Meet Mason Updates

October 16th, 2008

Dear Family & Friends

As many of you know, and some of you may not know…. today marks the day that one year ago we had to say goodbye to our sweet boy, Mason. It is on this day, one year ago, that God chose to give our son perfect healing and allow him to experience complete fullfillment with Him for eternity. As you can imagine, this day as well as this week has been a very difficult and emotional one for us. Actually, since October hit, it has been hard on us. October is a beautiful season here in Durham and one of Eddie and I’s favorite seasons in Durham. The leaves are changing and falling, there is a cool crispness to the air that reminds us of Idaho and of course our favorite, no humidity! However October brings us heart ache as we re-live what October meant for us one year ago. October 2007, Mason was still fighting to come off of oxygen, we were on the unit and had been on the unit since July. We could see that his inflammation in his lungs was not getting better so we had called our family to let them know and to tell them to come see Mason if they needed to see him. For many of our family members, Mason was still a 6 month old baby that left our home in Idaho to get healed…. but we had been at Duke for over 2 years and they didn’t get to watch him grow into the funny, stubborn 3 year old that he was. Mason loved all the attention he was getting by all of his vistors. He even felt well enough to ham it up on several occassions. Jazzy was on cloud 9 of course since she was surrounded by her family who all doted on her. She even got to go to the State Fair with her cousins, which she still talks about. Even though we had called family and we could see Mason’s lungs were not getting better, we still felt we were going to get through this, just like all the other set backs Mason had endured over his 2 1/2 year transplant journey. But at 7 am on October 16th, Mason’s oxygen began to decline and at 7:41am he was welcomed into the loving arms of Jesus. God was so good to allow our family to come and see him several days before he left us and God allowed family to be there for us when we had to leave him at the hospital for the very last time.

Even now, one year later God is showing us His goodness and grace. Eddie and I had an emotinal day last Friday knowing what this week was leading up to. We were discussing what do we do about the 16th, do we tell Jazzy what this day is? Do we celebrate it, do we do something to honor it? God used His word to encourage us to see His perspective. Ecclesiastes 7:1 reminded us “The day you die is better than the day you are born” He also encouraged us through the words of a devotional from a Mom who has lost two babies from a genetic disease. She wrote “Birthdays. Deathdays. I feel like they are always coming at me. And it is hard to know what to do with these days when you have lost someone you love, isn’t it? Letting them just go by doesn’t seem right, and yet it can be so hard to work up the energy just to get out of bed, let alone do something constructive or meaningful. When Hope and Gabe’s birthdays come around, I can usually find some way - sometimes very small and sometimes more significant - to celebrate their lives. I’m grateful they were here if only a short time, so I can find joy in that. I celebrate the impact they had on other people, even with their significant limitations and the brevity of their lives, and I am grateful. I remember the joy and richness they each brought to our lives and the gifts they gave us in the form of a deeper understanding of God and deeper relationships with people around us.  But those deathdays are hard. Or, I should say, it is the anticipation of the deathdays that is hard. For me, the day itself is not so bad. it is the days leading up to it, as I have a sense that death is coming again and I can’t stop it. I feel a sense of dread and helplessness. Finding a way to “celebrate” a day of death seems absolutely ridiculous and almost like a denial of reality. But is it? Perhaps it is the ultimate embracig of reality. On the day we are born, we enter a pain-saturated, sin-scarred, darkness-loving, soul-depriving existence for a determined number of years. On the day of our death, if we are belivers, we enter a pain-free, perfect place that is ablaze with the glory of Christ, where our deepest longing and joys are fulfilled, not for a number of years, but forever. Think about it. Don’t dismiss it because of how much you miss someone who is there or because of your fears of the unknown. Allow this truth to ruminate in your heart and illumine your mind. For you and for the one you love who knows Christ, won’t your deathday be your true birthday?” She seems to put to words exactly what Eddie and I had been struggling with, and God used it to encourage us last week. God used it to refocus or thoughts back to Him and to gain His perspective and not our own. God showed us with our time with Mason and now our time without our only son, a deeper understanding of Himself, His character, His love and His purpose for our lives. He has shown us the importance of building relationships with the people He has put into our lives. He has shown us to be open to be used by Him to meet the needs of those around us and that this may mean sharing our pain over and over again.

“The righteous pass away; the Godly often die before their time. And no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For the Godly who die will rest in peace” Isaiah 57:1-2 God used this verse also this week to remind us that Mason’s perfect healing was a gift from Him. It was a gift to our son and to us, it was God’s protection from the evil to come. We are told if a life is robbed of a long life here on Earth, it is a tragedy. The truth is, death for the believer gives a life full of glory and freedom from evil. We can be so thankful that God chose this for our only son. At the time of saying goodbye to Mason one year ago and the months we have had to endure without him, I cannot say I have felt this way. We felt robbed, cheated of a life with our precious gift, our only son. We wanted to celebrate a 4th birthday with him, we wanted to watch him go to school, we wanted Jazzy and him to play in the backyard together, we just wanted more time with him to watch him grow up and to hug him and hold him. But we also know that this life is filled with pain and I don’t think it is a tragedy that Mason had the opportunity to be spared from evil, from the pain of this life and to be in the presence of God. This is what we believe, it is not necessarily how we feel. But believing this makes a difference in how we feel. I can praise my Heavenly Father for choosing to protect my son from the evil of this world, even on a day like today where the pain of missing him is physically and emotionally overwhelming.

Thank you all for taking the time to read Mason’s updates. Although we struggle with updating because they are no longer about Mason, but about us. We are grateful you would want to check in on us. Thank you all for your faithful prayers, and for taking the time to email us and let us know you are thinking of us and praying for us. Our prayer is God will receive all the glory for what He is doing in our lives and that He would bless you for being such faithful friends and prayer warriors for our family!

We love you!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy (& Mason our sweet, sweet boy we can’t wait to see you again!)

September 12th, 2008 

Hello Family & Friends!

This week was Jazzy’s first full week of Kindergarten. It has been quite the adjustment on us all. Jazzy has been really enjoying school and getting to know the other 21 kids in her class.  We love hearing her come home and talk about her day. The stories are usually who did what, she is always very concerned when someone does not listen to her teacher. She even prayers for them because she does not want them to get in trouble. She goes all day 9am to 3:25pm so needless to say she is worn out. She did catch a cold this week that has her a little worn out as well. The adjustment I think has been more on Mommy and Daddy as we have to leave her in someone elses’ care all day - WOW that was a big one for Mommy and Daddy. Jazzy was ready, but we weren’t. Of course with each new transition in our lives, comes another heart ache for us. Taking Jazzy to school and seeing other little brothers watching their big Sissys go to class is so heartbreaking to us. We were able to rejoice in several of our transplant buddies beginning a huge milestone in their lives by going to Preschool.  But this also reminds us of what we are not being able to experience with Mason.  We of course yearn to watch him grow up and watch him venture off to his first day of school. We yearn to watch him and how he would have played with other kids his age. Would he have shared his toys or refused to hand over the crayon or the play-doh? Would he have been sad to see us leave him in class for the first time or would he have not even missed a beat and played til his little heart was content? Would he have been the boy in class who was quiet and shy or would he have been the boy who wanted to do his own thing and not listen? All of these things we will not know, we will never get the privilege of watching Mason at school or watching him make new friends. We do not get to hear his stories about his day and how his little mind views the events in the day. We do not have the privilege of watching him grow up. But by God’s grace we can be thankful despite the heartache of having a life without him. We can be thankful that Mason is rejoicing with Jesus. He is perfectly content and happy and perfectly healed. We do not have to watch his feelings get hurt when another child does not share with him. We do not have to watch him try and understand when someone doesn’t have understanding toward his physical or mental delays. We can be thankful that he does not have to experience the hurt of this world. God chose to take him home so he did not have to continue to suffer and experience the hurt and disappointment that we all have endured in living here. He is living his eternal life with his Creator who loves him and cares for him. He is experiencing rejoicing and contentment that we do not experience here. I can be thankful that my Heavenly Father chose this for my son. Although it is hard to not have Mason here with us and we miss him so very much, I am comforted that God chose to perfect Mason at his young age of 3 years and 2 months. It brings me joy that my son is where he is most content, he is where we long to be. The reality is this earthly life will never completely satisfy. We weren’t made to find complete contentment here. 1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. Heaven is perfect, it is where we long to be, fully content with no more suffering, heart ache or dissappointment. We were designed to seek Him, to seek His righteousness. ” God, you are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for you; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory. My lips will glorify You because Your faithful love is better than life. So I will praise You as long as I live: at Your name, I will lift up my hands. You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. When, on my bed, I think of You, I meditate on You during the night watches because You are my help; I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings. “Psalm 63:1-8. “But I will see your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied with Your presence” Psalm 17:15. We are rejoicing that Mason is “satisfied” because he is in His presence. “How happy are those who reside in Your house, who praise you continually” Psalm 84:5

Thank you to all of you who continue to check in on our family and who continue to pray for us. We are greatly humbled that Mason had an impact on your life and God is allowing us to experience that through choosing us to be his parents. May God richly bless you and keep you!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy (& Mason perfectly content and finally Home)

Wednesday August 27th, 2008

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBY! 

