmas. So more Ibuprofen! Good thing I like grape flavor. It took 3 weeks to clear up the fluid and then it was back to the hospital at the end of January for an MRI and MRV. Those were not so fun because I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything all day until it was over, but Mommy was there with my “vanilla latte” to make me feel better when it was all over!

     When Mommy and Daddy met with the doctors to discuss what happens next, they got to see the pictures of my brain from the MRI. The back of my brain looks like it is supposed to thanks to the cranial surgery from last Christmas. However, the front of my brain is being squished against the front of my skull. The doctors said that they know that they have to open up my head again and move the front of my skull forward to make more room, but they are hoping it can wait until they are ready to reconstruct my face too. Then it will be easier on my because it will only be one surgery and the pieces of my skull will recover easier if reconstructed at the same time instead of two separate times.

     To determine if it can wait or not, they are going to do a Pressure Monitoring Procedure, where they will insert a wire into my head and then monitor the pressure over several days. If the pressure is too

high, then they will do the front of my skull first and then the face separate. But if the pressure isn’t too bad, they will decide to wait and do it all at once. The procedure is scheduled for March 22nd. They will have to shave my head again to insert the wire. So much for my beautiful curls!

     To end on a happy note, at the beginning of February, I got to see snow!! It was really cool, but once I touched it and realized how cold it was, I’d had enough and was ready to go back inside and play with my toys. Besides, that big coat Mommy made me wear was hard to move in any way!

     The final picture is just a fun silly picture. If there is one thing I have learned, is that it’s no fun unless you can laugh and have a good time. Leave the worrying to the doctors! Isn’t that what they get paid for?? Well, that’s all that is going on with me! Hope things are going well with you and your family! I will try to write again later!

All my love,

Mason Higginbotham

PS. Mommy and Daddy say hello too! Hugs and kisses to all!



Fundraising Team Roping Benefit!

Hope you are having a great summer! So far we are. Mommy is home enjoying her summer with me and she started taking classes to get her Master’s Degree in Special Education. I keep trying to help her out with her papers, but she keeps telling me, “No!” when I go to type for her. And Daddy is enjoying his summer by going camping and fishing with Paw Paw and JJ. I’m not quite old enough to go yet, but maybe next year!


I am learning how to walk all by myself. I can get across the living room and I sometimes I still fall down, but I have to have help still getting up without something to hold onto. Mr. Ryan and I are working on that in my Physical Therapy class. I have that once a week! And I’m going to be adding another class too, Speech Therapy. Ms. Debbie is going to help me to use sounds and words to mean things. Although, I think I am doing just fine. I’ve got “da-da-da-da-da” down really good! I even say “ba” every now and again!

Coming up in July, we are going to be busy, busy, busy! First, JJ gets to come and stay ALL month! He is so much fun to play with. He always makes me laugh! And then, on July 10th is Mommy’s birthday and we are going to have another benefit for my surgeries. This one is going to be a Team Roping one! I can’t wait. The top winner gets a saddle with my name on it and the average winners get belt buckles that are as big as my head! (Well, they say “Higginbotham Benefit Champion” on them, so they had to be big! Besides, everything is bigger here in Texas anyway!) I attached a flyer and a picture of the belt buckle. Granny is going today to check out the saddle. I can’t wait to see that. I get to help present it to the winner at the end of the night! Hope you can all come out and join us for this event! If you can’t, we understand! We know you would if you could!

After the summer, I get to go back to school. I get to move up to the toddler room if I can get this whole walking thing down. I know I can do it! Mommy is still teaching Pre-k, but she won’t be teaching colorguard this year. She wanted more time to spend at home with me and Daddy! My next surgery will be around October or November. They are going to fix my cleft palate, so that when I eat food won’t go up my nose so much! (Thank goodness! I HATE it when everyone keeps trying to wipe my nose!) They also might straighten out my thumbs at the same time. We aren’t sure about that one yet though. That will be up to Dr. Kelley and Dr. Sharma to work out. We will be sure to keep you posted on all the great things coming up.

Hope things are going well with you and your families too! Also, keep saving tabs for the Ronald McDonald House too! The boy scout troop at Mommy’s school saved a ton! We got to take pictures for the newspaper!

Well, I gotta go now! Mommy says it is time to eat lunch… Mixed veggies and apple/blueberries. Yummy!

All my love,

Mason Higginbotham

Speed Racer

Here is Mason in his new soft casts (splints). He loves cruising around in his walker and thanks to his brilliant Aunt Ness, he has shirts that velcro up both sides so he doesn't have to be naked all the time.

