MASONS STORY

Mason Budd Lopes, born blind on September 9, 2010. My pregnancy was amazing, I loved everything about it, until the 28th week. There was a formation discovered on Mason's brain and i was to undergo a fetal MRI, where they informed us it was a cyst. Mason's birth resulted in an emergency C-section, that I passed out during, I only remember his cry. He was born at 7:50pm, he was immediately admitted into NICU for his first MRI. Because of the C-section, I was told I needed to lay down and rest, and i could see him in the morning. I refused, I demanded a wheel chair, fought through the pain of moving, and with the help of my amazing husband got in that wheel chair and headed to the NICU. I wasn't allowed to hold him that night, but we were there at 6:00 the next morning! We had no idea what was ahead of us, all I could see was this beautiful life in front of me. Mason was having a hard time eating, they thought he wasn't getting enough and put a feeding tube down his throat. He kept vomiting. I fought with the nurses and doctors, and demanded they take it out.  How was it so unclear to them that he was being overstuffed. I fed him every 2 hours, it was the only way I was allowed to hold him. Then he got jaundice, he was in NICU for 6 days. We had to leave the hospital without him. 

I still nursed every 2 hours, my husband would drive me 20 minutes to the hospital every day every 2 hours. Finally we brought Mason home!!! He never smiled at my smile, never cared for toys, we knew there was something wrong. I can remember the day like it was yesterday, the day Mason was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. “You’re son doesn’t seem to have any vision, and there is nothing you can do about it. This diagnosis will affect his brain and development. You need to call your pediatrician.” ..I couldn’t even breathe, I thought “How can this doctor be telling us this right now”, I needed a second opinion, and I got it, and everything was reconfirmed. My husband and I cried for weeks. I couldn’t understand it. I was 22, healthy and in the best shape of my life, I don’t know how or why this happened with us and with Mason, but it did. Okay, so it's not a death sentence, he just doesn't see, and he's going to need a little more extra attention. So, we decided to stop being sad, angry, and confused, because we have a baby that needs us more than we ever could imagine. We can’t teach him to be strong in life if we’re not. At that moment I got on google, started calling doctor after doctor, found Blind Children’s Learning Center,where he attends school now and will through Kinder.

Every day is a blessing and a struggle. Mason is happy as can be, but still does not crawl, walk, talk, he will not eat solid foods, only pureed baby food, doesn’t sleep at night,and is very behind in most cognitive skills. As far as my husband and I, we have no other choice than to deal and love Mason for all that he is. At home, we are constantly working on feeding to  get him to eat solid foods, physical therapy to get him mobile, occupational therapy to work on his cognition, vision therapy to stimulate any ounce of vision he may have, keeping him on schedule, and most importantly keeping him happy and loved. When we are not home we are driving to see doctors and therapists. Mason sees about 6 different specialists (neurologist, neurosurgeon, endocrine, opthamologist, optometrist, ONH specialist, and pediatrician).

As first time parents, life can be stressful, I never could have predicted what was to come. Our days turn to weeks filled with doctors appointments, evaluations, and therapies. In between all of this we enjoy our bundle of happiness, keep our heads up high, and fill Mason's heart with happiness and love. As a mom, I am willing to do anything and everything I can to give Mason the best life possible. Every child deserves to see their mother’s smile, to see a rainbow, or to see a sunset, if he can't see with his eyes, I will make sure he sees the beautiful things with his heart. He is our world and our everything.