Today we know you are celebrating with your creator, the one who loves you and cares for you even more than Mommy, Daddy and Sissy. I can imagine you are singing and giggling and running with Jesus and enjoying your perfectly healed body.  Oh how we wish we were there with you! We will one day, but until that day sweet boy, know we are thinking of you everyday and missing you like crazy. We love you!

 Today Mason is celebrating his 4th birthday with Jesus. I can imagine it is the most glorious party he has ever had! It’s far better than an Elmo cake or Cheetos or a million Three Muskateer bars. It’s more fun than having a thousand balloons or bubbles or play-doh or a new Wiggles video. All of these were his favorite things that he enjoyed the most and brought out his sweet smile and deep belly giggles. Today we chose to take Jazzy to ChuckECheeses to celebrate Mason’s birthday as a family. ChuckECheeses was literally our hang out place as a family when we first arrived in Durham. Mason had been delayed in going to transplant and had received his heart procedure. So from June to October while we waited to get admitted to the Bone Marrow Unit, we would go and play at Chuck-E-Cheezes to pass the time. Mason wasn’t walking yet and was still pretty little so he rode alot in the Chuck-E-Cheezes car while Jazzy ran around playing on all the toys. We weren’t even sure Mason really enjoyed it because he just didn’t get to do a whole lot. Well one day, several months maybe even a year post transplant or more we had to run up to clinic for Mason. Jazzy’s Grandma had come to visit and we thought  it would be good to drop her and Grandma off at ChuckECheeses so they could play while we were at clinic. We quickly realized this was a HUGE mistake! As we pulled into the parking lot of ChuckECheeses, Mason started giggling and getting all excited and saying “yeah, yeah, yeah!” He thought we were ALL going to ChuckECheeses. We felt so bad, we didn’t even think he would recognize it since it had been so long since he had gone. So needless to say we were all crying as we had to pull out of the parking lot to take Mason to clinic. Mason was crying because he wanted to go in and Mommy and Daddy were crying because we wanted to be able to take him in. His immune functions were still too low for him to be going in and playing around a lot of children and a lot of their germs. So it was fitting to celebrate Mason’s birthday today at ChuckECheeses because this is where we would have gone if he was still here with us. I know he is having a far better party with Jesus than what we would have had for him at ChuckECheeses - the pizza I can guarantee is WAY better in Heaven!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging emails as we get through this day. God has been faithful in comforting us and encouraging us through many of you. Although we miss Mason and have our difficult days like today, we still trust in God’s faithfulness and love for us. We are so grateful for the gift of Mason that He gave to us. And although Mason’s little life was brief, God used his little life to change our perspective and purpose in life. God knew Mason’s life would be brief and used it to transform our hearts to seek Him and His Kingdom even more and not our own desires and purposes. And Mason’s homecoming has only confirmed for us that we are not of this world, we no longer desire to live for our own gain, but to live for Christ.  Philippians 3:8 “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”  Our prayer is to continue to live for Christ and not for our own selfish gain.

Thank you Lord for showing us through Mason’s life how you are faithful and for showing us, it is not about us - it’s all about you. Thank you for showing us through Mason’s homecoming to be with you, that you give us life, Eternal life and there is not sweeter place to be than with you for eternity!

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:1-8

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy (& Mason celebrating his birthday with Jesus!)

August 19th, 2008

Hello Family & Friends

Please pray for our friends Valeria and Gonzalo, their sweet Sofia passed on Sunday night after a courageous battle with Leukemia. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sofiacastro.

Again I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

As many of you know from Mason’s service this was the verse that God used to speak His comfort to us during those last few days with Mason. When I cried out to him while we watched Mason struggle to breathe, this is the verse that God used to bring us comfort. It is also the verse we used to express our gratitude to the many who had prayed us through those difficult hours and for the faithful prayers for those 3 years of his life. We had “personalized” the remaining passage (v8 thru 11) read like this:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered (AT DUKE). We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

Please continue to pray for our family this week as Mason’s 4th birthday is approaching (August 27th). Please pray for God’s comfort to be with the Castro family as they are beginning their first few days without their sweet Sofia. Thank you all for your faithful prayers and encouragement. We thank God daily for you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky & Jazzy (& Mason welcoming Sofia with a great big smile)

Wednesday July 23rd, 2008

Hello Family & Friends!

Yesterday marked two weeks since landing in Durham…. it’s hard to believe so much time has passed. We have been getting settled, slowly as it has been emotionally difficult on us. But it has been nice to get to know Joe and Rebekah since they are staying at the house with us. They have been so great with Jazzy and Jazzy loves entertaining them. As in usual fashion, Jazzy has adjusted well and is doing good. In fact I think she has adjusted faster than her Mommy and Daddy. We have been attmepting to get settled in and find jobs. The job hunting is going a little slower than what we had hoped, but we know God has a plan for us to be here and will provide for what He has for us.  We are trying to be patient for His timing. We are looking forward to getting in touch with some of our transplant friends here. We even went up to clinic on Sunday to say hello to our “girlfriends” at the Day Hospital. As you can imagine, it was difficult walking back into the clinic without Mason. We made that trip almost daily it seems and would round the corner for the elevators with him in the stroller wearing his green mask. I could almost hear his sweet voice when we walked through the doors to go back to clinic telling me “no”. He got quite the attitude about being there after about a year post transplant. Who can blame him though right? I think secretely though he loved going and seeing his girlfriends and getting all that attention from them. He just wanted to skip the vitals and all the other stuff he had to put up with to get all of that attention. So Jazzy and I went in to say hello to our weekend girls and it was nice to see them. We managed to come up when everyone (all the patients) had decided to go home so we actually got to visit with our girlfriends for a few minutes. We hope to go back on a Friday so we can say hello to our Dr and NP who we saw every Friday for the last 3 years. It sounds so weird, but we miss our crazy, ciaotic transplant life. We miss it of course because at least with that life we had Mason, and now we don’t. It’s difficult to put into words, but when we had Mason and our focus was getting him healthy, we felt like we had a purpose. Now, with all of that gone, our purpose isn’t as clear as it once was. Yes, we know our purpose is to love for and care for Jazzy, but it’s hard when you feel like a part of your family is missing. There isn’t a single day, a single moment we aren’t thinking of Mason and miss him in our lives. I know it has been 9 months since he received his glorified body and was welcomed into the loving arms of Jesus, but we miss him more than ever. I imagine we will until we are all reunited again.

Until then, we will continue to seek God and His soothing truth. Only by His grace have we been comforted and strengthen and it is daily that we have to seek it. The last 9 months has taught us that God is faithful, but we too must be faithful to the One who can deliver us from our pain. So right now our focus is trying to seek Him and His purposes for our lives despite how painful it can be. We trust God will use us and our pain for His glory.

Thank you all for your continued prayers for us. Please pray God will guide us in finding work while we are here. Pray He will continue to give us the strength to endure and the wisdom to seek His purposes for our lives here in Durham. Please pray for comfort for our dear friends from New Hope, Jim & Judy Burton who just lost their son Shawn in a motorcylce accident. Pray for Shawn’s wife who is pregnant that God will supply her the strength and comfort she needs. Thank you again for being such faithful prayer warriors, we could never express how much this means to us!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & (sweet Mason singing with Jesus)

