It's Time for an Update

(I started this on Wednesday morning, but then Blogger deleted part of it and I couldn't get back on blogger the rest of the day! What ever was wrong is fine now, so I'm attempting to re-write what was lost and finish the post. It is rather long, but I'm trying to remember all the information we have gathered to help us in our decision about Mason's transplant.)

My days seem to escape me w/out getting much accomplished lately!! Well, maybe nothing accomplished, but time spent well fulfilled in a different way.

Mason has been sick for at least 12 days now (he is finally on the mend back to his happy self). It started with a low grade fever and the pukes and then went into a high fever, horrible cough (meaning low oxygen sats -which always scare me), and runny nose. Then Ammon (4 3/4 years old) joined in on the fever, cough and congestion too, missing school most of last week. (I sent him back this Tuesday, because he seemed all better, only to get a call that he was acting sick, coughing w/ a runny nose, and needed to be picked up! Round 2?) So my time has been spent holding 2 of my most favorite little boys. It gets tricky because a lot of jealousy goes on between these to darling brothers!! The house is a ship wreck and no dinners prepared, but at least I know I have spent many hours rocking my 2 babies (these 2 will ALWAYS be my babies)! With moments, honestly, of thinking I'm going to go crazy, at the end of the day...... these 2 know their mommy loves them dearly (I hope!!!)

Mason and Ammon

Then add 3 more kiddos into the mix that need help w/ homework and more than anything.....Mom's attention also.......not a whole lot of preparing for Stanford has been accomplished!

NOW FOR THE UPDATE:

1) Mason had his cardiology monthly checkup last Wednesday January 20, while fevering, coughing, and puking. The first thing I said to Dr. Everett was "Mason really is healthy (to the best of his ability w/ a broken heart and 1 functioning lung, in fact better than most would imagine) and happy in between our visits here w/ you!" Because the last 3 visits to cardiology he has been sick.

We went ahead and did his ECHO even though he wasn't feeling well. I honestly wanted to make sure some of his symptoms weren't due to worse heart failure. The results: his heart function is still poor, but stable....not worse. Thank goodness!! His leaking tricuspid valve which has been moderate to severe for months now (almost a year) was only leaking mildly. I had just a moment of excitement from this good news, until Dr. E said this can just be temporary due to his fever! When you have a fever your blood pressure is naturally lower, which then will decrease a leaking valve.

He weighed in at 23 lbs 2 oz, even after puking for 5 days, so he must have been up over 24 lbs! His heart med doses were increased for his weight gain and to meet up to Stanford's dosage suggestions. Although, Dr. E. did suggest waiting to increase these until he is feeling better. This is so we can know if the higher doses are giving him side effects and not his temporary illness.

Overall, another monthly check-up to me means he has fought much further and continues to do much better than ever imagined last September! GO, FIGHT, WIN, MIRACLE MASON!

2) We met with some of Primary's transplant team that same day, Wednesday Jan 20. First we met with Dr. Everett and Dr. AK Kaza (the head surgeon over transplant at this time). And then separately with Dr. Kourestas (Mason's surgeon), because he was still doing rounds in the hospital when Dr. Kaza had to wrap our meeting up and head to the OR room for a scheduled surgery. We went seeking their opinions about Mason's offer from CHOP and Stanford, but ended up learning a little more along the way.

To sum things up briefly, we learned more that day about hospital politics and personality conflicts among the doctors than we had planned on or ever imagined. I'm not going to get into details, but needless to say, we heard more than just a simple opinion of Mason's case. Instead, we heard some very different opinions in the 2 meetings we had that day, as well as finding out there are some definite communication issues within their own team. One doctor said they knew nothing about these offers for transplant from Stanford or CHOP when the other said they had already updated this doctor for us. Just a bit frustrating!!! Don't get me wrong, I do lovePrimary's but I think we got put in the middle of a cross fire that day!!! We were there solely concerned about our baby's LIFE ,but were exposed to some definite tension between some of those we met w/!

They expressed to us the possible risks they could for see in Mason receiving a heart transplant due to his anatomy of a single working lung. The main being frequent infections in the left lung due to no blood flow. The other was the possible need for supplmented O2 long term post transplant. One doctor expressed the risks in a much more optimistic way than another and said "we really don't know if this will happen or not, it may not cause a problem at all, and probably won't". There is no research one way or the other. Then they expressed quite different opinions on each end of the spectrum about what his quality of life would be after transplant. I started to think "we asked for this meeting to help us, not to confuse us more!?" Although in the end, they did all agree that this is a much better option than a heart lung transplant.

