Help Support the Winter Family

From Kirsten -

There’s no way that anyone could prepare you for what you may endure In a life with a disabled child. That’s okay... truthfully, the experiences that you go through daily teach you all you need to know and then some. They not only teach you about the condition but about the strength you find within yourself. The power you see in your child. The love that surrounds you endlessly.

In the last two years, we have become unbreakable. We may have moments of feeling defeat, but they don’t last long. And we lean on those around us- they lift us back up, and we persevere! Let us celebrate him and learn from his strengths

This little, not so little, human is one of the most amazing peanuts I know.

Mason had an aspiration episode on Thursday night 5/5/22 and 911 was called . They stopped in sun prairie to stabilize him and after we arrived he ended up going into cardiac arrest and was intubated there. He was medflighted to childrens hospital. He’s monitored, intubated and has an eeg. We needed to get him stable enough (with his breathing, meds, seizures, pneumonia,and he had high levels of sodium)to do an MRI , which was Monday night and then see if there was any damage.

We had 5 days of waiting to see what could happen. Monitor his vitals and work slowly to get his lab levels back into normal range. But everyone, docs/nurses/rt, etc have remained cautiously optimistic. Although we had times where we were fearful for his life and what the future holds. I think we can also be optimistic.

We heard from neurology on Tuesday - there was no major damage that would effect mason and his quality of life shown on his MRI. After playing around with his medications for sedation and pain/discomfort, we are officially weaned him off his sedation meds and preparing for extubation. Which has taken an extra couple days because they wanted to sort out some of his seizure medication before taking him off the vent. Because of what had happened, he can be at a greater risk for stronger seizures/more damaging seizures. So our team has been cautious.

He’s slowly started his feeds on Monday, he’s been tolerating them well!

He’s been keeping his team on their toes but that Mason! He’s a learning experience for everyone around him- but he’s always giving the opportunity to learn and I think he really enjoys it we have found comfort in the people who have been working with him because of their willingness to learn that Mason is Mason, and he does things that sometimes don’t make sense or aren’t text book, but it’s him.

He’s becoming more alert and trying to look around! We will have some set backs and need to work on getting back to where we were, but there’s hope.

We continue his respiratory treatments and his chest X-rays have shown that the pneumonia has been improved! RT has made sure that he stays clear and comfortable. Mason gets a vest treatment which kind of jiggles him around- and deep down we feel like he enjoys it he’s always one for a good vibration!

We can anticipate a change in seizures because of some changes shown from his MRI, but we know this is something we and his team can handle and work together to make sure he is as comfortable as he can be! Mason is one strong boy and continues to show us his strength!

Cameron and I are doing okay. It’s been a wild roller coaster, to say the least. But like always we lean into each other and our families and friends to help. Whether it’s to break down or give us strength. Thank you for all of the support and love and reaching out. That has meant so much to us, more than I can express.

#Masonstrong #schizencephaly #schizencephalywarrior

Since they both have been away from their jobs, we are reaching out to see if anyone would like to contribute to the overwhelming expenses they will be occurring during this challenging time. Kirsten's employer, DuWaynes Salon, is also accepting donations at the salon and working on setting up an account set at a local Northside bank.

You can either stop at the salon or mail your donation to DuWaynes Salon

Attn: Kirsten and Cameron Winter

2114 N Sherman Ave

Madison, WI. 53704

Thank you for reading & praying for Mason and his family! Your continued love and support means so much to them.