July 8th, 2008Hello Family & Friends!Well, it’s official, we have arrived in Durham. We left early Tuesday morning and just arrived this morning at 8am - whew what a road trip! We have been Durham bound now for a week and it is nice to finally get to our intended destination. We are tired of course, but we are glad we did it. We saw some beautiful countryside along the way and even got to visit some family and see some sights. Jazzy was a great little traveler, she was so excited to be going on her “big trip”. I think most days she even outlasted tired old Mommy & Daddy. Odie (Jazzy’s puppy) even was a good little traveler, so needless to say we are so grateful for God’s protection and endurance this past week. Thank you to all of you who  have been praying for our safety - God heard and answered your prayers!We will be trying to get settled in this week, we have much to do! Not only did we load up our truck with stuff from Idaho, we also have stuff  here in Durham that we left 8 months ago. We had yard sale in Idaho for three weekends in a row to try and sell everything we own and raise the money to take our trip. God was good, He provided what we needed to get to Durham and to have a little fun along the way as well. So we will be going through the stuff we have here in Durham and trying to get settled in a bit.  As you can imagine, we have mixed feelings of returning to Durham. I watched Jazzy’s expression through the rearview mirror as I told her we were pulling into Durham. It was priceless and pretty much summed up what we all were feeling. I watched as her eyes lit up and she put her hands to her chest as in gasping in anticipation and excitement. And a huge smile spread over her lips. Then tears filled her eyes. When I asked her why she was crying, she quickly tried to wipe them away and be a “big girl” and explained. “It’s just going to be hard for me.” She wiped more tears and squeezed my arm back as I squeezed hers and she said “I just miss everybody” I told her “I know honey, it will be hard for all of us, but it will be ok, God will help us” Eddie’s eyes were filling with tears and a lump was in my throat as we pulled into our home in Durham. But as we have explained to many of you, we want to be obedient to what God is calling us to do in our lives. We know God has purpose for us and His purposes is what we want in our lives. This is why we traveled the 3,000 miles to return to Durham, despite the difficulty of it all. Not only is it difficult to be away from family, but it is difficult to be back in Durham without Mason. Everything in Durham reminds us of him and how he is no longer with us. But by God’s grace and through His strength, we will endure. Thank you all for your continued prayers for our family, we still need them. Please pray we will seek Him and His purposes daily despite how difficult it is. Please pray for God’s strength to surround us as we seek those purposes each day. We look forward to what He has planned for us and sharing that with all of you. If you would like our new address in Durham, please email us and I’ll send it to you. Email us at meetmason@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and for what God has planned ahead, may He receive all the glory for the great things He has done and will do! In His Love & CareEddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason rejoicing with Jesus Â

June 5th, 2008

Hello Family & Friends

We thought we would post an announcement regarding the Meet Mason Benefit Yard Sale event. Thanks to Nicola and Scott McIntosh, who ran an article in the Kuna Melba News on Wednesday. This is what was posted on their online news at www.kunamelba.com. The remaining story is on page 12 if you have a chance to read the paper.  We hope it will reach others to bring awareness for the need to help these transplant families.

“The 2nd annual Meet Mason Benefit Yard Sale will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, June 6, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, June 7, at the Antiques Barn on Main St just down from the True Value store in Kuna.  It will be an indoor yard sale event to help raise funds for the family of Mason Jenkins.
Mason Jenkins was born Aug. 27, 2004, to parents Eddie and Becky Jenkins of Kuna and big Sissy Jazzy. Mason was diagnosed in May 2005 with a rare genetic storage disorder called Hurler Syndrome.
Hurler Syndrome is a non-curable, life-threatening disease. If not treated, children with Hurler Syndrome will not live past 5 to 10 years of age.
Cord-blood transplants have been shown to be successful in halting the progression of the disease and prolonging the life of an affected child.
Mason’s family left Idaho in May 2005 for Duke University in North Carolina to receive the treatment needed to save his life.
To read about Mason’s transplant journey go to www.meetmason.com. Mason received a cord blood transplant on Oct. 21, 2005, at Duke University Hospital.” cont on pg 12

Our goal is to raise enough money to allow us to drive the 3,000 miles back to Durham. We feel God is leading us back to Durham to be used by Him to help meet the needs of other transplant families. We hope to supply emotional support as well as financial support to the families we have already met and also for the ones we hope to meet in the future. We hope to raise enough funds at the Benefit Yard Sale to be able to not only get back to Durham, but also help supply some families with gift cards to Walmart and Target for groceries. This is hopefully just the beginning of our fundraising efforts. We hope to continue to supply support during our time in Durham. We will be selling everything we own so we can leave for Durham on June 30th. We look forward to this weekend and what God has planned for this event, thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We are so grateful for each of you. We hope to keep you posted after the event. God Bless You All!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy (& sweet lil Mason celebrating with Jesus)

May 11th, 2008

Hello family & friends,

I know it has been too long since our last update, but frankly it becomes more and more difficult to find the words and to take the time to express what our hearts are feeling. So thank you for being so patient with us and for continuing to pray and think of us despite our lack of faithful updating. Thank you Wanda and Bernice for taking the time to send me a Mother’s Day E-card that brought great encouragement to me today. And thank you to all of my transplant Mommies out there who took time today to think of me also. I know it is difficult to find the words on a day like today - do you say “HAPPY Mother’s Day”? Do you not say anything at all? I too have been on the other side of trying to encourage a Mom who has just lost a child and I can honestly share with you I didn’t know what to do and most of the time chose not to say or do anything at all in fear of bringing them more pain or sadness. Well, I am now a Mommy with a child in Heaven and I can say I am so grateful for the friends who took the time to pray for me today, to think of me and our family today and I am so very thankful for the ones who took the time to send a text message, an email, an e-card or a phone call.  I am reminded of God’s love through the actions of these simple gestures and I am greatly encouraged. I am encouraged that my sweet baby boy did touch the lives of others and that God has great purpose in his sweet, but short life.

Today I could allow my grief to swallow me as I am missing my Bubby terribly. But instead I choose again to seek God and His love for me through understanding Him and His character. I do this by searching the scriptures and allowing the truths of His word to fill my breaking heart. I am called again to choose to find thanksgiving in the plan God had for my life. I am choosing to find praise for Him in my grief. I choose to be thankful for the loving family He surrounded me with today. It was 3 years ago that we celebrated Mother’s Day surrounded with our Mothers, knowing Mason was going need a life-saving transplant. It was my first Mother’s Day with Mason in my life and I was trying to cope with the reality of his diagnosis. Just a few short days after celebrating Mother’s Day, we arrived in Durham, NC over 2500 miles away from our home not knowing what the future held for my joyful little baby boy. Although I would want Mason here to celebrate this Mother’s Day with me, I am choosing to find things I can be thankful for.

I am thankful that I am celebrating Mother’s Day this year with my Mothers and our family whom we have been apart from for 3 years. I am reminded of the days spent in the hospital and all the Mothers who are spending Mother’s Day at clinic or up on the unit or are at home running endless meds while be hundreds of miles away from their families. I can be thankful for the sweet Mother’s Day card Jazzy drew illustrating herself and me together with flowers. I am reminded of the precious love my daughter holds for me and how sweet the love of a child is. I can be thankful for the loving husband who continues to encourage me daily despite his brokeness. I am reminded of how simple selfless acts can encourage someone who is in need. I can be thankful for my Heavenly Father’s unconditional love for me that encourages me and comforts me. I am reminded of His promise to never leave me nor forsake me and I can seek His presence even in my sorrow. So on this Mother’s Day despite my broken heart, I am choosing to have a thankful heart. I am choosing to believe His word that He is love and be encouraged that He loves me. Today our message at church was  1 John 4:7-12 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” 

I am reminded that because God is love and He first loved me, I am able to love. I can continue to love despite the pain I feel of not being able to show my love to Mason. I can continue to love others despite the isloation that is felt in having lost a child. I can continue to encourage other’s with God’s love despite the feelings of brokenness and not wanting to make the effort. He has encouraged me with this today and has reminded me He has shown me His love for me by giving me my two precious gifts Jazzy & Mason and granted me the privilege of being their Mommy. And what a waste it would be if I would allow the love He has for not be claimed and staked in my heart. He has reminded me that He uses Jazzy and Eddie and all those around me to demonstrate His love for me daily and I can glorify Him by allowing His love to be demonstrated through me to others.

Thank you all for your acts of love and kindness through your thoughtful messages, emails and prayers. My prayer is for each of you to enjoy the fullness of God’s love that He has for you and may He richly bless you for being such a blessing to me and our entire family.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mommies out there - praying your day is filled with His love, joy and strength to tackle another day!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy (& Mason celebrating Mother’s Day in Heaven with the One who created Him)

Sunday March 23rd, 2008

Happy Easter - He is Risen!

Today we are so thankful that Jesus is our Risen and Living Savior. He chose to take the punishment for our sins and be beaten and crucified on the cross - all because He loves us and wanted to fullfill His Father’s will and not His own. In Matthew “45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This has particularly even more meaning to us this year because we too have wanted to cry out to God and wanted to ask “why” Why was it Mason’s turn to go home before us?  But we want to be like Jesus and submit to our Father’s will and not our own because we see how much He loves us and has a far better plan four our lives than our own plan. Jesus knew this when He prayed in the Garden Matthew 26:39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” He chose to submit to His Father’s will despite the difficulty of it - the extreme difficulty of it. We too desire to be like Jesus and choose to submit to His will for our lives, despite the heartache and pain we are feeling. It helps us to endure knowing He too understands sorrow and pain. In Matthew 26 it tells us… 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Our sorrow has been so overwhelming at times we welcome the idea of death, but only because we want to be with Jesus and reunited with Mason. We want to be free from our pain, but we are realizing that is not our Heavenly Father’s will, it is our own.