When we raised the question of "why can't we do this here?"......this in when we saw some true conflicts in opinions! Wow, it was either black or white, "YES we should" or "NO we won't"! But, no matter what, if the whole team is not in a positive consensus to take on a certain case (especially a high risk and rare case like Mason's) then it won't happen. Nor would I want to push it. I want Mason under the direction of a transplant team that are all on the same page! In my heart though, I do wish Dr. Kouretas could do Mason's surgery , not only because we feel he is a brilliant surgeon, but also because he's already done Mason's 2 other open heart surgeries and he knows Mason's heart anatomy better than anyone else. (And..... we could stay in Utah! , but I think that hope has now been crushed!)

The best news we received was when I asked Dr. Kouretas' opinion on "will Stanford do just about anything that is high risk?". This has been a concern of ours (meaning is Mason going to be a guinea pig?). He having gone to medical school at Stanford and practicing cardio-thoracic surgery there for some time, before he came to Primary's, knows the cardiologists and surgeons at Stanford very well. He strongly feels they would only be taking on Mason's case if they felt very optimistic about a successful outcome. They are known for taking on high risk patients, but also have very high success rates.

It was a long day with many tears and strong emotions. We left the meetings more confused than when we went in. But, we were told several times by all the doctors and surgeons we saw that day (including some not mentioned above that we just ran into in the cardiology clinic) said that they would support and stand behind us with whatever decision we made for our sweet Mason.

3) Tuesday, January 26, we finally spoke with Dr. Rosenthall (heart failure cardiologist) from Stanford. Even though it took 2 weeks to line up the call, we were very glad to talk to him directly. He answered our questions very well with a lot of optimism, but at the same time was able to bluntly paint for us both sides of the picture. We were much less confused about what is best for Mason after our conversation with him. Some of our conversation was like this:

• Us: "What was the overall feeling at the Transplant Board's SelectiveCommittee meeting when you presented Mason's case?"
• Dr. R: "It was a very spirited meeting because Mason's case is rare, but there was at least a 90% vote that 'yes' a heart transplant to Mason's own 1 healthy lung was the best option for Mason. This included high optimism and hope for a positive outcome. With this though ,there is a necessity to do another chest CT w/ angio making sure his right PV's (pulmonary veins) are still nice and healthy."
• Us: "What will his quality of life be after transplant?"
• Dr. R: "If you don't mind I will be very blunt. It will either be very good or very bad!" Then he explained himself, "as long as Mason's vein disease on his left side does not spread to his right PV's we feel his quality of life will be excellent. "
• Us: "What do you expect is his survival rate post transplant to be at 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, 10 year?"
• Dr. R "We suspect without any pulmonary vein disease on the right side his survival rate should be the same as all our other heart transplant children, which are- 98% at 1 year, 95% at 3 year, 90% at 5 year and a 10 year number is hard to quote because transplants are so much better now than they were 10 years ago."
• Us: "Is there a concern of frequent infections on his left lung especially being on immunosuppressants?"
• Dr. R: "Yes, that will be a risk having no blood flow through his lung w/ a suppressed immune system, but we don't feel it will put him in the hospital every month with pneumonia, or hinder his quality of life."
• Us: "Will Mason need to be on supplemental O2 even after he recovers from his transplant because of only having one functioning lung?"
• Dr. R "One lung is sufficient to supply blood and O2 to the body, AS LONG AS his right pulmonary veins stay healthy. So he should not need supplemental O2 post recovery."
• Us: "Since Mason will be listed at a 1B status, we are curious if you see kids there at Stanford receive hearts at 1B or not until they are sick enough to be admitted to the hospital and listed as 1A?" (Mason would be 1B because he is under weight which puts him in the 'failure to thrive' category. So this is 2nd priority on the waiting list. But 1A is first priority because they are so sick that they need to be in the hospital recieving IV meds to help their heart pump.)
• Dr. R: "Yes we see children get hearts almost equally from 1A and 1B status."
• Us: "Do you feel an urgency to get Mason listed right away as long as the chest CT shows positive results?"
• Dr. R: "We would like to get Mason listed as soon as it is possible for your family to get him here. Mason has been on a stable plateau for several months now, which is great, but how much longer he will remain stable is really unknown. A transplant surgery and recovery go much smoother if we get the child while they are still in a 'window' of stability. Timing is very important. I would suggest less than a month."

