- K
- a
- P
On May 17th Mason was rushed to the emergency room where he spent 6 days battling pneumonia. During his stay, the doctors believed that he had Tracheomalacia, and believed that was the cause for his noisy breathing and recommended they follow up with an ENT at CHOC after his stay. Justin and Whitney took Mason to the best ENT at CHOC, where he confirmed with an endoscope that he had a large amount of scar tissue that was obstructing his airway. He was scheduled for surgery on June 21st to have the tissue removed. However, once the doctors got in there, they quickly realized there wasn’t any scar tissue in the trachea, and that what they actually saw on the images were from Mason bearing down and crying during the photos. During the surgery, they did find that he was struggling with bronchial stenosis (narrowing of the bronchial tubes), so the following day, they performed a CT angiogram and an EKG to get a better view of his anatomy.
The results of these tests confirmed that Mason’s bronchial tubes are the same size, or smaller, than a coffee straw. The smallest part being only one millimeter wide (when it should be 6-7mm for his age). The EKG showed a left pulmonary artery sling, meaning his left pulmonary artery is essentially slung around the trachea, when it should normally be in front of it.
Mason is tentatively scheduled for Airway Reconstruction Surgery on July 7th at Standford Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. This surgery requires doctors to perform an extensive open chest procedure to reconstruct Mason’s bronchial tubes. A cardiologist will be in there at the same time to fix the pulmonary sling. It is estimated that he will be staying for a few weeks to recover, however there are many unknowns, as they are awaiting their consult with the surgical team. Since the surgery is medically necessary, they are currently under the impression that their insurance will cover the medical costs, so any and all donations received will go directly to help with expenses for travel, housing, food, and the unknown.
Justin and Whitney are grateful for all of the support they continue to receive during this extremely difficult time and we will continue to provide updates on Mason’s recovery as they come.
The results of these tests confirmed that Mason’s bronchial tubes are the same size, or smaller, than a coffee straw. The smallest part being only one millimeter wide (when it should be 6-7mm for his age). The EKG showed a left pulmonary artery sling, meaning his left pulmonary artery is essentially slung around the trachea, when it should normally be in front of it.
Mason is tentatively scheduled for Airway Reconstruction Surgery on July 7th at Standford Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. This surgery requires doctors to perform an extensive open chest procedure to reconstruct Mason’s bronchial tubes. A cardiologist will be in there at the same time to fix the pulmonary sling. It is estimated that he will be staying for a few weeks to recover, however there are many unknowns, as they are awaiting their consult with the surgical team. Since the surgery is medically necessary, they are currently under the impression that their insurance will cover the medical costs, so any and all donations received will go directly to help with expenses for travel, housing, food, and the unknown.
Justin and Whitney are grateful for all of the support they continue to receive during this extremely difficult time and we will continue to provide updates on Mason’s recovery as they come.
Organizer and beneficiary
Whitney Dressler
Beneficiary