Yesterday Jazzy participated in a community Easter Egg Hunt here in Kuna. She had a day filled with lots of fun as she ran around gathering eggs filled with candy then later got to color eggs and play T-Ball in the backyard. It was a very fun day for her and we were so glad she got to have lots of new memories on this Easter. Eddie and I on the other hand, had such mixed feelings. We were filled with joy as we watched Jazzy play with other children and participate in events she hasn’t been able to do in 3 years. But we were greatly saddened as we realized Mason never got to run through grass, let alone run and gather eggs filled with candy. He never got the chance to play T-Ball with his Sissy in the backyard. But God was so gracious and today at our Easter service, He reminded me that Mason is in Paradise, who would want to run through grass and pick up plastic eggs instead of being in Paradise? Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
Everything we did yesterday (just like everyday) we feel the void that Mason is not there with us. We have especially felt the void this month because of what this months reminds us of. The 16th of March marked 5 months that Mason has been home, rejoicing with Jesus. The amazing thing is God’s grace continues to cover us each day so we can endure, but the reality of it all is that it hasn’t gotten any easier with each passing month. I have been trying to figure out how to put our thoughts, feelings and emotions into words for all of our faithful friends, family and prayer warriors so you can be updated on our family, but the words are hard to find. Sorry it has taken me so long to update, we know you all continue to think of us and pray for us and for that, we are extremely thankful. We still need your prayers and I think more so this month because of what this month represents for us. It represents Jesus and the fact that He is Risen indeed and is in Heaven. Thoughts of Heaven are so emotional for us because we now have our precious Bubby there. Just the word “Heaven” or images of clouds and sun rays beaming through, which make you think of Heaven, leave us completely overwhelmed and dibilitated. This month also represents Mason being diagnosed and when our entire world as we knew it, changed. On March 28th, 2005, the day after Easter three years ago, we sat in our peditrician’s office and tried to listen and understand as she told us Mason had a rare-incurable genetic disorder. She told us how there was a treatment, but not a cure. The words “cord-blood transplant” paralyzed me with fear and we left the doctor’s office comepletly in shock. We cried all the way home and as soon as we got to Mason, we held him all day, snuggling with him and crying out to God for comfort and guidance. I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. Everything within me wishes it was just yesterday so we could still have Mason here with us. We miss snuggling with him and rocking him. We miss lying next to him in bed watching him sleep as we prayed he would be healed or at least be comfortable enough to sleep. We miss listening to him giggle and watching him wiggle to his favorite Wiggles and Elmo videos. We miss watching him and Jazzy serve tea to each other and flip “crabby patties” together. We miss being a family of four and everyone always asking about Mason so we would get to tell “Mason stories”. We know Mason is still a part of our family. We think of him every minute of every day and talk about him to anyone who will listen. The reality of him being in Heaven makes us feel like a part of us is missing. I think we just feel “misplaced”, we feel we should be in Heaven with him, rejoicing with Jesus and listening to Mason giggle and watch him wiggle. But we know God’s plan for us is that we are not “misplaced”, but that we are purposed to remain here on Earth for now. It’s just that Paradise never looked so good until now.

We know our purpose is to bring Him glory for the great things He has done and will do in our lives. We ask that you continue to pray for His wisdom and guidance for us. We pray we will be able to submit to His will and purposes for our lives and through our obedience, He will continue to conform us more like Him. We are learning as He is striping away our own will and opening our hearts, that regardless of the suffering, He will help us endure and it will be for great purpose. When we do finally get to be in Paradise, we trust God will have fulfilled His work in us. Thank you for your faithfulness to us, despite our lack of faithfulling updating you all. We love you and pray God will bless you for being such blessings in our lives and encouraging us when we need it most.

Because He Lives!

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & (Mason rejoicing in Paradise)

January 16th, 2008

Dear Family & Friends

Today marks three months since our precious boy went home to be with Jesus. It feels like it has been an eternity since we got to hear his silly little giggle or pinch and kiss his chubby cheeks. We miss him so very much and we still find ourselves trying to figure out how to get through the days without him. Jazzy continues to bring joy into our days with her sweet personality, we are so very thankful for her. She is excited about school, and going to Awanas and church, she loves playing with her cousins, and her new little puppy brings lots of smiles to her face. She is adjusting to life without her little Bubby, she misses playing with him and tells us almost daily. Recently she tells us she just wants to “pinch his cute, little, chubby cheeks”. And in true Jazzy fashion, she is worried about Mason. She worries that he misses us and is sad because he is not with us. Mason truly was her companion and we tell her even though we miss him, he is happy and playing with Jesus, so he is not sad to be away from us. We explain that Jesus is taking care of him now and that He cares for him even more than we do. So he is in very good hands. I think it is so wonderful of our God to allow us to have to explain this to her because it is also a great reminder for me that Mason is being cared for far better than what he was receiving before. God’s grace has been covering us and He is sustaining us during the really difficult days like yesterday.

“I weep with grief, encourage me by your word. Keep me from lying to myself. Give me the privilege of knowing your law. I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your laws” Psalm 119:28-30 

We’ve learned more than ever how important it is to stay in the word of God so that He can supply us with what we need. Only through His truths can we be encouraged and uplifted, only by His grace will we overcome and persevere through our grief of living on without Mason. Our emotions of missing him can lead us into such pain and anguish, we literally have to choose to seek the truths that God has, seek the peace that only He can bring. Peace is a gift of God, but we prepare oureselves to receive this gift as we pray about everything, cultivate gratitude & refuse to surrender to worry or grief. So we will continue to pray, continue to be thankful and continue to be faithful to the One who can deliver us.

Our prayer is that we will continue to stay faithful in His purposes for our lives so that He will receive all the glory for the great things He has done. Thank you all for your continued prayers and words of encouragment. We will forever be grateful for the wonderful people God has surrounded us with and whom He uses to help us feel comforted and cared for. May God richly bless you and keep you today!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason (rejoicing with Jesus!)

January 1st, 2008

Dear Friends and Family

It has been sometime since our last update, we have been at a loss of words to express what our hearts are feeling. I will try and attempt to put them to words.

It is difficult for me to say “Happy New Year” since to us, 2008 is not a Happy New Year. 2008 marks our first year without our precious Bubby. 2008 is the first year of many to come that we will have no new Mason memories, no new stories of his funny character or hamming it up moments to share. I know no one expects us to be “happy”, but the reality of it is…  our hearts are broken and it gets more difficult as each day passes without Mason to know how to get through a new day without him. Only by God’s grace and your faithful prayers are we getting through the days. We are not Hopeless because of the Hope we have in Christ, but we are broken. We know in our brokenness we are experiencing God as we never have before, but the reality of trying not to let our emotions control us is far more difficult than anything we have ever experienced before. We are profoundly saddened, but we recognize that Mason was our gift from God for only a short time. We know that all things come from Him and so when He takes it away we can find joy in the gift He allowed us to enjoy. God has a purpose in all things, even in our suffering. We are trusting He will work our suffering for good and for His purposes. In the meantime, we will continue to trust in Him and be available to be used for His purposes and His glory. We know Mason’s little life was for God’s purposes and for His glory and we will remain faithful to carry that on. We trust God’s word that “He works all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes”.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. It means so much to us that our little guy is so precious to so many of you. We feel so blessed to see how many lives he has truly touched. We miss him more than words can describe and we miss the life we had with him. Right now we are taking time to heal with family in Idaho, trying to adjust to life without him. We plan to return to Durham in God’s timing. In the meantime, we miss all of our friends, transplant families and Christ family in Durham who have meant so much to us and been such a part of our lives for almost 3 years. We look forward to seeing you all again soon in time. We know it is difficult to know what to say to us, but please know we love to hear from you. It let’s us know you care. Thank you all for caring and for loving our family.

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason (rejoicing with Jesus!)

November 26th, 2007

Dearest Friends and Family,

We hope you all had a bountiful Thanksgiving, bringing many blessings to you in which you can be thankful. We have alot to be thankful for this year. We are thankful for God’s amazing love for us that He would send His one and ONLY son to die for us so we could spend eternity in His loving presence. We are thankful Mason is happy and healthy and free of his suffering and is waiting for us with Jesus. We are thankful for Jazzy who reminds us of child like faith and shows us daily how to continue to laugh and live on. We are thankful we are surrounded by love through all of our family and friends. Many of whom we have not seen or spent time with in over two years. With all we are thankful of we are most thankful for the new understanding we have in  God’s grace and mercy and how He can strengthen the weary and sustain the weak. Because even though we have been so lovingly surrounded by family & friends, we cannot help but feel the overwhelming void of our precious baby boy. Every moment of every day we miss him. We miss hearing his sweet voice and feeling his soft face. We miss holding his chubby little fingers in our hands. We even miss his smell, his smell of Cheeto fingers and Cheese Nibs crumbs caught on his shirt and neck. We miss his beautiful big eyes and mischevious smile. His presence filled each day with joy and we find ourselves looking for him or listening for him.