We discussed a few more things, but I think the above were the most important issues that we covered. I will say he left us with a lot of HOPE that this is a wonderful option for Mason.

What are we thinking now? After doing our research or 'opinion seeking', praying and fasting, and listening to our hearts..........As parents to this very special little guy, we do truly feel Mason needs this transplant, that Stanford is the right place to do it, that Miracle Mason will have a much better quality of life than he has now, and more than anything that we will have offered him every viable opportunity to live. The rest we leave in the lord's hands, for we KNOW he has a plan for our Mason.

Have we worked out the details yet on how we will do it? No not yet, but we are in the process. The plan is that I will go to Stanford with Mason soon (I know that is vague, but we as a family still have a lot to talk about and figure out before I post more specifically about when!) Mason and I will live in the Ronald McDonald house which is a 10 minute walk to the Hospital. Mark and our other 4 children will stay here to work and go to school. Who will help w/ our kids? We have some ideas and plans in the making.....but nothing is certain yet.

For now, we appreciate all your prayers and concern. I know that it has helped comfort us during these most emotional and trying times. We will post with more details as the "How's" get worked out and everything falls into place! I am definitely living on HOPE & FAITH right now! THANK YOU for your SUPPORT!

As a side note:

***Just to add to the craziness at our house; Ammon was home all week again,Braiden was home yesterday and today w/ strep throat, and now I'm pretty sure I have strep too. Yikes! Talk about a house full of sickies! 'Tis the winter season here in Utah!***

Sweet Support/ Paul Cardall's Gift to the Heart Community

Thank you to all of you for leaving comments on the blog, texting me, or e-mailing me with sweet messages of love and support since my last post. It truly means a lot and is helping me get through this time of very important (and emotional) decision making!!! Many of you even sent me your favorite scripture or quote! Thank you Thank you!

These two especially have made very strong impressions on me:

“Be still and know that I am God.”

"Faith makes things possible, not easy."

Also, I wanted to let everyone know about a very kind thing Paul Cardall and his wife are doing for our Utah heart community. I copied and pasted the following post from his blog, "Living for Eden":

Apply for CHD Scholarship & Nominate a Family

"As I waited for doctors to find me a new heart, my community and colleagues in the music industry organized a benefit concert for our family. I wish every family in a similar situation could experience what I felt that evening.

This is why I am doing The Celebrate Life concert at Abravanel Hall on February 15, 2010 in Salt Lake City and rewarding a scholarship to an individual affected by congenital heart disease (CHD) and a financial gift to an angel family affected by this disease.

According to Senator Dick Durbin and the American Heart Association, “A child is born every 15 minutes with congenital heart disease or CHD.” Despite this sobering statistic, the great news is that most individuals born with CHD now have the medical resources available to help them live longer and enjoy the benefits of growing up, getting an education, falling in love, getting married, and raising a family.

I am living proof of the possibilities and want others to experience my happiness.

Therefore, I am extending an opportunity for individuals affected by CHD (whether you are an immediate family member or have been diagnosed with the chronic illness) to apply for a 1-year tuition free scholarship through my local Salt Lake Community College for those affected by congenital heart disease. I understand the costs associated with having a chronic illness. Education often takes a back seat because of mounting medical bills. I don’t want anyone to be denied of an education because of his or her financial situation."

For more information and/ or to apply for this scholarship visit:
http://scholarship.paulcardall.com

Nominate an Angel Family in the Rocky Mountain Region to receive a financial gift:
http://scholarship.paulcardall.com

***We have a meeting this week at Primary's with Mason's heart surgeon , Dr. Kouretas, the head surgeon over Transplants, Dr. Kaza, and Mason's cardiologist Dr. Everett. We want to hear their opinion about Mason getting a heart transplant to one lung at Stanford. We also will be talking with Dr. Rosenthall from Stanford sometime this week, to help answer some of our questions such as; how soon he really thinks we should come, quality of life after Transplant (especially because of Mason's 1 healthy lung situation).....with what he has found from his research, Mason's status when listed ( the plan is 1b , which is 2nd priority)......but, we figure if Mason and I are going to jump into this with both feet and leave our family for a while, then let's just admit him to the hospital, list him as 1a, and get him his heart sooner!!! We'll see what he says?!! I will post later this week with some details about our meeting and phone call.



