High Spirits

Typical Mason. He’s so happy and so strong laying in his hospital bed. He always tells us how great he’s feeling, and he even looks it, too! He’s definitely gotten taller. My parents say it’s because of all the sleep he’s been getting. As my dad talked about not feeling too well, Mason replied, “Are you sure they’re not slipping the chemo in your body? Cause that’s exactly what it makes you feel like.”

That funny conversation was before the doctor came in and told us what’s been going on with some tests that had recently been done on Mason. He had been in earlier, but that was only with my mom and Mason, so he came to explain to the rest of us. Mason is getting a full karyotype on his genes, which will come back later this week. A karyotype is a picture of all the chromosomes in his DNA and what they look like under a microscope. Each organism has a different amount of chromosomes, and humans have 23 pairs. These chromosomes hold all of the genetic information of a person, so the karyotype is able to give the doctors a full picture of how to attack Mason’s leukemia. It will be a pretty good predictor of how Mason will respond to treatment.

While specifically getting information on certain genes in Mason’s DNA, they have discovered that he is negative for the gene that some patients have, which makes it difficult for chemo to be effective. That’s good news! The doctor has told us that leukemia patients go down one of three paths. Patients can have the genes and type of leukemia that allows them to only be treated with chemotherapy in which the bone marrow transplant isn’t an option. They can be like the majority of patients, which involves a waiting game to see how chemo works and a possible bone marrow transplant while the patient is in remission. Lastly, the patient might just need to try chemo, but a bone marrow transplant eventually will be the best option.

Mason’s high spirits and sheer determination to beat this leukemia combined with his positive reaction to treatment thus far gives us all the greatest hope. Each day we get closer and closer to having the strength that he has. The light that is his hope and faith shines brighter every day. If there is anyone in the world who could beat this, it’s my baby brother. Keep it up, Mason. No one could be more proud of you.