I know without a doubt that Heaven is a real place and that Mason is not missing us. He is perfectly healed and rejoicing with Jesus, I am so thankful for that. And I know that even though we miss him and yearn to have him here with us, God is faithful and He will help us endure each day until He calls us home to be with Mason again. Oh, how sweet that day will be!

Until that sweet day we will continue to hold onto the hope we have “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our family and for the love you have shown us. God is good and uses all of you to be great encouragers to us and help strengthen us. Please continue to pray for strength for our friend Sofia (www.caringbridge.com/visit/sofiacastro) that God will use this round of chemo to get her into remission so she can receive her second transplant. Pray for strength for her little body. And please pray for our friend Sean as they continue to endure. I also have an urgent prayer request for our friend Alexia (www.caringbridge.com/southamerica/alexia) she is in PICU fighting for her life. Please pray for comfort for her so she is not suffering and for God to strengthen her and her family.

Hello Family & Friends

Well, it’s official, we made it back to Idaho last night. God was so gracious and helped Eddie and I through some more difficult days this past week. We had to pack up our belongings and go through Mason’s belongings at our house in Durham. Needless to say it was very emotional for us. But through God’s grace and great love for us He encouraged us and strengthened us each day. We especially felt so loved and encouraged Saturday by all the people who came to help celebrate Mason’s life. Thank you all who came to Mason’s celebration service and for taking the time to let us know how much Mason impacted your life. It truly blessed us.

For now, we are back in Idaho to go through our storage unit here and spend some time with family. We have had our things in storage for 2 1/2 years while we were in Durham so we have a lot to go through. But our plan is to start making our way back to Durham sometime the first week of December. Thank you all for your continued prayers for our family, we have really needed them during this time. God has been using each of you to show His love for us and to encourage us and comfort us. Please continue to pray for our little friends who are still enduring the transplant world, pray for strength and healing for them and their families. Sending our love and hugs from Idaho.

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason (singing with Jesus)¼/p>

November 7th, 2007 6:30p.m.

Hello Family & Friends

Eddie and I will be leaving for Durham tomorrow (Thursday) to have medical supplies returned and move our belongings. We will return to Idaho on Tuesday. We have decided to leave Jazzy in Idaho with family since the first memorial service was very emotional for her and we did not feel she needed to endure another one. We have scheduled to have the memorial service for Mason at our church, Journey Fellowship on 2031 W. Club Blvd on Saturday November 10th at 5p.m. Again, we would be so honored to have anyone who has prayed for, cared for or thought of Mason to attend to help celebrate his life. Mason’s obituary should run in the Herald Sun on Thursday for anyone in the Durham area who wants to read it. God has been so good to us and has continued to cover us with His grace and mercy. We are trusting He will cover us while in Durham as it will be very difficult going through Mason’s belongings and packing them up. We cannot even begin to describe the heart ache we feel for missing Mason, we miss every little thing about him. Most of all we miss his shining smile and infectious giggle that could light up a room. He was our little light that God so graciously used to teach us more about Him and experience His mighty power and love for us first hand.  Mason truly was a precious gift from God and he filled our days with great joy. And our prayer is that Mason’s little light will continue to shine on to bring joy and the love of Jesus to others just as he did to our lives.

Thank you again to all of you who have prayed for our family, who have emailed us or sent cards to us. We feel so loved and are greatly humbled by the impact our sweet lil Bubby had on so many people. Again, God is so good to allow us to see how He was and is using Mason for His glory. Thank you for your prayers, we ask that you continue to pray for God to provide His peace and comfort to our family and to continue to use Mason’s Journey to bring Him glory and honor!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason (in the arms of Jesus)

P.S -  Here are directions to Journey

From Duke University Hosptial on Erwin Rd

From Erwin Rd, turn left onto Fulton St

Fulton St will turn into Hillandale Rd after underpass

Stay straight on Hillandale Rd toward the Resevoir

Turn Right onto Club Blvd (at the stoplight)

Travel almost 1 mile, pass Oval park on your right

Journey is a red brick Church on the right

Turn R onto street (sorry don’t know the name) to go down to parking lot

November 1st, 2007 6:00pm

Dear Family & Friends

One of our dear friends wrote it so wisely that when you have a baby it begins a world of firsts: their first steps, their first birthday, their first Holiday. When you lose a baby it begins a new world of firsts: your first night without hearing them sleep next to you, your first morning waking and not hearing their sweet voice calling your name, your first outing as a family without them, and your first Holiday without them. Halloween has never been a big deal to us other than it is a fun time to have Jazzy dress up like she likes to do and participate in Harvest activities. She has always enjoyed carving pumpkins and stopping by friends and family to show off her costume. The last several years Halloween took on new meaning for us since Mason was transplanted on Oct 21st, 2005 we celebrated Halloween on the Bone Marrow Unit. Jazzy wanted to be Mulan and asked if Mason could be Mooshu. They loved everyone coming by the room to make a big fuss over them. Last year we were thankful to not be on the unit and we stuffed Mason in his Elmo costume which he decided he didn’t like after all. And Jazzy was the Red Power Ranger. Since Mason was still immuno-compromised we didn’t plan any activities with friends and family, but we did decide to go knock on two of our dear friends’ doors who were close by us just to say hi. So this year we would have loved to just skip it all together with everything that has gone on the last couple of weeks, but we decided we needed to try and make some happy memories for Jazzy. So when her cousins planned to go door to door trick or treating in their neighbor we thought it would be alot of fun for Jazzy. As we got her dressed and we were all ready to head out the door, big silent tears fell from Jazzy’s face. At first I thought she was wanting to be the Red Power Ranger that her cousin Dominic was getting into. She picked out Robin from Teen Titans. But she began sobbing and saying she didn’t want to go trick or treating without Mason. She cried saying it wasn’t fair that he wasn’t there to go with them. Eddie and I were completely taken by surprise. I didn’t even imagine her thinking like that because we had never even really gone trick or treating before… I thought she would just see it as a new adventure. But being the sweet, loving sister she is, she wanted her Bubby with her. Our hearts were breaking and we just tried to comfort her the best we could. We told her it was ok if she didn’t want to go, but that Mason loves her and would want her to be having fun with her cousins. She agreed to this and we headed out the door telling her if she still didn’t feel like doing it after we stopped at a couple of houses, we could go home. God’s grace again covered us as we headed down the streets passing kids of all ages being reminded that our lil baby boy was not with us. Within 15 minutes Jazzy was giggling, running with her cousins excited over all the candy she was getting. It was a new adventure for us all. A new adventure without Mason and the start of many to come. Although I didn’t see it entirely as an adventure, it truly is in the sense that we don’t know what lies ahead and are totally relying on God to show us the way. We know there are going to be many more firsts to come without our funny lil Bubby, but I know we will cherish each as God has shown us how precious each and every day is with our gifts He has given us.

Well, here I go again, rambling on and on so I guess I better wrap it up. We are planning on returning to Durham on November 8th so Eddie and I can get our furniture picked up from our house and return medical supplies and such. We are planning on having Mason’s memorial service at Journey Fellowship (2031 Club blvd) on Saturday Nov 10th at 5pm. Eddie and I will only be there for a week so we can head back to Idaho to go through our belongings to u-haul back to Durham sometime after Thanksgiving. We had a lot of answered prayer this week in God’s plan for us and we feel he is leading us back to Durham for some ministry opportunities. Just like before when we left Idaho in May 2005, we are stepping out by faith and trusting in Him to provide and work out all the details. We know He does since he has shown us His mighty power over the past 2 1/2 years while we resided in Durham. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We will update more in the next few days as we get more things finalized. Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy

& Mason (rejoicing in Heaven)

Dear Family & Friends,

It truly amazes Eddie and I that one week ago today was our visitation service for Mason and tomorrow will be one week that we have had his memorial service. Tomorrow also marks two weeks that he left our care to be perfectly healed and in the loving care of Jesus’ arms. Our hearts are truly broken, but we can honestly say that God is good. He has sustained us and comforted us in these past weeks and we have experienced His mighty power far more than we have ever known. Tuesday, October 16th was the most difficult day we have ever experienced. We had to leave our baby boy whom we had taken care of every moment of every day of his little life. Tuesday, October 23rd was our second most difficult day when we had to bury our beautiful boy and truly say our last good-byes. We believe God’s word when it says “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”, we know the moment Mason took his final breath, he was in the arms of Jesus. It was difficult letting go of his chubby sweet face, but we are so very thankful he is no longer suffering. Again I am comforted by God’s word when He promises “Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you. I will uphold you” Isaiah 41:10

 Thank you so much for all of you who have participated in celebrating Mason’s little life and for all of you who have sent flowers, cards, emails and made memorial contributions.