I have also attached a picture of his hand with the bandages off. His fingers are still swollen and stitched but the Dr says he is healing great!

Mason Is Home!

Mason was released from the hospital this afternoon. Praise the Lord!

He had to stay longer than expected because of a little bit of fever (they wanted him to be fever-free for 24 hours). He also had a postitive test for MRSA, but it was only a postive culture and not a full blown infection. They are able to treat it with antibiotics, but he has to stay close to home until the antibiotics run their course.

He's had a hard time, being as active as he is, realizing he can't use his hands. He will still play, smile, and is as charming as ever, flirting with the nurses and staff. He even tried to climb out of his crib once! But you can tell he gets uncomfortable and frustrated.

Please continue to pray that the skin graphts will form correctly to his fingers so that they'll be able to remove the casts in about 2 weeks (or sooner!).

I'm Outta Here!

Surgery Update

Thank you for praying!

The surgery took longer than expected yesterday (over 7 hours!) but the
doctors said he did well. He had a slight fever in recovery last night, but
that went away during the night. He is still on pretty strong pain
medication, and he's been pretty cranky today, as you would expect. He's
drinking and holding down formula which is good progress.

In Recovery:

These pictures will break your heart, but my sister sent them and I wanted
to share with you. He'll be wearing casts on his arms to keep him from
moving his fingers so that the skin grafts will grow on his hands. I'm not
sure how long he'll be in them, but you can imagine the difficulties an
active 11-month-old will be facing.

Morning after - drinking with the help of little doggy!

They expect him to be home from the hospital tonight or tomorrow morning if
all goes well today. As the Lord brings him to mind, please continue to
pray for his recovery and for peace in their family.

Latest & Greatest about Mason

Hello all!

We apologize for the long interim between updates. These last few months since Mason’s first surgery have just been a whirlwind. So let’s go back to then…his first surgery.

Mason’s first surgery was on December 29th! That day was very stressful to say the least, but Mason came through like a charm. He was sedated for most of the day and he still had a tube in to help him breath. He looked like he had been hit by a train, but all the doctors and nurses kept insisting on how great he looked for having just gone through what he had gone through. By the end of the night he did give even the nurses a scare though. While they thought he was still sedated, Mason decided to roll over! He almost rolled off the bed! After that, he had to be restrained any time he was left in the bed alone. As he improved and progressed in his healing, he was moved from PICU to an intermediate care unit then to a regular room all over the course of 4 days. On the 4th day, his doctors came in to check him out while we were there and gave us an update. One doctor also decided to prove to us just how durable the distracters in his head were. Without warning, the doctor grabbed one of the distracters and shook Mason’s head… HARD! We all just gasped, and we swore that Justin was about to hit the floor, although he insists he wanted to hit the doctor instead! The whole thing didn’t phase Mason in the least! A good lesson to learn, but not one I recommend the doctor do to other patients! Overall, Mason spent 8 days in the hospital and then was released to go home. He would have been sent home after 6 days, but he developed a blood clot in his leg when they removed his central line.

Once home, then the “fun” started. Doctor’s appointments twice a week (the hematologist for the clot, and the Cranio-facial team for the distracters in his head). We also had to give him a shot twice a day for the blood clot and turn his distracters twice a day to slowly spread the bones in his skull. After 17 days, the extended part of the distracters were removed and we no longer had to turn them. All the turning created a 17 ½ millimeter soft spot all the way across his skull. The really cool part was that we noticed that he now had a round head. As you can see in the pictures attached (one is from 4 days before the surgery and the next is from the morning before we removed the extenders), the shape of his head had dramatically changed. Finally, after a month of shots, his ultrasound showed that his blood clot had completely cleared and we were able to stop giving him shots.

Before Surgery:

Morning before distractors removed:
By then, it was February. Things had just started to settle down into some sort of normal-ness… yeah right!! February was just as busy as January was. My brother was promoted to Warrant Officer in the Marines and my sister had had her 3rd child. Since my mom, who had been staying with us to help watch him while he wasn’t allowed at daycare, was now away helping to take care of the rest of her family, we all took time off to stay at home with Mason. Mason started to really enjoy playing and crawling around. Then he discovered that he could crawl through the coffee table! Before we knew it, it was March! Mason started to pull himself up to a standing position, then he started “cruising,” as the physical therapist calls it, all around the coffee table. Now he is really getting fast at going around the furniture. He is getting braver about letting go just long enough to stretch and reach the next piece of furniture, but he hasn’t tried to walk solo yet. Along with all these new discoveries and accomplishments have come bumps, bruises and scares! All part in partial to any growing child his age. Thank goodness for his helmet!

