Masonation- Mason Patterson

On Monday, November 4th, 2013, Mason collapsed before school with what appeared to be seizures.  He was rushed by ambulance to Bolingbrook Hospital, diagnosed with bleeding in his brain, and flown by helicopter to Loyola University Medical Center.  The doctors diagnosed it as a brain AVM (arteriovenous malformation) which is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins. An AVM is typically congenital, meaning it dates to birth. Within hours he was in surgery to relieve the pressure and swelling on his brain and had a ventricular drain inserted.  He was kept in an induced coma and on a ventilator to keep him stable and prevent further bleeding as any increase in blood pressure could result in another episode. After nine days, they took him out of the induced coma, off the ventilator, and miraculously was able to breathe on his own. By Tues. 11/19, Mason was able to be moved out of the PICU and into a general pediatric room as he was able to sit up in bed, eat soft foods with some help, and talk in a very soft voice for short periods of time.

The right side of Mason's brain was most affected by the bleeding, which has impacted functioning on his left side.  On December 2, 2013, Mason was discharged from Loyola and started the next phase of his recovery at a rehabilitation hospital.   He has since returned to Loyola for surgery to return the portion of his skull which was removed during the original surgery.  He returned to rehab and worked towards being able to go home.  He will require additional surgeries to repair some of the blood vessels in his brain (AVM).     
                                                                       
On March 5th and 6th, Mason embarks on a 2 day surgical odyssey. His neurosurgeon will perform an embolization on Wednesday and a craniotomy and full removal of the AVM on Thursday.  They will again be removing the same portion of his skull and if all goes well, they will replace it after the procedure.  It is considered a radical approach but, as we discovered, the previous approach was not working and he would live the rest of his life waiting for the embolism to burst again.    

Mason has come a long way in recovering the function of his left side since November and reconnecting other neurological issues in his brain function.  It’s possible he may have to go back to square one re-learn and rebuild it all again.  If the surgeons are completely successful, they could remove the AVM and cure him of any further complications.  We are all praying for the later.  

Our family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support!                         Mason’s medical expenses as well as treatments, surgery and rehabilitation will continue for some time.  Every single penny raised from these T-shirt sales will go directly to Mason’s medical bills.
 
Mason’s family would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that is a part of this amazing support system we call "Masonation". Every day our inboxes, snail mail boxes and Facebook have been flooded with unconditional support and love! We love you guys... STAY STRONG MASON!!!!