We have to especially thank Alsips & Persons Funeral Chapel for their generosity and dedication to help make Mason’s services truly memorable. Thank you First Church of the Nazarene for your generosity in the use of your facilities and graciously extending your staff to us. Thank you Trina Strobel for your beautiful work on Mason’s memorial slideshow whom everyone loved and appreciated a great deal. Thank you to our Christ family at New Hope Baptist Church for the loving Fellowship Reception following Mason’s memorial service. We were greatly touched by all of your efforts. And thank you Wes Wagner because of you all the details were taken care of before leaving Durham so we could bring Mason home. There are so many more we can thank, please know we are aware of all of you who helped contribute over the past several weeks. We are so very grateful for each of you and for all of your wonderful efforts to make Mason’s services special. We are truly humbled by the love that has been shown to our family. Our lil Bubby has touched so many people’s lives and we are so very thankful for the priviledge of being apart of it all.

Eddie and I are still in Idaho and are trying to make preparations to go back to Durham to have another memorial service there. We have not forgotten about all of our loving friends and Christ family there and want you all to be able to celebrate in Mason’s life as well. We know how much he has impacted you over the past 2 1/2 years while we resided there seeking treatment. Not only did he impact you all, you all impacted us greatly. So we would be so honored to have all of you who have been apart of his life in Durham to come and celebrate and remember his little life with us. As soon as we have those dates we will post them for you. We will continue to take it one day at a time for now, allowing God’s grace and mercy to help us endure. Thank you all for your continued prayers that have greatly encouraged us and sustained us. Sending our love from Idaho

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason (forever with us)

October 19th, 2007 9:35pm

Dearest Family & Friends

Thank you all for your continued prayers and loving words that have greatly encouraged us and strengthened us during this time. God is so good because he has literally been carrying Eddie and I as we go through all the preparations for Mason’s celebration service. We firmly believe that “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever Amen!” Romans 11:36. God has continued to give us this verse since Mason’s transplant day 2 years ago. We have finalized the dates for services and they will be as follows.

Viewing Services will be Monday 22nd 6-8pm at Alsips Funeral Chapel 404 10th Ave S, Nampa   

Private Family Burial Service at Kuna Cemetery Tuesday

Celebration Service will be Tuesday 23rd 6pm at 1st Church of the Nazarene 601 16th Ave S, Nampa

Fellowship will follow Celebration Service at New Hope Baptist Church 1829 W Iowa Ave, Nampa  

Again we would be so honored to have anyone who met or prayed for Mason to come and celebrate his life with us. I have also attached the obiturary that will be running in the Idaho Statesmen and Idaho Press Tribune on Sunday.

Mason Andrew Jenkins was welcomed into this world on August 27th, 2004 by parents Eddie and Becky Jenkins of Kuna, Idaho. Mason you were our heavenly gift for three precious years and left our care to be in the loving care of Jesus’ arms October 16th, 2007. You were welcomed with all the family surrounding you while big Sissy, Jazzy held you tight telling everyone “My baby”. From the moment you were here you could light up a room with your big beautiful eyes and mischievous smile. Your big belly laugh was infectious by anyone who heard it although Daddy was the only one who could really get it out of you. Our hearts were broken when we found at your six month well baby check up that you had a rare genetic disorder called Hurler Syndrome. We were told that there was no cure for Hurler Syndrome, but a cord blood transplant could help save your life. We knew that you were a very special little boy who was going to take us on a very special journey. So we packed our bags and headed to Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC over 2500 miles from your home and family and friends. We weren’t sure what the future held for you, but we were certain that you were in God’s care and that He is faithful and we could endure it. Beginning May 2005 you underwent several surgeries at Duke. You endured countless tests and procedures including patching a hole in your heart. You finally received your transplant on October 21st 2005. In the meantime you captured the hearts of all the nurses and soon had everyone wrapped around your chubby little fingers. You loved to blow kisses and “raise the roof” to ham it up for everyone. You were a little superstar at the hospital and loved all the attention you got. In fact you loved it so much, you never wanted to leave. We had hoped to bring you home to Idaho only after 8 months of treatment, but 2 1/2 years later you were still wanting to visit all of your new found girlfriends at Duke. You endured several complications due to the transplant, but through it all you maintained your spunky, endearing personality. You loved watching and giggling to the Wiggles and Elmo. You spent countless hours playing with play dough and coloring in your coloring books. You especially loved trying to snuggle with Sissy as she squeezed you tight and calling you “Bubby” You loved your wrestle time with Daddy and laughed the hardest when he would give you tickles. You always asked to snuggle which Mommy loved while smothering your chubby cheeks with kisses. You continued to live, laugh and play as if you were on a mission to light up the world with your unique personality. You were only three but taught us lessons only learned in a lifetime. Each day we learned more about God’s grace as He sustained us through the tough days with you and we experienced God’s blessings as we celebrated the good days with you. You taught us the power of prayer even from those whom you’ve never met. You were lifted up in prayer by so many who loved you and had never met you. You taught us to seize every moment as each day is so precious and truly a gift from God. You taught us to love and to endure. You were our little light that shined regardless of what your were enduring. You left our care with your family showering you with love to go and be in your new glorified body free from your disease. Our prayer is that our sweet Mason’s light will continue to shine on for those who loved him and knew him. Thank you Jesus for restoring him and taking him into your arms where we know he is greatly loved. We love you so much Bubby!

Mason is survived by and loved by: Parents Eddie and Becky Jenkins and big sister Jazzy. And survived and loved by Grandparents Judy Calhoun of Boise, Wade and Donna Gibbons of Kuna and Jim and Sheri Russell of Kuna and Ed and Cindy Jenkins of Parma.

Memorial contributions for accrued medical expenses are being excepted at 452 Main Street Kuna, Idaho 83634.

October 17th, 2007 2:00pm

Thank you to all of you who have been covering us with your prayers and for your loving phone calls, emails and visits. Our family is greatly humbled by the impact our lil guy had on so many. Our prayer has always been that others would see Jesus in Mason as we know how much Jesus was upon him and using him. We could never begin to express the gratitude we have to our Heavenly Father for allowing us the priviledge of being apart of Mason’s journey and choosing us to care for him. Although we had him a short time, what we learned from him will impact us for a lifetime.  We are currently making arrangements to have a memorial service to celebrate his life and we would be so blessed to have anyone who has prayed for or met Mason to come and participate in celebrating his precious life. We will be flying to Idaho this afternoon to have a burial service for him and we will return  in a few weeks to have a celebration service in Durham. At this time we are tentatively planning to have the Idaho service on Tuesday at the 1st Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, however this is not set yet, as soon as we know we will post them. We will then return to Durham after a couple of weeks and have a celebration service at Journey Fellowship on Club Blvd. We will also post those dates. We have been asked what are wishes are and we would ask in lue of flowers to make donations to Mason’s fund or to the MPS society (www.mpssociety.org). on behalf of Mason. Today has been extremely difficult as Eddie and I made preparations at a local funeral home to ship Mason back to Idaho, but I have to say God is so good and gracious. He allowed us to see our precious boy with a sweet smile on his face, resting peacefully. We draw much comfort knowing that Mason is now in his glorified body, free from his disease, free to be running and playing and being a happy and healthy three year old.  Thank you again for each of you who have continued to show your love to our family and for your encouragement. We know by Christ’s strength and by God’s grace we will persevere! Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 16th, 2007 2:00pm

Dearest Friends and Family

This morning our precious baby boy left the care of his Daddy, Mommy and Big Sissy to go be in the loving care of Jesus’ arms. Our hearts our broken, but we are rejoicing that he is pefectly healed.  Thank you all for your faithful prayers these past 2 1/2 years and for loving our lil guy and our family so much.

We’ll post more as we know more about Mason’s memorial service.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:3-11 

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 13th, 2007  10:30pm

Hello Family & Friends

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. “

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Mason has had a good day today. His oxygen SATs have been in the 90s all day - Thank you Lord! He is still on the non-rebreather mask and nasal cannula. He is on the same settings as yesterday (4 liters via nasal cannula and 100% on the mask) However, he has been more comfortable today. He has also been more awake and perky and wanting to color and watch his movies. We have had family flying in from Idaho to come see him and it was so nice to have them see him awake and telling them “no”. Yesterday was a very emotional day for Eddie and I so today’s uplifting mood was very welcomed. We have been enjoying Mason’s lil personality today and feeling God’s grace pouring over us. Thank you all for your continued prayers for Mason and our family. Medically we are throwing everything at his BOOP condition to try and get rid of the inflammation, however we continue to put our trust and Hope in the Lord. By no means are we giving up - we will continue to keep our eyes on Jesus! Please continue to pray for Mason’s lungs to be strengthened and healed. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for Eddie and I regarding his care. Again, we could never express how much we appreciate and love you all. Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 12th - 11pm

Hello Everyone,

Well despite doing really well last night and early this morning Mason’s numbers have been slowly trending down. He’s back on the re-breather mask that allows us to give him 100% oxygen plus the nasal canula set at 4 liters. Even with the increase in oxygen his saturations have been between 80 and 85%. Mason is still very comfortable and has been sneeking cheeze it crackers under his mask and watching the Wiggels. We also found out today Mason has a bacteria in his blood (VRE) that is resistant to vancomycin so we’ve started a new antibiotic to treat that. Even though the news today has not been the best we know God could heal Mason in an instant so we will continue to pray in that direction. Thank you all again for your prayers, we really need them!

