We will be holding a Funeral Mass in honor of Mason Ryder on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 4:00 pm at St. Therese Catholic Church in Portland.  Following the Mass, there will be a reception in the adjacent Parish Social Center.  All are welcome to come celebrate the life of our precious miracle. 

Good Night, My Baby

Just a few short days after his 2nd birthday, our precious miracle, his Mama’s “Bubba,” his Papa’s “Sweet Pea,” lost his fight for life. Mason Ryder was our heart, our soul, and our joy. In his short life, he taught us how to love unconditionally, to hope relentlessly, and to believe in miracles. He endured so much physical pain for much of his life, but never seemed to let it bother him. All who knew him were amazed by his strength and resilience. His laugh was infectious, his smile perfect! We are comforted in knowing that we will again see him some day, but feel enormous pain as we can no longer hold him in our arms.

Thank you all for your love, your kind words and prayers in times of trouble, your celebration of his successes, and your unending support as we have walked this journey with the love of our lives, our son.
Funeral details will be forthcoming.

Mason continues to persevere and had a few smiles and a few minutes of play today. He is sleeping nearly all the time, but wakes every hour or so for a few short minutes. His saturations continue to be low most of the time. We are in constant contact with his providers making sure that he is comfortable and has the best quality of life he can for the time he has remaining.

At this point, it is becoming too difficult to recap as we keep our constant vigil so I may not post a message on the blog every day. Rest assured, though, I will keep you posted with changes as they occur.

Thank you to everyone who has stood by us with their love, their prayers, and their support. We have really depended on you to give us strength to get through each day.

Not much to write today. Mason continued his fight, though his saturations continue to be low while awake. He sleeps a lot and still wakes for a few tosses of the rubber balls. Tonight, he's struggling to hold his saturations even while asleep. As always, we will continue to keep him comfortable, make sure he knows he is loved by us and so many others, and pray for peace and comfort.

Never a Dull Moment

We awoke this morning to the nurse coming in saying: "We're going to have to move Mason to another room. The sign outside your door just sparked and then let out a bunch of smoke." My initial response (in my head at least): "You've got to be kidding me!" Yes, it's true. There's never a dull moment in Mason's life! Well, we ended up moving down the hall for about 6 hours (we could have moved back after about 3, but Mason fell asleep for another 3). During the events of this morning, we were reminded how much better it is to be in a bigger room. It was so great to get back in our own little home.

Mason's oxygen saturations continue to fall and he's sleeping more and more. He sleeps for an hour 2, then its up to join the party and have a good time for 15 - 30 minutes. Those wakeful times were spent playing with the rubber balls, throwing things off of the end of the crib to get a reaction, and smiling and laughing with his grandparents and aunt and uncle. It amazes me how his saturations can be so incredibly low, yet he can be sitting at the edge of the crib with a smile on his face and have enough energy to play to the crowd. When we tell the stories of his saturations and play time to nurses and doctors around here, they are amazed. No one they've ever worked with or known has had saturations that low and been awake, much less awake and playing.

Mason's resilience, determination, stubbornness, strength and ability to have fun while the worst is happening continue to inspire me. In my lifetime can only hope to be half the person he has become in just 2 short years. What an amazing little boy!

The Fighter

In true Mason style, today was a day of fighting, playing, and cuddling. He awoke this morning with a smile (after having been up for a few hours last night) and had a good time playing with his Staramama. After some good play, he had some great cuddle time with Staramama, but when we attempted to put Mason back in his crib, the fight was on. He only wanted to play or cuddle, and had no interest in falling asleep, despite low saturations.

Finally, after some good cuddle time with Mama, Mason finally fell asleep, but only for a short while. This time, though, he woke himself up by sitting up. I'm pretty sure he didn't realize what he was doing or that he would even end up awake, but apparently, it was time to play. Despite continued saturations low enough and carbon dioxide high enough to cause any of us to sleep all the time, Mason really wanted to play. He played with his rings, he played with the rubber balls, and he played with any syringe that was handed to him. We could tell his body wanted to sleep, but his spirit continued to play, laugh, and smile. What an amazing fighter!

I fear we are very close to the end for Mason. We cannot turn up the oxygen any more and are only able to maintain ok saturations when he's sleeping. I once again pray for peace and comfort for our little fighter and hope that the time we have left continues to be full of play and cuddles.

A Happy Birthday

Today we celebrated turning 2. Last year he brought his birthday party to our house. This year we brought it to him. It was a day full of pizza, cupcakes, presents and playtime. With Staramama, Pom Pomp, Uncle Ryan, Mama, Papa we played ball toss, ring toss, wet washcloth and even had naptime. There were many giggles from Mason as he learned it is great fun to throw the balls over the crib and watching Aunt JuJu and Uncle Charlos try to catch it, miss it, then chase it just to wash it and start all over again. Mason giggled and giggled watching Pom Pomp bounce the balls and even tried to do the same in his crib. It was so much fun Mason had to take breaks in between entertainment acts to catch his breath from giggling.



It is amazing to watch Mason enjoy playtime so much and we are thankful for these precious times we have with him.