#teammason2
Donation protected
In December 2016 Mason came home from school sick with flu like symptoms. By Christmas Mason was throwing up every day. After numerous doctor visits, he was diagnosed with anxiety. However, our gut told us it was something much worse! Mason didn’t eat, was losing weight, and started to go numb on the right side of his face . He was terrified to leave his bed because he would throw up. We finally demanded a CT scan and on January 10, 2017 our worst nightmare came true. The doctor said, “your son has a large brain tumor and it looks like cancer.” I’ll never forget those words; in that moment, we thought we were going to lose our son.
Next thing you know, we’re in an ambulance being rushed to USCF where our lives changed forever. Mason was given medication and steroids that would make him more comfortable. The next day he went thru an MRI which confirmed a large tumor near his brain stem which would require a miracle to remove. The chief surgeon Dr. Gupta of UCSF took the emergency surgery on & on January 13, 2017, the longest days of our lives, we had to watch our scared 10 year old little boy go into the surgery room where he underwent a 14 hour brain surgery. We prayed ALL DAY for a miracle. When we got the results that night it was the best outcome we could ever hoped for! The entire tumor was removed with minimal nerve damage! The surgeon predicted he should make almost a full recovery and be about the same ol’ Mason. We shared the news with family & friends in waiting room as we cried & celebrated.
The biopsy confirmed that Masons diagnosis was Ependymoma Type A, an extremely rare and aggressive malignant brain tumor. During recovery from surgery Mason battled extreme pain and suffering like we had never seen. The medications made him extremely violent at times & hallucinations other times & he rarely slept. Mason had to stay at UCSF for almost 2 months while he went through daily rehab to relearn to talk, walk, eat, and much more. In mid February Mason began radiation treatment 5 days a week for 6 weeks. He made a comeback to the baseball field that June & after only 3 games he was back on the mound. Things seemed to be going well, his MRIs every 3 months showed no recurring tumors untill April 2nd, 2018. We were devastated to hear that the tumor had recurred. The MRI revealed that the tumor was in an even worse spot & would be to risky of a surgery. Dr. Gupta recommended Gamma Knife surgery, a very potent radiation beam to basically burn the tumor in hopes of killing it. In mid May of 2018, Mason got the surgery done & we were able to bring him home that day without any side effects, amazingly.
Again , Monica & I stayed home to care for Mason. UCSF would continue to monitor the second tumor every 3 months . Monica quit her career with a great company to care for our boy & homeschool both kids who had gone thru so much. I went back to work & things seemed to be getting better. We were introduced to a Ayurveda Physician in San Jose. We were desperate for help as we had found out the type of tumor Mason had often comes back. “Vaijadi” had changed Masons life from the first meeting on. Special treatment & an extremely tough diet including all organic fruits & vegetables, fresh caught fish & natural supplements after every healthy meal & drinking only water. No more sugar at all, no red meat , no preservatives. And Mason even given the chance does not cheat even a bit, he knows his life depends on it. His optimism and confidence has completely changed. He’s found Jesus. Vaijadi said, “Mason is incredible, I read his pulse and he had no worry, he’s stronger than most adults I’ve ever seen .”
In May 2019, we were shocked that his MRI revealed growth in the second tumor that previously received gamma knife surgery. Mason went home upset. We were once again devastated by the news. We waited to hear back from chief surgeon Dr. Gupta on Masons 13th birthday on May 24, 2019. I promised Mason I would take him hunting but it was a depressing day waiting for that call, untill 2:00 Monica called crying on the phone to tell us the news. We were on the road to Northern California. Since she was crying I thought it was bad when she actually was crying “best news ever.” I tried keeping strong in front of Mason but tears rolled down when I heard “we are not concerned too much and feel as if the tumor repositioned itself.” Mason says, “what are you crying for, I knew it was nothing.” We once again celebrated!!!!!
Unfortunately, on July 29th 2019 a MRI detected that the tumor had almost doubled in size! We are now in this battle again! Surgery is scheduled for August 6th 2019. We are so devastated to have to watch him continue this fight for so long! This is a parent’s worst nightmare!