In His Love & Care,

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 12th, 2007 9:30am

Hello Family & Friends!

Sorry for not updating last night as I know many of you have been worried and praying for our little guy. I returned from the hospital after midnight and I tried to get Jazzy down for bed and ended up crashing with her! Thank you all for your prayers, once again God has poured out His mercy and grace and has answered them. Mason is now back on the less concentrated mask and sitting about 90% oxygen. He had a comfortable night with no major problems - thank you Lord! We are still on a day by day basis with him and are asking for all of you to continue to be our prayer warriors for Mason. He is sleeping right now and looks very comfortable. Hopefully I will update later once he is awake and moving around as this will show us where his oxygen is going since sleeping on his tummy has always been his best oxygen SATs position. Thank you to all of you again, the love we have felt from your prayers, phone calls and emails has encouraged us greatly. Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 11th, 2007 11:00am

Hello Family & Friends

Please pray for Mason this morning. We had to go back on the breather mask which has a bag to help concentrate the oxygen. We have had a rough morning. Around 1:00am this morning he began to drop so we had to switch his masks. We have him on full oxygen again and giving lasix to help rid him of any excess fluid. He is still only sitting at 85%. We hope to be able to send another update this evening after we see how he does today. Mason is very sick and needs your prayers. Thank you, we love you and are so thankful for each of you!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 10th, 2007 9:30 pm

Hello Family & Friends

Mason has done really well with his oxygen SATs - thank you Lord! He went through the night last night sitting on 60% oxygen via his mask. He was doing well this morning and afternoon. He was able to sit up and still maintain good oxygen SATs while given 60 to 85% oxygen. . We have begun weaning the steroids down since he already received his four big doses of 275 twice a day over the last couple of days. Please continue to pray for strength and healing of Mason’s lungs. God has heard your prayers. We ask that you pray for wisdom and guidance for Eddie and I as we are unsure what God’s plan is regarding Mason’s healing. We will continue to take it day by and day regarding this new treatment plan and look for God to guide our paths. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 9th, 2007 11:00am

Hello Family & Friends!

Thank you all for your prayers. God is good - after yesterday’s post I do have good news. Mason seems to be responding to the steroids and Ontak today. He went through the night on 60 to 85% oxygen on his mask and no nasal cannula - thank you Lord! I am getting ready to head back up to see him so I’ll post hopefully more tonight after we see how he does today. Thank you again for all your prayers… keep them coming!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 8th, 2007 1:00am

Hello Family & Friends

I am not sure where to begin so please forgive me if I am all over the place. Yesterday, Sunday, was a really tough day. It began with the rapid response team showing up in our room. This means Mason was requiring attention from the ICU staff because 5200 staff was concerned about his continually dropping oxygen levels. We had him on max oxygen, 5 liters on the nasal cannula and full blow by 95% and he would still drop below 80%. We put a mask on him to help concentrate the oxygen he was getting. Of course he did not like this, but we had no choice.  Throughout the day he continued to de-sat even with full oxygen going thru the mask and 5 to 6 liters on the nasal cannula. They took an x-ray and it showed it has worsen from the previous one. We began seeing a slew of docs including the team from the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). They began preparing us to go to ICU and put Mason on a ventillator since that was the next step for him if we could not get his oxygen levels up. Needless to say, Mason’s lungs are very sick. The ventillator at this point for Mason would not be a good option. The docs respected our choice to keep Mason at 5200 because he did look comfortable despite his low oxygen SATS. So we requested a new regiment to help treat the inflammation and of course the docs went to work. We began high doses of steroids again and added another dose of Cellcept which he was already on twice a day.  Eddie and I had to begin to prepare ourselves for what we did not want…. the possibility that Mason may not get better. We have been in prayer since Sunday for wisdom and strength to endure what the next few days may hold for Mason. Today, Monday Mason has been started on a new drug call Ontak which is given to transplant kids that have GVH of the gut. The docs are trying the remaining options to see if we can get his lungs better. We are thankful we still have a few more options.  He seems to be doing better today. He is still on the mask for oxygen, but we were able to turn the nasal cannula off - thank you Lord! He is on full 95% oxygen via the mask, but he seems comfortable. He has been watching his movies and eating. Like true Mason fashion, he is finding any way possible to eat! He is so cute, he pulls the mask off briefly himself to shove a piece of chicken or a Cheeto in his mouth, then puts the mask back where it belongs. He is such a trooper with that mask! So, I am asking you my friends and family who has endured this road with us for the past two years, to again lift Mason up in prayer. His lungs need healing and strength and we are asking for continued wisdom on treating him. We hope to have another update after we see how we go through the night. Thank you all for your faithful prayers and loving support. We love you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 7th, 2007 5:00pm

Hello Family & Friends

We are requesting fervent prayers for Mason. I came home briefly from the hospital so I don’t have much time to go into all the details, hopefully tomorrow I’ll have more info. Mason needs your prayers of strength and healing. We did another chest x-ray last night and it shows his lungs have worsen since the last one on Tuesday. We are trying a couple of things today and tonight to try and get his oxygen saturations back up.  I apologize for not getting an update out sooner. Thank you all for your faithful prayers and loving support. “Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart all ye who hope in the Lord Jesus Christ” Psalm 31:24

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

October 3rd, 2007

Hello Family & Friends!

Today Dr. Prasad advised us that Mason’s biopsies have been “normal”. We still have to give cultures up to 12 days to grow, but the preliminary 48 hours shows everything is normal. We are very thankful that there is no abnormalities from the scopes. However, Mason’s oxygen issues are still present. He is still requiring oxygen via the nasal cannula and is anywhere from 1/2 liter to 4 liters. He is still a little puffy in his legs so we have been doing chest x-rays to monitor the fluid and we have been giving him lasix to continue to help get the extra fluid off. We asked Dr. Prasad what our next step for Mason is, we were assuming steroids again. For now Dr. Prasad is pretty adamant about not wanting to do more steroids because of how long he has been on them and the difficulties from the side effects from being on them for prolonged peroids . He is getting with the pulmonary team to see if they have any suggestions on how to help Mason breathe better. We have switched up his breathing treatments to see if these can help clear up the “tightness” he has in his breathing. Dr. Prasad says he sounds tight when he listens to him. Mason has also been a little more sleepy than usual - normally I would be jumping for joy that he is actually giving us big blocks of sleeping time, however I can’t help but be concerned about his sleepiness. In the big picture of things he just acts like he doesn’t feel that great. I’m sure alot has to do with how much he is working for each breath. Despite his “issues” Mason’s demeanor has been really good though. He has been wanting to play with his play-dough and color and watch his movies, all the things Mason loves doing most. Of course we get concerned about him not getting much mobility while at the hospital so we hope to change this soon by getting some PT in. Sorry I don’t have much to report on today, for now we still are full of questions and don’t have alot of answers. We are asking for you to pray for God to grant us wisdom in Mason’s care and to provide strength and protection for him. Thank you all for your faithful prayers, we appreciate them so very much. Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & MasonÂ

October 1st, 2007

Hello Everyone!

