After this last incident I asked myself "How many lives does Mason have?" We have always considered Mason a very special child...and most of you who know him know what I'm talking about ha ha! We know God has some really big plans for this boy! He broke his arm jumping off the couch at 2 years old but we didn't find out until 3 days later. At 3 years old, he contracted salmonella. This wasn't treated right away because the 5 doctors we visited couldn't figure out what was wrong with him so they chalked it up to a virus. During this time, the salmonella went transient into his blood resulting in a week long stay at Children's hospital. Now we have this.......In short, we went to visit Dr. Little (an ENT) at the beginning of June because Mason was having headaches and tenderness on the left side of his head as well as feeling sick and tired. We have also been concerned about the left side of the neck that puffs out when he screams or yells. After a CAT scan Dr. Little determined that everything was ok with his head...PRAISE THE LORD! But he did see something on the scan that he was concerned about so he ordered an MRI. We did that Thursday, June 11 and got a call from Dr. Little on Friday saying that he wanted to do surgery Tuesday, June 16. At first, Dr. Little and the Pediatric Neuro Radiologist thought it might be a Cystic Hygroma on a lymph node in his neck but after the results of the MRI he said it could be a couple of other things. The cyst they found on the scan was about 3 centimeters and is located between the jugular and carotid so Dr. Little said the surgery was going to be difficult. It should last about 2 hours. This was the initial report. After many phone calls about whether or not we wanted to go ahead with the surgery now or wait until September we opted for now. We were so blessed to have a conservative Christian doctor who is very good at what he does. I have always heard how sincere and kind he was from other parents at school but when he called to come by our house the night before the surgery I was floored. I mean what doctor comes to your house anymore? He came by and discussed the pros and cons as well as the details of the surgery. I left the technical questions up to Tony. I just wanted to know how big the incision was going to be. He showed me and I lost it. It was originally supposed to be across the bottom of his neck and then half way up the side but when we took the bandage off it was only across the bottom. I was so relieved! The surgery actually ended up being 3 1/2 hours long. I can't even explain how anxious Tony and I were. We knew the surgery had a lot of risks because of where the cyst was located. They even had an extra surgeon in the operating room in case something went wrong. Dr. Little came out as soon as the surgery was finished. "He's fine" he said. That's all I wanted to hear. However, he was carrying a camera and I wondered why? He asked if we would like to see pictures and of course we did. All of my family were huddled around this camera like we were a football team. He began to tell us what happened during the surgery while showing us the pictures. He said the cyst we were taking out ended up being over 7 inches long NOT 1 1/2. It was even 1-2 inches around in some places. He said that Dr. Kennedy said that he had never seen anyone take out something so big out of an incision so small. Dr. Little said he got scared at one point because he didn't know what this tissue was so he called in pathology and the radiologist. The original MRI and CAT scan didn't show this at all. The pathologist said the tissue seemed to be benign but that we wouldn't know anything until next week for sure. We are happy to say that the pathology reports came back NEGATIVE and it is not cancerous. It was all functioning thymus tissue that left a string of tissue while in utero. The doctor said even though it is was functioning it still needed to come out because it could have gotten infected. Well we had to stay overnight and I didn't get any sleep at all. The only thing Mason could eat was popsicles. He wanted a popsicle every 15 minutes even through the night. It got to the point in the middle of the night that I just gave him the button and told him to call the nurse himself for a popsicle. And in between popsicles he played his new DS game. By the morning I was exhausted. We finally got to go home around noon on Wednesday. He had some mild soreness for a few days and it was extremely difficult trying to keep him still and resting. Mason recovered so quickly! He had some mild soreness but overall did well. We are so proud of him!! We got the stitches out and the scar is healing. This event is just one more reason to be so thankful for our sweet precious boy and to Thank God for taking care of him and guiding Dr. Little's hands during the surgery. Tony and I want to thank each and everyone of you for your countless e-mails, phone calls, text messages, gifts, and FOOD! They were so encouraging and comforting!! We are so glad that we have so many friends who care so deeply for our little boy. It's so amazing to look back and see God's hands in all of this. We were asked many times by doctors "How did you find this?" Our only explanation is...GOD! We were actually investigating something totally unrelated when the doctors found this. The night before Mason's surgery we put him to bed (without knowing he was having surgery the next day). He said his prayers and he asked GOD to "keep me healthy and to keep me alive." Well Praise the Lord...God does answer prayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This could have been a lot worse. Our boy is now healthy and is ALIVE!!! GOD is good...All the time!!! What next I ask myself? Hopefully this is it but something tells me this is just the beginning with this boy....stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is Mason the morning of the surgery...he looks happy because he has no idea.
On the way to the hospital...he kind of had an idea so we had to stop at Target and buy a new DS game to keep his mind off of our trip to the hospital
Here he is waiting and waiting and waiting. The surgery wasn't scheduled until noon.
Mommy laying with her baby before surgery.
And daddy laying with his big brave boy before surgery.
We got tired of waiting in the bed so we went to the playroom for a little bit.
This is Mason's masterpiece.
Ok. Now here he is right after he woke up. He ate that popsicle in less than a minute.
That boy was hungry!!
My sister brought Taylor to see Mason. I think he was hurting a little bit...wouldn't you say?
This is Mason the day after showing his battle wound. I was thrilled that Dr. Little was conservative and didn't have to cut him as much as he said he was going to.
I can handle this scar.
Mason's cousins sent him a care package...candy...candy...candy and a movie! He loved it! Thanks Dylan and Alexis!
And Grandma and Pop Pop sent him a cookie bouquet...it was yummy!
And thanks to the Roddy's for the cutest monkey and get well balloon. I don't know what I would have done without you there girl!
And our sweet friends The Hamilton's came by and brought Mason this GIANT coloring book. It kept him really busy since we were stuck inside for quite a few days.
And here is Mimi and the kids who came into town to help out. I don't know what we would have done without her. She even stayed through the weekend so Tony and I could go to my brother's wedding. Thanks so much for being there for us! We love you!
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