From the Man Himself!!

Hi Everyone, it’s Mason. With this post I’ll try and be short sweet and to the point. I don’t know how many people have seen the movie Miracle about the 1980 USA men’s hockey team but you’ve mostly likely heard the famous quote spoken by Al Michaels, “Do you believe in Miracles!?” Well I do. I’d just like to let you know, that if you prayed, God really heard you. Before I admitted into Johns Hopkins I made a guess, a guess that seemed crazy to all the Doctors here. My guess was that I was going to be discharged on June 28th, which was day 17 after transplant (transplant is day 0). Well, I won’t be discharged tomorrow or the next day. Sunday is the big day! In the doctor’s eyes, this was a miracle. The portion of our bodies that help fight infection is called our ANC (absolute neutrophil count). Usually, after bone marrow transplants, patients’ ANC’s are at zero for around two weeks in a row. Three days ago my ANC dropped to zero. The next day it went up to twenty. We were excited, but twenty isn’t a big jump. Yesterday, on my mom’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) my ANC dropped to zero once again. Today my mom woke me up in the middle of the night. I was upset because this was around 5AM. I’m glad she woke me up because my ANC went all the way up to 130. In the Doctors’ eyes, that’s pretty darn close to a miracle. All of the doctors had been laughing at my so-called “outrageous” guess. Turns out I was two days off. I would’ve been one day off but the hotel we are staying at didn’t have a room for us on Saturday. Some of you may know, I have to stay within 15 minutes of Johns Hopkins until the middle of July for some follow up care. Luckily, after that I will get to go home! I’ll be receiving follow up care at CHOP so we won’t have to live in Baltimore for 6 months. I hope you all are as happy as we are. We’re just one step closer to Emerald City. I thank you all SOOOOO much and I’d ask you to keep praying because now you really know God’s listening. God is paying attention to you and I hope all of you understand that.

In the wise words of St. Augustine, “If you wish to rise, begin by descending. You plan a tower that pierces the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humanity.”

I love you all, and have a fantastic night.