The Journey Continues

We didn't expect to be updating Mason's Blog again. We've been hoping and praying that Mason's cancer story was behind him. Since that is not the case, we continue to have faith that Mason's Miracle is still in progress. Jade wrote the following update. It will bring you close to "up to date". I will add additional posts as time and events unfold.

Saturday, March 13th
I know a lot of you have been waiting to hear from me and I'm sorry. The past week has been extremely hard and my mind has not been on communicating with anyone. I hope you all understand.
First of all I would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. It means more than I can express. When your child is sick and so much is unknown, all I have is prayers and the belief and hope that God is listening and will cure my little boy, and if God hears it from a lot of people I believe it makes a difference, so thank you.
Mason has a tumor in the original site of his previous lung tumor on the right lung, and had two more on the outside of the rib cage that have been removed. They also found another small one on the left, a totally different one than the one that we had originally come to Calgary this trip to have removed. That one is also still there but has not changed or grown so at this time they are not concerned with it. The tumor on the right lung is in a very bad spot and has grown quite rapidly. In fact at our last CT in early February they believed that it was just a buildup of fluid and were just going to extract it with a syringe when we came up this time.
We have been on a roller coaster of emotions and at times terrified and completely distraught. When we first learned of the tumor on the right, our surgeon just paused in the middle of the surgery to come and tell us and then she was going to proceed to try and take it out. She was very worried that she may not get it all and if she did, would have to take a lot of lung and possibly all of it if she couldn't spare the airways, which she has never done before. She couldn't guarantee anything and was unsure what Mason would be like afterwards. From there things changed again as she decided to speak with the oncologist on call before proceeding and we were called back in to discuss other options. The oncologist thought that we should maybe hold off on proceeding with surgery and have another CT done to make sure there wasn't more that could possibly be missed or damaged. I was very worried about leaving the tumour in him, panicking about it growing more, but after speaking for a long time we decided that it would be best to regroup before proceeding. After the surgical teams met with the oncologist teams they came to the decision that chemo would be our best option right now as a means to shrink the tumor to a size that is safer to remove. So, that’s what we are doing. So far Mason has had his heart tested, kidneys tested, a bone scan, an x-ray and a central line put in his chest. Everything checked out good so he started chemo on the 11th. We are on our third day of chemo today and so far so good. He is feeling great and is very positive. He is receiving two drugs that he has never had before and they are given back to back 5 days in a row. Of course there is a major list of side effects with both and also with the anti-nauseants. The major one is damage to the bladder which they give follow up medication for. He is also on a steroid for the nausea which we have noticed is making him a little puffy so they cut it back today. Also his phosphate has been low so he is now taking phosphate orally. After the 5 days of chemo he has a full day of re-hydration and then he gets to get out for about two weeks. During those two weeks his counts will drop and he will become neutropenic which makes him very susceptible to germs. I will give him a GCSF injection everyday to help build his good cells back up. We had to do that before so should be okay with this. After his counts come back up we will come back in for another round of chemo. His new catheter in his chest is very different than the port he had before. This one has to be covered all the time and we have to be very careful with it. The tubes hang out of his chest at all times like a constant IV, and I have had to learn how to heparinize it every two days and change the dressing and cap ends every 7. You can't get it wet either so bathing and showering has become difficult. Mason and I are going to be staying in Calgary for a while. We need to stay close and until we know when the surgery is going to take place and until I know what he is going to be like away from the hospital. It is going to be very difficult on us all but we feel this is the best place for him right now.

Friday, March 19th
I know there has been a lot of time between these two entries but I need to do this in chunks as I'm feeling very overwhelmed at times sitting in front of a computer.
We got out of the hospital on Tuesday the 16th and are staying at Rick and Bev's (Justin's aunt & uncle). Mason did really well. The last two days in the hospital he was a bit more nauseated and less hungry, but that was to be expected. Also, Justin and Kale left for Moose Jaw on Sunday so that added to his depression a little. My Dad came up on Saturday night and my brother on Monday so it helped to have company. Dad brought my car up for me. They are both staying for a while and are bunked in with my brother-in-law, Collin. Justin and Kale came back up last night, Mason was SO excited, he ran into their arms when they walked in the door at 11pm! We went to the hospital yesterday to check his counts and they are still up so he is not neutropenic yet, but they suspect by Monday we will see a big drop. We are having a big salmon meal tonight that Justin is going to cook up. Mason has been craving salmon and has been asking for it for days, but only his Dads will do!!! So he is looking forward to it. We are hoping to get outside tomorrow, maybe drive into the mountains for the day if the weather is okay.
Anyway, I really want to get this sent, it’s been weighing on me for a while! We are scheduled to be back in for his next round on April 2nd. Mason has an e-mail account: mason.clewis@gmail.com, and would love to hear from you. My Dad is going to be getting his blog up and going again so you can communicate that way as well. The blog is www.masonsmiracle.blogspot.com
We miss you all, thanks again for all your love and prayers, and I hope the above helps us all to stay in touch better. Please pass on to anyone I may have missed. I am sending another e-mail as well with a picture of Mason that I took in the hospital with his bear "Lucky". Lucky has been to every hospital stay with us from the very beginning of this journey, including the operating room, his name suits him well!! His outfits have changed a lot and he even has his own wheel chair. He wears a cross also, which has never been taken off!
Love to you all, Jade