Mason

Mason was born a healthy and whopping 8lbs, 9oz. He was the most handsome little boy our family could hope for. His sister Madison, now 8, was very excited to have a sibling!

At around 4-5 months of age, we (and family members) were concerned with Mason’s motor skills. He wasn’t trying to sit up, crawl, babble, or coo. He also always seemed in a daze & rarely smiled. At 7 months, we noticed he would wake and start doing weird movements. These movements came in clusters, 2-3 seconds apart, and some nights would last for 20-30 minutes. We were very concerned. We spoke to his pediatrician and received a referral to get a 30min EEG done on him. The neurologist in Dothan, AL told us it’s infantile spasms and wrote Mason a prescription for Keppra. I had a gut feeling it was more than that, so I kept the Keppra in the fridge, and never gave him a dose. We then traveled to Birmingham Alabama Children’s Hospital emergency room. The hospital ended up keeping us for a week! Mason underwent a EEG for 3 days, an MRI, cat scan, and a spinal tap. The neurological team confirmed to us through his readings that he has tonic seizures. They insisted on giving him a dose of Keppra. Mason had a reaction to the Keppra, causing his heart rate to increasingly rise, where they then called a cardiac arrest team into the room. We then chose the holistic route. Since Mason’s 1st dose of Charlotte’s Web CBD OIL, he has been seizure free. Going on 7 months of being seizure free now at 14 months old! We’re very happy that his seizures stopped. We got a call from the neurological team and had to travel back for his genetic report from his spinal tap. That is when we found out why our son is delayed in many areas and is having seizures.

Mason was born with chromosome15 duplication. It was a hard pill to swallow. It took some time to step back and take all of this information in. His diagnosis was so quick, and was so much to try to understand. Now at 14 months, Mason has occupational, physical, & speech therapy once a week. He is progressing and learning new things! He learned how to press buttons on toys, and where his toes are at. He loves to be outdoors, and likes his orchestra music channel & lullabies. We can see in his big brown eyes how determined he is to learn. We are excited about what the future holds for Mason and we will continue to not let his diagnosis define him.

Sending good vibes and good thoughts to all of the families of the Dup15q Alliance. May we all find happiness in our Dupers!