Counting Mountains Moved!

I have been in the floor this afternoon as Mason's physical therapist taught me some exercises to help his hip pain. The smallest of my triplets, Mason weighed only 2 lbs 3 oz. He was the one everyone was most concerned about in the early days after their birth. His very life is a miracle and the way he uses his life is a beautiful thing but trust me when I say that this amazing young man has hard days. We are in a season where he is dealing with chronic hip pain. The cause has been a challenge to identify and the treatment even more so. When he woke up Sunday morning after taking his SAT all day Saturday, he could not even bear weight on that leg because of the pain. My mama heart is breaking as I watch him struggle.

As I sit here trying desperately to not get overwhelmed by his struggles, I thought perhaps looking at an email about 3-year-old Mason would help me count what really counts! (I'm on day 16 of my 31 Day Writing Challenge. You can find them all by clicking over!):

May 10, 2000 -- "Mason continues to look great. We are considering giving him Bo-Tox injections in his legs to loosen his tone. He is so motivated and does soooo much that the doctors are hesitant to be too aggressive because he doesn't seem to need it. But the increased tone is preventing him from getting a sense of balance that would allow him to move away from using his walker. Pray that we will know which direction to go with Mason and that we will do what is absolutely most beneficial to this mover and shaker!"

This kid. He was the last one home from the hospital. The doctors had promised me they would send he and Claire home together so that I wouldn't have two babies home and one at the hospital but Mason had a medical crisis the morning of their scheduled discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit so sweet Claire joined Benjamin at home while Mason had to stay in the hospital another week. When we finally brought him home and lay him in the bed between his brother and sister he laughed out loud. No kidding, this tiny 4 and a half pound boy laughed out loud! He had missed them!!

When Claire started moving and grooving, Mason was watching. He would use every single ounce of his energy to try and move too. Benjamin was talking, Claire was walking and Mason was using every single shred of energy to follow Claire! I wasn't sure he would ever talk he was so focused on his movement.

When we moved to a house in Minnesota with a play set I forbid anyone to go up in the "fort" area without me present for the longest time. I tried to convince myself that it was because I was keeping the two year olds safe but in reality I was sad that my boys would never be able to climb the ladder.

The summer Mason turned three he desperately wanted in that fort. He tried to get up the ladder. He tried to get his little legs to stretch far enough apart to climb the rungs. But his spasticity -- the tightness of his muscles -- just didn't offer him enough range of movement to use a ladder. He stared at that fort all afternoon. Then finally took off across the yard in his little walker. When he reached the slide, he dropped to his knees and climbed up on the slide and climbed UP that slide to get into the fort.

His body had said he could not climb the ladder but no way was that going to stop him. He simply climbed UP the slide. His spirit of determination is his strongest muscle group! 

I have witnessed him turn the darkest situation -- breaking his leg two weeks before opening night of his first play "Snoopy, The Musical" where he played Charlie Brown. This kid couldn't use crutches because his strong leg was broken. He was wheelchair bound for the show. What did he do? He inserted a line about Lucy moving the football as he tried to kick it. The audience went crazy every single time.

I don't know what the solution to his hip pain will be. We simply are not to the other side of this situation as of yet -- but I know this, my Mason will turn even this struggle into a strength. He will find a way to work through the pain and he will help others as a result.

I'm counting his fortitude tonight. I'm counting his determination. I'm counting how many mountains he has already overcome! I am counting on the One who created this mover and shaker!