Happy Birthday, Mason! April 26, 2012

I can't believe that it has already been 3 years since God graced us with the angel named Mason!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful baby boy! 

I love you!

Update - April 8, 2012

Hello all! I know it has been a while since our latest update. Since Mason's last surgery (the cleft palate repair and thumb surgery), Mason has been making great progress. He is trying to talk more and more. He says many things, but my favorite is "I-E-Ya" which is his version of "I love you!" :) He has acquired a few more teeth and is now up to 9 total with 2 more on the way. With his new teeth, he has discovered how to chew and bite. He ate his first non-pureed meal of Macaroni and Cheese not too long ago. Since then he has also discovered that he likes Spaghetti O's and today he even ate a few bites of pizza and a bite or two of a cupcake at a birthday party! It won't be long before he will be off all pureed foods! Mason's thumb surgery was successful, but in the weeks following, the muscles in his thumbs started to cause his thumbs to turn down again. To help maintain them being straight, he is having to wear thumb splints on a daily basis. The doctor will re-evaluate his thumbs in June to determine what steps we will be taking next with his hands. Coming up in May, he will be undergoing another surgery to insert his 3rd set of ear tubes and a tonsillectomy Although he will only spend 1 night in the hospital, he will be out of school for 1 to 2 weeks for recovery. We just had his evaluation for PPCD (the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities) at BISD and he will be starting in the fall, with continued speech and occupational therapy throughout the rest of this school year and next. So as you can see, things are busy, busy, busy, but all is well! :) Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Clef Palette Surgery, January 4, 2012

Day 1 - Surgery day again! Today is Mason's cleft palate repair surgery! The surgery is scheduled to begin at 11am an is expected to last 2-3 hrs. We will keep you all posted on his progress! :)....Mason is out of surgery and all went well! We will be able to see him in recovery room is a few minutes and then he will be moved to the IMC floor for the next day or two. Dr noticed that his tonsils are rather large and so he will be monitored closely for breathing issues. If he needs more room in his mouth, he will have to have his tonsils out before we will be discharged.


Day 2 - Mason is more alert and tolerating pain much better today! The swelling in is tongue has gone down quite a bit and the doctors are happy with his improvement thus far. They have removed the nose tube but are keeping the tongue stitch in for a little longer.

...Tongue stitch is out now and he has started drinking fluids from a cup. Dr is very happy with his progress. :) At this time the Dr has decided to not take out his tonsils b/c he is breathing very well on his own. If progress continues at this rate, we have a good chance of going home tomorrow! :)


Day 3 - HOME BOUND! Hooray!

Hand Surgery, December 28, 2011

Hello All! Mason's hand surgery is today. He will be having pins put in to straighten his thumbs and they will deepen the space in between his pinkies and ring fingers on both hands. He went into surgery at noon and should last 2-3 hours. After surgery he will spend a few hours in recovery, and if all goes well he will be home by this evening! :). We will keep everyone posted on his progress! Next week will be his cleft palate repair.


...(later that same day)...Discharged to go home! Hooray!


Day 2 - at home: We made it through the night without too much disturbances. Today he is tired and frustrated! He is now VERY aware that he does not have full use of his hands! But after a 1hr boo-hoo for himself this morning he finally settled down and played some. Got some more meds and some food in his belly! :)

Merry Christmas, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving - November, 2011

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mason is doing wonderfully! His cranial surgeries this summer were extremely successful. His next surgeries will be coming up next month just after Christmas. He will have 2 separate surgeries 1 week apart from each other. The first will be on his hands. They will be straightening his thumbs and widening his hand span by cutting back the webbing between his pinkies and other fingers. The second surgery will be to repair his cleft palette As always, we will keep you posted throughout both procedures and recoveries!

Distractors Removed - September 28, 2011

Day 1 - Mason had his surgery today to remove the distractors that were inserted in July to add more space in his head. All went well. He is in recovery right now and will spend the night in the IMC for observation and should be sent home tomorrow.


Day 2 - Mason is up and ready to go. He was finally "unplugged" and allowed to go for a walk, and now I can't get him to go back to his room! LOL! Dr's came and he is on schedule to be allowed to go home this afternoon.

ICP Monitoring - July 26, 2011

Day 1 - ICP monitor is in place. Waiting to be called back to recovery and then he will be moved to an IMC room to be monitored over the next few days. Scheduled for 4 days but could be out in as few as 2 if no mishaps occur.


Day 2 - We are almost done with day 2. The monitoring is showing that the pressure in Mason's head is still higher than the neurosurgeon would like, even after the cranial surgery. So now we will continue to turn the distractors to widen the space they are creating in Mason's head. We will not be release from the hospital until the pressure goes down to a level that the neurosurgeon is comfortable with. Oh well, so much for being out of here after a few days! :( Mason is hanging in there like a champ as he always does! :)


Day 3 - The wire for the ICP monitor has developed a kink or something in it. So it is back into surgery tomorrow to replace the wire. This really isn't a big surgery. The doctor explained that if Mason was older and capable of understanding and able to contol himself long enough to sit still for more than 20 minutes, he wouldn't have to even be put under. It would just be a local anethetic to numb the area and insert the wire. Looks like we will be here through the weekend. Thankfully a room at the Ronald McDonald House opened up so we will be able to get some more restful sleep. :)


Day 4 - Dr. has decided that it is not worth putting him under again for just a day of monitoring. So monitor is coming out and we are being discharged today. :). Yipee!!! Praise God!

Checking in - July 23, 2011

Hello all! Just checking in to let you know Mason is doing great. On Tuesday, July 26th, we go back to the hospital for a few days to do the pressure monitoring again. The doctors want to compare the results of the monitoring now that he has had his cranial surgery with the results from the time they did it in March before his surgery.

Post Surgery - July 5, 2011

This cranial surgery was a success.  This time the spacers were much smaller, but his frustration level was much higher during recovery.  He recovered well and was home within 4 days of surgery.