Mason also has a cardio check up this week and an echo......which will hopefully give us an idea of how his heart failure is. Whether his function is the same, better, or worse......helping us decide on how soon we really need to get the Transplant ball rolling!!




Until next time! Have a great day !

Bitter-Sweet

I have been pondering since last Friday afternoon, when I received a phone call from Stanford (Dr.R's Nurse), how to word this post. I also have needed some time to sort out my thoughts and emotions about the "what if"s and the "how''s, discuss with Mark this phone call and how it will affect our whole family's life and future, and say many tearful prayers to our Father above. We have some big decisions to make, and feel these decisions are very special and sacred between our little family and Heavenly Father.

The Phone Call:

Mason was finally presented at Stanford's Board of Heart Transplant's "selective committee meeting" Friday morning. THE SWEET: After a long discussion, there was a positive consensus that Mason would be a good candidate for a heart transplant at Stanford. A heart transplant to his one healthy lung! The option in September we never knew existed! The option which is 10 times better than a heart-lung transplant! The option that now the 2 top rated pediatric cardiac transplant institutions have offered us! (CHOP & Stanford)

Dr. R's research that he presented was that there are only a handful of cases like Mason's that have been recorded nationwide...but those cases did show a positive outcome. He also found that if his 'pulmonary vein stenosis' has not spread by now from his left side to his right side at the age of 2, it probably won't! That is great! Why? They would not want to put him through transplant if there were signs that his right veins would obstruct as well. (Why, with all our modern medicine these days, they can't just transplant new pulmonary veins, or fix them when obstructed without transplanting the lungs as well......I don't know!!! )

Then the stipulations, that I am calling THE BITTER or the more difficult part of all this, were given to me next during the phone call.

The first: Mason will need to have another chest CT with an angiogram again, but this time at Stanford. The consensus at the meeting was that he could get a heart transplant IF and only if his right pulmonary veins still look healthy and stable. (I don't want to think about the "what if they are not", but I do know what ever the results are is part of the Lord's plan for Mason.)

The second : They would like to list Mason for a heart right after the Chest CT (well, w/in a few days) as long as the results of the Chest CT are positive! Okay here is the difficult (the part that affects our whole family more than ever!!)...., and stay near Stanford, as an out patient (or if he gets sicker, as an inpatient) until transplant ! We had been given a glimmer of hope from a social worker at Stanford that Mason could wait at home while listed, as long as he was not sick enough to need IV heart meds, and then catch a Life Flight jet as soon as his matching heart became available.

Dr. Rosenthall, who will be Mason's Cardiologist until transplant, and Dr. Olaf Reinhert (sp?) who will be Mason's transplant surgeon, both feel very strongly that Mason needs to be closely followed by their team while listed. Why??!!! Mason is not really holding his own right now. He is on O2 24/7 (any where from 1/2 liter to 1 1/2 liters depending on the day. I frequently check w/ my pulse Ox. or 'O2/heart rate monitor' to know what he needs.), he is only getting nutrition through his G-tube (he feels too yucky to eat), he takes several heart meds (at the highest doses possible) 2x a day, and according to his Dec. echo his heart function is low and abnormal with no improvement from Oct's echo. Okay, I do see there point, but I am totally capable of taking care of him at home under direction of Primary's Dr. Everett!!! Aren't I???? (And he seems to be doing so good right now at home!) Yes, but they are the one's in charge of this rare type of transplant!!!

Does this mean relocating??!!! This is the "bitter" of this "sweet" great news from Stanford! If Mason were our only child this would be no big deal to temporarily go to Palo Alto with him and live in the Ronald McDonald House while waiting ( + the 3 months required to be there locally post transplant), having Mark come visit when he could escape from work.

