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Mason Rich is a very special and strong little boy. He has undergone a journey in his short life that many of can never imagine.
With help from his brother and his family he has shown great determination and courage.
When Mason was 3 1/2 (Dec 01) he was diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL Leukemia. A extremely rare chromosomal defect in where his #9 and #22 chromosomes fuse and then help the body produce Leukemia Cells. In order for his cancer not to continue to come back AND to not become resistant against the chemotherapy he would need a bone marrow transplant. The only thing to have shown a high survival rate in children with this type of cancer. Sibling marrow with a high rate of match markers is the best option.
We after some testing found out that our only other child HIS BROTHER CHRISTIAN was the IDENTCIAL match!!!
Mason had a very swift and fairly fast recovery. His transplant was April 02 and he was home by mid June 02. With Christian's bone marrow Mason had been Leukemia FREE for almost 2 years. He had been thriving and growing like any child should.
On May 19th 2004, we went for a routine checkup and found out that things were not so routine. Mason had relapsed. Our hearts sank and we regrouped.
After some initial testing we found that Mason’s relapse was due to residual cells in his left testicle. Which then spread into his bonemarrow. He has since been thru radiation and ongoing chemo’s. We are now looking at going to get another transplant very shortly. Again Christian will be a match. Mason has once again shown his strength and his love for life. WE all have decided that this is just something we must go thru to get on with living ALL of our lives. Enjoy the photos and feel free to look at our other website with many more updates and photos.
Our little boys have become our hero’s And I am the proudest luckiest mom in the world!!!
Journal
6/28/07 Today we are still in remission from the 2nd BMT. Mason has just celebrated his 9th birthday!!!! How exciting every day is with him. We are in full summer mode. Mason and his brother are looking forward to a week away from eachother and going to American Cancer Society Camp has given them both a huge support and friend resource. He has passed 2nd grade, he is excited to go to 3rd grade. I am excited for him to continue to live each day. We went today for a check up. He has grown a 1/2 inch and about a 1lb & half. He is doing every thing a normal little boy his age should be doing. We are a great tightly knit unit in our house, we have lots to be thankful for everyday. Each day is a blessing with both my boys~!!
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10/07
Tonight is a good night, Mason is all tucked in to bed hopefully dreaming of baseball and digging for bugs. Life is once again somewhat simple, thank goodness. Well We have now passed Mr. Mason's 2 yr since his 2nd bonemarrow transplant. He is still CANCER FREE!!!! (JUMPING FOR JOY) We continue to go the the Doctor's office every 3 months. I still eagerly await the days when we can see concrete results that say he is still in remission. He has his self exam of his own body to learn of any changes first and will alert me if he has any question with anykind of change. He has shown healthy blood levels almost, with all his body seeming so normal, and to be a little boy again. That to me is the stuff life is made of!Its amazing the power of the human body, and the capabilities we have to heal.
I have now been raising the boys on my own for almost 17 months. In this time we all have have become strong, healthy, full of life and very greatfull for every moment we have everyday. I am always amazed by the strength and giving love these two little men have. Mason has had a wonderfull year, with many ups and downs, he has become quite a bit more mature.
Mason now has grasped that school is a force he cannot deny, and he will go and is actually enjoying it more as the school work is not as hard because he is not feeling well. Its nice to see him get a good grade on his spelling words as he has practiced them with me all week. He is not thrilled with math but he is very good at it. He is however loving reading, he loves to listen to me read to him or he can read me his stories, and I will listen to him read a book. I love this time with this incredibly strong little boy. Mason has a few good friends at school and really enjoys being his own little entity at school. He loves the fact also that he's Christian's little brother, it gives him some kind of status. These two kids are the best and I love to watch them grow and become the wonderfull ment I know that they are going to become.
Enjoy the Photos. I will update the photos in a few days. Happy Halloween.
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