We also decided that we should give Mason his own room, since he has decided that bed time, now means play time! One picture included, is an “in progress” shot of the living room during the room switching. All the stuff from the room was all over the living room and Mason was playing. Can you find the baby in all the mess?

And for his crowning achievement, Mason said, “da-da” tonight! Justin has been gloating all night! I am just happy that he is making the “d” sound because the speech therapist told us he probably wouldn’t make that at first because of his cleft palette! I guess he showed her!

Look! I have shoes on!

Now as we near the end of March we are gearing up for Mason’s next surgery. On Wednesday, March 31st, Mason goes back in. This time to remove the distracters in his head. The doctors are expecting this to be an easier surgery than it was to put them in. They will also separate his pointer and pinky fingers on both of his hands while he is under anesthesia. After this surgery, both his hands will be in casts in order to allow the skin to properly heal. This is going to be the hardest thing for him to deal with. He is so active and mobile. Not being able to use his hands is going to be VERY frustrating for him. All in all, he is only expected to spend one, maybe two nights in the hospital this go round. As with the first surgery, I will be keeping everyone posted via Facebook and text messages.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. I will continue to keep everyone updated as we go over the next hurdle in our lives!

All our love,
Allison and Justin

More on Mason...

Mason was moved from the ICU into the IMC ward on 12/31. He was eating from a bottle and they had removed the bandages from his head. He was doing very well...and continued to progress rapidly!

By that evening, he was sitting up in bed! In this picture, you can see the 4 distractors that are sticking out of his head. These will be turned to open up space in the skull for the next 3 weeks.

The next day, they removed all tubes, drains, and the catheter. He still had to be connected to a monitor, but Mommy & Daddy finally got to hold him! It was a great start to a Happy New Year!

By Saturday, Jan 2nd, he really seemed to be back to himself. He was being playful, sticking out his tongue, and smiling a bunch.

By that evening, he was moved into a regular room, and all IV's and tethers were removed. The word they had at that point was that he was pretty much ready to be released, but they were needing to order some sort of head gear. Due to the holiday, they weren't able to get anything this weekend.

By Monday, Jan 4th, they were expecting to be released "any day now..." The doctors had decided that they wouldn't wait on the head gear, as it would take too long. Also, when they took out his central IV, a blood clot had formed and was affecting his left leg - which they found and were treating with medication. That was clearing up quickly.

With everything that this little guy has been through in the past 6 days, you wouldn't know it to be around him. He is full of life, happy, and spreads that joy to everyone he sees!

Day 2 - Mason is Doing Great!!

Today in Austin, the sun was shining outside the hospital, and inside, too! Mason was alert and this afternoon they removed the breathing tube. He was hungry and ready to chow down. They only wanted to give him small amounts, and he would get very upset when they took the bottle away from him. He was holding his own bottle, and even smiled and giggled at the red light on his toe!

His doctor checked him over, and said that he is "doing great" and should be moved out of the PICU tomorrow. The little fighter is ready to go - they have to keep tying him down to the bed because all he wants to do is turn over!

Mason's Surgery Today

Mason went through his first surgery with flying colors. It was a long, exhausting day for everyone, as they were to be at the Dell Children's Hospital at 6am, with the surgery to start at 7:30. It took longer than expected to get him ready, since he is so little, it just took a long time to get his lines in and all the IV's going. But they finally got started and made the first incision at 10am.

It was to be a 6-hour procedure, but they were completely finished in 3 hours! Everything went as planned with absolutely no problems. The doctors said that there was pressure starting to build in his little brain, and he has some drainage - but they just kept telling Allie & Justin how well he did and how good he looked. All reports are better than even they expected. An answer to all the prayers, that's for sure!!

They will keep him sedated and keep the breathing tube in for most of the night. Allie & Justin are able to stay close by in a Ronald McDonald house so that they don't have to travel too far and can have a place to rest and shower. Mason is expected to be in the hospital for 7 days. Right now he is in the PICU, and hopefully soon will be moved to a regular room as he recovers.

This picture was taken almost immediately after the surgery. It doesn't look pretty, but the doctors said he really looks great!!!

The latest report we got this evening said that he was still sedated (at 8pm), but they also had to tie him down on the bed because he kept trying to roll over! That little rascal won't let anything keep him down - he's a little fighter.

If there are any updates, I'll post them here when I can. God Bless, and thank you for your prayers and support of Mason, Allie, & Justin.

From, Mason's Aunt Jenny