BUT, we are a family of 7!! I have 4 other children and never want them to think they are less important than Mason.... which If I leave them behind they may struggle with thinking this. But, until May no children under 16 are even allowed in Lucille Packard Children's Hospital (Stanford) unless they are the patient (due to the swine flu). All 4 are also in school and have amazingly great teachers this year. All children thrive on consistency, especially my Ammon more than ever. All children need there Mommy to be with them. A Mommy needs all her children, and her husband to be with her. These are the "how"s , "How do we do this?", that have put me on my knees in tearful prayer to my Heavenly Father.

We want to make this work and we will make this work if this is right for our Miracle Mason, but the "how"s, the details, the financial burden (what insurance doesn't cover), and the unknown amount of time Mason could wait for his new heart......are bogging my mind and heart down!! I even said to Mark the other night in tears, "I sure wish I knew why Heavenly Father keeps sending more loop wholes or obstacles into our life!" Obviously we have more to learn, more patients to be acquired, and more strengthening of our FAITH!

I do know how ever we work this out, it will be hard on my children now, but what they learn from this experience will make them better people as they grow up!! But, don't get me wrong, I write this with humble, worried tears streaming down my face........knowing as Mason's Mother I will provide him with every opportunity at life allowing him to fight until he is done and ready to go HOME, yet ultimately leaving him in the Lord's hands to complete His plan for Mason. At the same time I have to depend on the Lord right now with faith to help me work out the "how"s, if this is right , for our whole family!

I am grateful for this Sweet great news from Stanford! It strengthens my Hope for a longer life for our Miracle Mason!!

One of my favoirite sayings by Gordin B. Hinkley is "Go forward with faith". And this is what I will do....go forward with faith with the belief that what is right for Mason and our whole family will work out!!

Plan of Action:

1)We are trying to set up a phone call directly with Dr. Rosenthall so he can answer a few of our questions and to hear personally his thoughts on the urgency of how soon he thinks Mason needs to be listed. (I failed to mention above, I was told on 'the phone call' with Dr. R's nurse that they were thinking he should come for the CT within a month and then be listed at that time!!!)

2)We also are setting up a meeting with Dr. Everett- Mason's cardiologist here at Primary's, Dr. Kourestas- Mason's heart surgeon here at Primary's, and Dr. Kaza- the head surgeon over transplants at Primary's to discuss with them their opinions of what CHOP and Stanford have offered us. And of course I will sneak in the question one more time, "can you please just do this here at Primarys?" !!!

3)Spend a lot of time praying for direction from our Father Above!!!


And one more thing, even though we know CHOP is also a very qualified children's cardiac instituition..... we feel that Stanford is the better choice for Mason at this time. And it certainly is much closer to our home, here in Utah.



Than you for caring enough to follow our journey, to listen to (or read) my worries, and to pray for our Mason and our family.



And today, I'll leave with you a few things that are helping pull me through the fear of the unknown of what lay ahead:

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Prov. 3:5-6

“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.” D&C 68:6

And a quote by President Thomas S. Monson "Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us."

When It Rains It Pours!

It has been one of "those" weeks at our house!! Where do I start?

• our microwave broke beyond repair
• our dryer broke w/ a repair at $250+
• our vacuum broke w/ a repair at $200+
• I backed into neighbor girl's car (Yes I did! But it was dark and there was LOTS of snow.) w/ a repair at $????
• I can't get an answer from Stanford about whether Mason will be presented today at the Selective Meeting (w/ the Board of Transplant Dr.'s and Surgeons).
• Nor have I received any info about Dr. R's research of Mason's vein disease and need of a heart transplant to one lung.
• Mason's G-tube button continues to hurt him so I took him up to Primary's for an upper GI x-ray with contrast.......results: poor little guy has moderate to severe reflux!! What? Really? He didn't have any reflux before he had his G-tube put in! How long has he been in pain with this? I feel horrible!!!
• I can't hold back my tears as I leave Primary's (yesterday after the x-ray), because every time I'm there the words "I'm so sorry, but there is nothing more we can do for Mason" ring in my head from 'that' day of his heart cath in Sept.

As this week comes to an end, I can only hope for a better tomorrow, hope for Good News from Stanford, realize there are worse things that could have happened this week, count my blessings for how well Mason is really doing with how sick his heart and lung are, enjoy the smiles and laughter of all my kiddos, and do a little dancing in the rain (or snow).

