Little Mason's Journey

Mason's journey began on a Monday night like every other. After enjoying a nice warm bath in front of the fire Mason endured the usual photoshoot I often put him through, only this time I noticed he had a 'golden glow' in his left eye on all the photo's I had taken, I spent the evening concerned about what I had seen as I remembered reading a story while I was pregnant about a little boy called Benjamin Webber and how his mum had noticed the 'golden glow' in her sons eye and it led to a 1/100,000 rare disease called Coat's Disease.

The next day Mason went to his GP and she immediately was alarmed by what she saw in Mason's eye and phoned to have him referred to the eye specialist.

The next morning I took Mason to the eye specialist and after examination the eye specialist confirmed that Mason was in fact completely blind in his left eye, I was completely shocked and devastated to to learn this news as other than a staph infection in that eye he had never had any signs of being blind, his pupil dilates, the eye follows things and responds to light etc.. then the eye specialist went on mentioning words like Coat's Disease and even worse Retinoblastoma (a rare eye cancer that is found in young children).

We were then flown up to Auckland the next morning to see an eye doctor who had dealt with cases of Retinoblastoma and other eye conditions. Mason was put under a general anesthetic so he could be examined, it was confirmed from this that he has a detached retina and is 100% blind in his left eye and has no hope of recovering any sight to the eye. However the results from the examination were not common of those seen in patients with Retinoblastoma so the doctor was more confident that this my not be the case with Mason. Unfortunately because of the uncertainty and the fact that the eye had been deemed 'useless' the doctor advised our best and safest choice for Mason would be to remove his eye, in doing so they remove the risk of whatever is wrong with the eye of spreading and also they can put the eye under a microscope and properly diagnose Mason.

We were then sent to the Ronald McDonald House, which is an amazing place filled with the most wonderful people to spend the weekend as Mason had to go under general anesthetic again to have an MRI and a Lumber Puncture. The MRI was done on the Friday and then we spent he weekend in Auckland while we waited for Monday to come around and get the results.

Monday came around and the MRI showed no sign of cancer in Mason's body and a small concern for Mason's right eye that seemed to have a build up of blood vessels that the doctors hope is just a 'strawberry birth mark' and will shrink with age. The doctor still advised removal of Mason's eye as they cannot guarantee he is cancer free until they remove his eye and check it thoroughly. At this point we made the heartbreaking decision to proceed with the removal of Mason's eye, it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life but what it came down to was potentially my baby boys life or his eye and that made the choice bearable.

Mason was put under general anesthetic again Monday afternoon to do the Lumber Puncture that could not be done on Friday and then we got the first flight we could home so we could be back with our families.

That is our journey so far, we are now awaiting date for Mason's surgery to have his eye removed and you can stay updated with his journey via his Facebook page (search Little Mason's Journey).

We are asking for donations to help us contribute to the ongoing costs of medical expenses and travel to Auckland to have Mason's operation and all the follow-up care necessary in the years to come. You can be assured every cent will go towards Mason and his care in the near and distant future.

Thank you for your love and kindness xx