Good News, Great News, the Best News

Hey everyone it’s Mason. I have AMAZING news. Well first, I was scheduled to have a test to check my bone marrow for any more Leukemia cells on Monday. It had to be rescheduled. Why? Well I ate a waffle… whoops. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to eat after 11 p.m. the night before. My dad woke me up and I got up, walked down stairs and started to eat my waffles. My dad called my name and for some reason that triggered something in my brain and immediately I said, “OH NO! I wasn’t supposed to eat anything!” Oh boy…. Of course my mom was a little upset. My dad, being my dad, tried to take the blame for not reminding me. Oh no, it was completely my fault. Sorry mom and dad! They rescheduled the test to Wednesday. I woke up Wednesday morning and walked out my door and ran into some paper, taped from the right of my door to the staircase. What did it say? “MASON, NO FOOD!” Well dad you did a good job of reminding me this time! I was so hungry and it was really hard not to eat anything. My dad and I drove to CHOP that morning. I finally met my Primary Doctor, Dr. Greene. I always thought Dr. Greene was a man. Well, I was wrong. Dr. Greene is a woman and she talked to us basically about where we are going from here. If I need a bone marrow transplant I’ll have another round of chemotherapy and then the transplant. You all may think, oh then you’re done after the transplant! Well after the transplant it takes a long time for your blood levels to rise again; therefore, I would not be able to play sports ‘till next spring. Uh-oh! Well after we talked to Dr. Greene we went to the sedation unit only for the Sedation Doctor to say she was scared of giving me the medicine to put me to sleep during the test. I had small crackling in my lungs when I would breathe and she wanted the Anesthesiologist to do the test. Yes, they sent us back to our house, again. So yesterday, we finally got the test done. You guys will get the results soon enough.

Yesterday when I was at the hospital, the lady at the check-in desk called my name. When we were done there I turn around only to here a voice say “Are you Mason?” Wow. I remember hearing about a kid from my travel baseball team having a tumor and had been going through chemotherapy. We had never met before because we were supposed to be on the same team this upcoming season. Dylan does not live close to Philadelphia but he has to come to CHOP very often. I know he’s going through something a little different then my chemotherapy, but chemotherapy is chemotherapy… it sucks. I ask all of you to keep my new friend Dylan in your prayers and also his family because they are going through something very similar. Thank you.

Oh so you guys are probably wondering about the good news… I don’t know if you’re ready to hear it yet so let me continue with some of my stories. So my sister Morgan, who attends Elon University (Go Phoenix!) in North Carolina, was home last weekend when I was home. Nothing’s better than having the whole family here at home. It’s safe to say that it’s that best feeling in the world. So here’s the good news… The doctors gave me a few extra days because Morgan is coming home again tomorrow for a week and a half because she’s on Spring Break! We all get to be together for a little longer!

You may think that’s not that good of news but it’s great for all of us! Okay, okay time for the REALLY good news. My mom and I were in target as my mom’s phone rang. She answers; it’s Dr. Greene. I’m a little nervous, but I know either way that I can get through it. My mom gives me a thumbs up. WOW. Dr. Greene was SO excited. There was not a trace of Leukemia cells in my bone marrow. This is the best news I’ve gotten in awhile, actually my entire life! TAKE THAT CANCER YOU CAN’T TAKE US DOWN. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US AND ONLY ONE OF YOU. WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE. I still must go through three more rounds of chemo but I don’t care. THE CHEMOTHERAPY WORKS. This is like a boxing match. I knocked my opponent out in the first round but I’m going to fight harder and harder the next three rounds and each round will just get easier. Even though I knocked him out, I want him to know who he’s actually messing with and make sure he knows not to come back. So he knows not to try and fight me again. He picked the wrong opponent. Sorry buddy. Granted, they still have to send the tests to Seattle to make sure there’s absolutely no trace of Cancer cells in my bone marrow. If that’s confirmed, the chemotherapy of the next round will be relatively the same. I just want you all to know the only Big C’s in my life right are courage, and careful.

I hope you all enjoyed the post because it took me A WHILE to write. Goodnight to all of you, and good luck in your March Madness brackets! In the wise words of St. Augustine, “God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.” B+!