Holiday Pictures

Wow, how long we prepare for Christmas as parents, how long the kiddos anticipate the excitement of Christmas, and then it comes and goes so fast! As a family, I know we count our biggest blessing as being able to ALL be home together on Christmas, for 2 years ago Mason was just 3 weeks old and spent his first Christmas in the PICU. We hold a very tender spot in our hearts for that Christmas as well as for all families who ever have to spend their Christmas at the hospital. It was a bitter sweet time. Every day during the holidays at Primary's, new gifts were left at Mason's bedside for him and the whole family. I also remember all the Holiday musical numbers performed by various groups and individuals down on the first floor which helped even those spending Christmas at the hospital feel the true Spirit of Christmas. But...... nothing beats spending Christmas at HOME TOGETHER!!

All our kiddos received new PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Mason decided to put his on as a scarf for his picture.

Mason stayed up late with Mom and Dad to wrap a few last gifts.

(But, poor little guy bumped his head that night on the door

in the mud-room and now has quite a black & blue goose egg

on his head for the rest of our holiday photos.)

Here we are spying on Santa from the top of our Stairs.

It is a family tradition to get up early in the morning

and catch Santa as he puts out a gift for everyone.

(Mason was still asleep, and when Mason's asleep

we never rock that boat for it doesn't happen very often!!)

We caught him just in time!! "Shhh be quiet so he doesn't

look up and see us!!" (Thank you Santa for acting like

you didn't hear our very excited little Ammon, who

kept yelling "Hi Santa!!" and "Thank you for scooter"!)

Preston drew a picture for the elves and left it by our stockings.

He found a signature on his elf drawing from 'Jimmy the Elf'!!

Kaitlin is only 11 and wanted designer jeans for Christmas?

What's this world coming to?

Braiden wanted a Loan Peak football jersey and helmet.

That was a tough one, but somehow Mom found a connection!

Mason wasn't sure what was going on when he woke up.

But was happy to join in to help tear up wrapping paper.

Ammon was soooo excited about the scooter Santa left for him!

Preston and Braiden were so thrilled to get these BYU

posters signed by Dennis Pita and Max Hall! (Thanks

to Dennis' Mom who loves in our neighborhood)

Later, Grandma SanDee and Grandpa Wally came over

for Christmas Dinner bearing a few more gifts for everyone.

Mason decided he'd rather sit on top of his present

than open it! Whatever works right??!!

Ammon finally ripped that present open anyways!!!

And the rest of our Holiday Break consisted of:

Some bum scooting.....

Some attempts at crawling on all fours

(you know, the normal way)...........

A long awaited visit from Sammi..........

Sammi was our Nanny 2 summers ago and lived across the street

with her parents Brad and Lolly Sneed. (She now lives

in Vegas, so my kids were all excited to see her!!)

some baking.........

some of us spent time being sick........

some fun times playing in all the snow.........

(Ammon kept asking to go "skedding" I guess it's

a combo of sledding and skiing)

some practicing pulling to a stand.........

some partying on New Year's Eve.......

some family picture taking.......

(This is Mark's side of the family, his 9 siblings, a step brother,

all their spouses & children, his Mom Marilyn and her husband Jerry

and Great Grandma D......quite a fun group to hang out with on

New Year's eve! Although after the picture, before the party

started, I dropped Mason off at Grandma SanDee 's where there

was no crowd.... thus much less germs floating around!)

some more picture taking.........with Kaitlin, Jane(-Kaitlin's dear

friend visiting from Seattle), and cousin Brooke.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Holidays and may our dear Heavenly Father continue to send down blessings to our family and yours this new year of 2010!

I'm 25 months Now!!

Happy 25 months to Mason on Dec 30 2009!

One more month older,

one more month to celebrate

with our Miracle Mason!!!

Still getting into everything, especially his

favorite place... the dishwasher. I'm just

glad he still feels good enough to

scoot around and get into things!!!

Still cute as ever, and even getting chuncky! Yay!

Loved taking the ornaments off the tree!

And then he'd try to point and blame it on someone else!

Dad, Mom, Mason, and Ammon attempting a picture!

Happy New Year to all from Miracle Mason!!

I decided not to bug anyone at Stanford during the 2 weeks of the Holidays. I'm sure it would have been difficult to get a hold of anyone as their schedules were not normal, and also I needed a break from worrying about it. Hope and Faith continue to pull me through this time of uncertainty as we pray to know what will be best for our sweet Mason. I will update when I do hear news from Stanford.