This afternoon Mason had his colonoscopy and endoscopy to look at his stomach and intestines to try and find some answers to his never ending diapers and stomach cramping. He is back at 5200 and doing pretty well. He is a little puffy from the sedation and we have to be really careful about fluid retention right now so it does not go into his lungs. Dr. Prasad ordered a chest x-ray and some lasix to help protect him. As of this evening his chest x-ray looked fine. He is usually a little puffy after sedation so hopefully the lasix will do their job and help rid his body of the excess fluid. I just want to thank all of you for your prayers for Mason over the last couple of days. God heard them and answered them! One of our concerns was keeping Mason content leading up to the procedure. As you know, he was only able to receive clear fluids starting 9am Sunday morning and then no food or drink starting 9am this morning (Monday). Well, our lil guy doesn’t “do clear fluids”. He is a big time eater and loves to drink literrally liters of fluids, so this was going to be a challenge. He slept well through the night and woke up at 8:30am. He had to begin being NPO (no food or drink) starting at 9:00am. His procedure was scheduled for 12:45 this afternoon. He didn’t get into his procedure until 2:00 this afternoon and the first drink and food he had came when he was recovering on 5200 at around 4:30. So needless to say the lil guy was starving and thristy! Yesterday was the worst day because he asked for food and milk all day long and we couldn’t give it to him. It truly broke my heart seeing him lay in bed holding his lil blue snack bowl hoping I would put some food into it. Not only that, but he saw a commercial on TV for pizza and got so excited he was squealing and asking for pizza. Needless to say, I couldn’t find the remote fast enough to change the channel. Ugh… those are some heartbreakers! But when it was all said and done with, Mason has held up amazingly well despite the cruelty he was given over the last 24 plus hours. We owe it all to the amazing mercy God gave us in answering your prayers to help pass the hours quickly and for Mason to be content. With all that said, the scopes looked “normal” according to the Gastro docs, however we are not sure exactly what that means until we talk with Dr. Prasad. We also have to wait 48 hours for the biopsies to come back to see if there is anything harboring in Mason’s gut or intestines. Please continue to pray for Mason, pray for his lungs to strengthen since he has been on anywhere from 1 liter to 3 liters of oxygen. Please continue to pray for wisdom for the docs and us in how to treat all of his symptoms. Thank you to each of you who have helped with Jazzy (and for those of you who have offered) this past week. God has provided some amazing friends here in Durham that Jazzy has loved spending time with. It helps her (and us) feel like she is at home while we are away from our home and all of our amazing friends back in Idaho. We truly are grateful for all of you. Please keep our lil buddy Sean in your prayers. He goes in for surgery tomorrow (Oct 2nd). We hope to have some more updates for you in the next day or two. In the meantime we are sending lots of hugs to all of you!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

September 28th - 9:30pm

Hello Everyone,

The Doctors decided to move Mason from 5100 to 5200 this morning. The move was short and sweet and Mason seems to be handling it well. We weren’t sure how he was going to react to moving back to 5200 but he did just fine. There a few concerns and we are asking you all to please continue praying for Mason. Mason is still having stomach cramping and diarrhea but now we are seeing a little blood in his stool. They think it might be GVH of the gut so Mason is going in on Monday around noon for a scope to see what is going on. I’m not sure how the scope will go but the two days leading up to it are going to be tough. Starting Sunday morning Mason will only be allowed to have clear fluids, no food and nothing after 9am Monday. Given the kid has been eating non-stop for a month and has consumed 60oz of liquid in the last 9 hours, this will not be easy. Also, one of his lines tested postitive for gram positive resembling staph. So to treat it they’ve started him on some antibiotics. Please pray for Mason and everyting he has coming in the next couple of days. God is the only one that can give him the strength he will need. Please pray also for Becky, Jazzy and myself as these past few weeks have been some of the toughest yet. Becky will send another update tomorrow with a lot more info. I’m not the best at giving all the details. Thank you for checking on us, we love and miss you all.

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason.Â

September 26th - 8:45pm

 Hello Everyone,

As you know, Mason had a CT scan yesterday and we were hoping to see some improvement in that scan today that might allow us to take him back to the house. That was not the case. We were able to compare, side by side, the CT from the 13th with yesterdays scan and they looked just about identical. Even after the 4 huge doses of (250mg) steroid his lungs look the same. This is not the news we wanted to hear. Mason has also been fighting bouts of stomach cramps and diarrhea again. The Docs decided to run some blood cultures on all 4 lines to see if he is carrying a bug. His white blood count jumped from 11 to 18 so they think he might be fighting something. So we will stay in our room on 5100 for now. Jazzy still has her cold so we’re trying to get her heathly as soon as we can. She can’t hang out in Mason’s room at all if she is coughing. So Becky and I have been giving each other a high five as we pass in the hall and that’s is getting tougher each day. Please continue to lift our family up in prayer. Please pray God will send some much needed relief and strength. We know He is the only one that can sustain us right now so we will be leaning heavily upon Him. Thank you again for all your faithful prayer support. We will try to be better at sending fresh updates.

 In His Love & Care,

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & MasonÂ

September 25th, 2007 11:00pm

Hello Family & Friends!

We apologize for the lack of updating over the past couple of days. We have no computer access up at the hospital. We have also been playing tag team on taking shifts with Mason and so the other one tries to come home and get to Jazzy to bed which leaves little time for anything else. So here it is. Today Dr. Prasad said if Mason continues to sit at 1 liter or better and continues to look as good as he looks and the inflammation has calmed down in his lungs, he is comfortable letting us go home. He ordered a CT scan today which will determine if we get discharged. The CT scan did not happen until about 6:00pm tonight so we may not be getting discharged until Thursday. If the inflammation on the scan looks the same or better than the previous one then Dr. Prasad is comfortable allowing us to be outpatient and run his meds and oxygen at home. So needless to say we are praying that tomorrow we will get the news to take Mason home. Eddie and I are both exhausted, Mason is exhausted and bored out of his mind, and Jazzy is having a hard time with the fact that Mommy, Daddy and Mason and her are never together. Jazzy started getting a stuffy nose yesterday so we have kept her away from Mason at the hospital to be on the safe side. If we get to bring Mason home tomorrow or Thursday and Jazzy is still showing signs of a cold, then we will just do our usual isolation at the house, which they both tolerate really well. Jazzy just has a hard time going to bed knowing that Mason is still up at the hospital and not at home with us. So please keep your prayers coming. Pray for continued strength for Mason’s lungs and for protection against infection. Please pray for Jazzy’s cold to go away quickly and please continue your prayers for strength and endurance for Eddie and I. Thank you to each of you who have helped in some way either providing a meal, or caring for Jazzy, it truly means the world to us. And thank you to each of you who lift us up in prayer and encourage us daily. As always God continues take care of us by blessing us with so many wonderful, loving people. He is so good! Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

September 21st, 2007

 Hello Family & Friends!

We are praising Jesus today for the small progress we have seen in Mason’s oxygen settings today. Yesterday late afternoon and today he has been able to go down to 1 liter while sleeping on his tummy and 2 liters while laying on his back or sitting up to eat. This is an improvement from the 3 liters he was at a couple of days ago. It appears that the steroid boost is working. We will hopefully see even more progress over the weekend. For now we are trying to manage his high blood pressure issues and fluid retention issues as well as the oxygen issues. So we will most likely continue to be in the hospital until we see the other two issues under control too. Our primary doctor, Dr. Prasad comes inpatient starting Monday so we will talk with him about Mason’s new game plan. We are curious on when we can get another scan of his lungs to see if we are making any progress with the inflammation. In the meantime, please continue to pray for strength and healing of his lungs. Please also pray that God will protect Mason against having fluid issues from all the meds he is on and help eliminate his high blood pressure issues. Thank you all for your faithful prayers. They mean so much to us. We hope to have another update to you by Monday if not sooner to let you know how the weekend goes. Please also think of and pray for our friends Sofia at www.caringbridge.com/visit/sofiacastro and Alexia at www.caringbridge.com/southamerica/alexia as they both endure their fight against Leukemia. Sending our love and hugs to you all!

In His Love & Care

Eddie, Becky, Jazzy & Mason

September 19th, 2007 9:30pm

Hello Family & Friends!

Mason still has not made any progress for getting off the oxygen so a new game plan was put into place today. Dr. Prasad is concerned that we are not making any head way with getting Mason off the 3 iters of oxygen so his plan is to hopefully “kick” the inflammation out with even bigger doses of steroids. Mason was getting 26mls of Solumedrol twice a day which is considered a pretty sizable amount, but today we started 250mls twice a day. We will do this over a course of two days and give him another dose of his immune suppression drug Inflixamab tomorrow. We are hoping to see some improvement in Mason’s breathing by Friday since we will be hitting him hard with steroids today and tomorrow.  Overall, Mason seems more lathargic than we like to see, but that is expected when getting hit with steroids and antibiotics. Plus it is always hard to have any energy while lying in a hospital bed and getting interrupted anytime you fall asleep. He has been having some high blood pressure issues due to the steroids and the amount of fluids he is getting, so he is also on another blood pressure medicine. Eddie and I are pluggin along and want to thank each of you for your prayers for strength and endurance. We are really looking forward to seeing Mason improve after these big doses of steroids, not only for Mason’s health but so we don’t loose our minds over the confinment of a tiny hospital room and no sleep! I never like to look past what we are doing presently and worry, because I know God tells us to cast all our burdens to him. But for a prayer request I would like to ask you all to pray that God will use these steroids to help combat the inflammation because if this game plan doesn’t work, Dr. Prasad already admitted we don’t have many more options to go with. We are so thankful that God is in control - we will continue to look to Him for wisdom and guidance, as usual He probably has a bigger and better plan up His sleeves that we aren’t seeing. Another prayer request would be for Jazzy. She is having a really hard time with Mason being in the hospital. Last night I drove her to soccer practice and on the way she was crying to herself in the