We are so very grateful for the ongoing donations. We lost a second income as mom had to quit her job and dad is on FMLA to spend as much time with Mason as possible. Our future definitely includes travel to possibly another state and we can’t even fathom money be an issue that prevents us from giving Mason the best medical care possible! We will fight to save his life even if we have to sale everything we own! We are so thankful for those who have and continue to help us!
The Ferrulli Family
Next thing you know, we’re in an ambulance being rushed to USCF where our lives changed forever. Mason was given medication and steroids that would make him more comfortable. The next day he went thru an MRI which confirmed a large tumor near his brain stem which would require a miracle to remove. The chief surgeon Dr. Gupta of UCSF took the emergency surgery on & on January 13, 2017, the longest days of our lives, we had to watch our scared 10 year old little boy go into the surgery room where he underwent a 14 hour brain surgery. We prayed ALL DAY for a miracle. When we got the results that night it was the best outcome we could ever hoped for! The entire tumor was removed with minimal nerve damage! The surgeon predicted he should make almost a full recovery and be about the same ol’ Mason. We shared the news with family & friends in waiting room as we cried & celebrated.
The biopsy confirmed that Masons diagnosis was Ependymoma Type A, an extremely rare and aggressive malignant brain tumor. During recovery from surgery Mason battled extreme pain and suffering like we had never seen. The medications made him extremely violent at times & hallucinations other times & he rarely slept. Mason had to stay at UCSF for almost 2 months while he went through daily rehab to relearn to talk, walk, eat, and much more. In mid February Mason began radiation treatment 5 days a week for 6 weeks. He made a comeback to the baseball field that June & after only 3 games he was back on the mound. Things seemed to be going well, his MRIs every 3 months showed no recurring tumors untill April 2nd, 2018. We were devastated to hear that the tumor had recurred. The MRI revealed that the tumor was in an even worse spot & would be to risky of a surgery. Dr. Gupta recommended Gamma Knife surgery, a very potent radiation beam to basically burn the tumor in hopes of killing it. In mid May of 2018, Mason got the surgery done & we were able to bring him home that day without any side effects, amazingly.
Again , Monica & I stayed home to care for Mason. UCSF would continue to monitor the second tumor every 3 months . Monica quit her career with a great company to care for our boy & homeschool both kids who had gone thru so much. I went back to work & things seemed to be getting better. We were introduced to a Ayurveda Physician in San Jose. We were desperate for help as we had found out the type of tumor Mason had often comes back. “Vaijadi” had changed Masons life from the first meeting on. Special treatment & an extremely tough diet including all organic fruits & vegetables, fresh caught fish & natural supplements after every healthy meal & drinking only water. No more sugar at all, no red meat , no preservatives. And Mason even given the chance does not cheat even a bit, he knows his life depends on it. His optimism and confidence has completely changed. He’s found Jesus. Vaijadi said, “Mason is incredible, I read his pulse and he had no worry, he’s stronger than most adults I’ve ever seen .”
In May 2019, we were shocked that his MRI revealed growth in the second tumor that previously received gamma knife surgery. Mason went home upset. We were once again devastated by the news. We waited to hear back from chief surgeon Dr. Gupta on Masons 13th birthday on May 24, 2019. I promised Mason I would take him hunting but it was a depressing day waiting for that call, untill 2:00 Monica called crying on the phone to tell us the news. We were on the road to Northern California. Since she was crying I thought it was bad when she actually was crying “best news ever.” I tried keeping strong in front of Mason but tears rolled down when I heard “we are not concerned too much and feel as if the tumor repositioned itself.” Mason says, “what are you crying for, I knew it was nothing.” We once again celebrated!!!!!
Unfortunately, on July 29th 2019 a MRI detected that the tumor had almost doubled in size! We are now in this battle again! Surgery is scheduled for August 6th 2019. We are so devastated to have to watch him continue this fight for so long! This is a parent’s worst nightmare!
We are so very grateful for the ongoing donations. We lost a second income as mom had to quit her job and dad is on FMLA to spend as much time with Mason as possible. Our future definitely includes travel to possibly another state and we can’t even fathom money be an issue that prevents us from giving Mason the best medical care possible! We will fight to save his life even if we have to sale everything we own! We are so thankful for those who have and continue to help us!
The Ferrulli Family
Organizer and beneficiary
Kellie Short-Prime
Organizer
Ripon, CA
Monica Ferrulli
Beneficiary
