Mason’s Story

Mason Strickland was born 3 1/2 weeks early on Nov 30, 2007. His parents, Summer and Mark, took him home from the hospital at 2 days old, thinking he was a healthy little newborn. It wasn’t long before they realized that Mason’s first night at home was not like what they experienced with their other 4 children. On his first night, he fell ill. He did not want to eat and his body temperature was cool. Mason was taken to the pediatrician the next day. Within minutes, an ambulance was called when a pulse could not be detected and his temperature noted to be 88 degrees. What happened at the hospital in the next 30 minutes would be every parent’s nightmare. Mason was quickly put on a warmer to increase his body temp and IV antibiotics were given as a precaution to possible infection. Just as it seemed things were under control, Mason began to flat line on the monitor. A Code Blue was called and as doctors and nurses rushed in, Mason’s parents were ushered out so that the staff could work. It was an agonizing 40 minutes as Mark and Summer waited. They were not sure of the exact cause. Was Mason’s body shutting down due to infection or was there an underlying heart problem? The minutes seem like hours when parents are left to ponder such questions.

Once Mason was stable, the doctors informed his parents that there was a severe problem with the function of his heart. Within two hours, Mason was taken via Life Flight to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City. There, it was learned, that Mason had a variation of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). His mitral valve was so tiny that the blood flow through his left ventricle was very inefficient. In addition, his liver and kidneys were functioning very poorly. In order to help him overcome this defect, Mason would need 3 heart surgeries over time. With the events that had occurred in these first 3 days, it was unclear when the first surgery could be done.

Mason did well in the days to follow, so well in fact that he was able to have the first surgery at just 10 days old. On Dec 10, 2007, Mason had the Norwood with Sano heart surgery. He spent a total of 7 weeks in the hospital, mostly in the PICU, before being able to go home. Mason was reunited with the family but his stay was intermittently interrupted for many reasons. At 4 months old, Mason went into severe tachycardia at home and needed to be taken via Life Flight to Primary Children’s Medical Center from the family’s front lawn. At 6 months old, Mason had his 2nd open heart surgery, the bi-directional Glenn which led to a 2 week stay in the hospital. In addition, there were hospital stays due to pneumonia, H1N1, G-tube surgery, fevers, etc.

In April of 2009 (16 months old), at a routine echo he was diagnosed with heart failure and moderate to severe leaking in his tricuspid valve. Mason’s new diagnosis required additional heart medications and full-time oxygen. His rapid weight loss due to the heart failure necessitated a G-tube button be placed. All these things were done in the hope of improving Mason’s heart function. In August of 2009, it was determined that because there had not been any improvement in his heart function over the previous 5 months, Mason would need a heart transplant. It was then that the process began to get Mason listed for transplant. With his heart in its current condition, Mason would not be able to go on to the 3rd recommended surgery.

On September 3rd 2009, Mason had a pre-transplant heart catheterization. This was routine procedure in order to be listed. During the procedure, it was found that Mason had severe pulmonary vein stenosis. Both of his left pulmonary veins were completed obstructed, with no blood flow between his left lung and his heart. This new information meant that Mason was no longer a candidate for heart transplant. The family was then told that there was nothing more that could be done and that Mason would probably only live for several months before succumbing to his condition.

It is hard to imagine the feeling that Mason’s parents must have had after receiving such news. For them, one of the hardest parts was going home to face the other children, who were very excited for Mason to get a new heart. Mason’s heart transplant had provided new hope to the family. It was a way to get Mason and his mommy home to the family where they belonged. Hearing that transplant was not an option was painful; thinking about the potential outcome was devastating. Like many families, the Stricklands did not give up that easy. They wanted to give Mason every possible chance they could. They owed it to Mason, but they owed it to their other children as well.

The parents learned that they could send Mason’s history to transplant centers that do heart-lung transplants. It was a long shot given his case and current condition that he would be accepted. Indeed, most centers did say Mason was too high risk for a heart-lung transplant. In late 2009, the Stricklands received the answer to their many prayers. Two hospitals stepped forward with a new option. Both suggested that since Mason’s right lung was still very healthy, they could do a heart only transplant to his own one healthy lung. Although a less common procedure and still very risky, the option brought back the feeling of hope that they had before. Mason would have a new chance at life again.

The Stricklands decided that the hospital to do Mason’s transplant would be Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. In January 2010, Mason was officially accepted by their Board of Transplant Doctors and Surgeons to be a “heart only” recipient. Mason and his mother would have to leave the family and live in Northern California while he waited for his new heart. On February 16, 2010, Mason said goodbye to his dad and siblings and headed to California. He was about to begin his wait for his donor heart to be found. For the family, being apart during this time was very hard. Mason needed to stay in California and for Summer and Mark, it was important that their 4 older children stayed on as normal a schedule as they possibly could. They prayed that the wait would not be too long. They prayed for Mason’s return to health and for the reunion of the family.

In early April, the Stricklands came together as a family in California to celebrate Easter. The children were off from school for break so it provided a perfect opportunity. They were only together a short period when Mason had a mini-stroke and needed to be admitted to the CVICU for monitoring. This meant that Mason would be in the hospital over the Easter weekend. The family was very disappointed that they would not be able to celebrate Easter with Mason as they had planned. What they did not know, was that they were going to get a great gift that weekend. On the evening of April 3, 2010, Mason’s heart failure/ transplant cardiologist came to the CVICU to inform the family that they had a matching donor and Mason would receive his new heart on Easter morning. To the Stricklands, this was an Easter miracle. Mason has since become affectionately nicknamed, Miracle Mason.

Mason’s successful heart transplant has come with many of the mountains that newly transplanted children and families must climb. It is a new way of life with a new set of challenges, many medications and much monitoring. Mason, still in California, has been undergoing routine heart catherizations to check for rejection. There has been a degree of rejection evident in the test results but they are currently trending downward. The Stricklands continue to maintain a positive and healthy outlook for Mason and their entire family. They are confident that their Miracle Mason can get through anything! A quote by Albert Einstein on the family’s blog page sums things up; “There are two ways to live your life – one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle.” Little Mason Strickland is definitely a miracle.