AT JUST nine years old, Mason Mackenzie has undergone his second major brain surgery after his rare and aggressive cancer returned – once again showing himself to be “a little fighter”.
The youngster is now recovering from the operation as he prepares to face treatment for a second time following a devastating relapse.
His mum Carly has, through necessity, become well versed in the realities of her son’s diagnosis: a grade 3 choroid plexus carcinoma.
His second surgery was one she had hoped “they would never have to face again”.
Mason was diagnosed with cancer for the first time in February 2024 and, after brain surgery and chemotherapy, was in remission for 15 months until last month, when a routine scan revealed that the tumour had returned.
In the weeks since, life moved quickly for the mother-and-son duo as teams of specialist doctors worked to determine the best course of treatment.
Now aged nine, Mason is finding it especially difficult to come to terms with what is ahead, as he knows that alongside harsh treatments, the journey involves missing out on time with his friends at Elphinstone Primary School, going outside and socialising.
The first step was another brain surgery, with much uncertainty surrounding the operation, as surgeons would be operating through the same area as before.
Mason has always amazed friends and family with his ability to smile through everything he has endured, but his mum said that, while he faced each challenge like “a little trooper”, the constant uncertainty and the treatments still ahead had taken a toll on his emotional wellbeing.
The youngster was understandably scared while in hospital the day before surgery and emotions were running high before he was taken into surgery at 9am on July 22.
Carly said: “As a parent, there is no feeling quite like handing your child over to a team of surgeons, knowing there is nothing more you can do but kiss them, tell them you love them, and hope they’ll be okay.
“It breaks a piece of your heart every single time.”
Mason was in his own room to minimise the risk of infection and, once he had been taken to theatre, there was nothing Carly could do but wait.
She said: “You go back into the room and the bed's gone, because they’ve wheeled him away in it, so the room's empty - it's this surreal feeling.”
He returned from surgery at about 2pm and was responding so well that he was taken back to his room instead of intensive care.
Amazingly, while patients are usually expected to spend the first 48 hours after major brain surgery largely sleeping, Mason was already up and walking with the physiotherapist the following morning.
Carly said: “I don’t know how he does it.
“Mason is such a little fighter and I’m so proud of how brave he has been through all of this.
“It’s just trying to get a way of getting rid of this for good.
“It's unimaginable to think about, if we didn't actually catch it till later, how bad it could have been.”
Carly said that they were all “a bit relieved” to have the surgery over and done with, and an MRI scan afterwards showed that all of the detectable cancer had been removed.
The focus now is on destroying any remaining cancer cells before they have the chance to grow again and cause another relapse, and doctors are working to determine the best treatment plan.
Because chemotherapy was not able to remove the tumour in its entirety the first time, specialists are now looking at radiotherapy.
Mason’s cancer is so rare that experts from across the UK and the USA are collaborating to develop the best course of treatment, often relying on scientific studies because there are so few comparable cases.
The first step involves a lumbar puncture this week - a procedure that would cause stress for most children, but one that Mason is no longer too daunted by, after everything he has experienced over the past two years.
His medical team must also decide whether proton beam therapy should target the affected area alone or the whole brain and spine.
The latter would be more likely to destroy microscopic cancer cells, but it would also leave Mason facing the long-term side effects of a much more intensive treatment.
Carly finds it easier to cope by understanding as much as possible about Mason’s condition and asking questions throughout the process.
She said: “It doesn't help me process because it's not anything you can even think of processing, but I think the conversation we had the other day with the doctors and hearing that it’s such a rare cancer, hearing we're having to really think about what options to do – that hit me quite hard.
“I realised actually that this is his future we're talking about.
“I always knew it was bad, but maybe I hadn’t ever actually realised how potentially bad this could get because of the type that it is.”
Over the next few weeks, Carly and Mason will travel to Manchester to meet the specialist team, undergo further scans and tests, and have a mask fitted that Mason will wear during radiotherapy.
They will then return to their home in Elphinstone before travelling back to Manchester to begin treatment.
A fundraiser has been set up to help the family with the costs of living away from home for an extended period; to donate, go to gofundme.com/f/masons-fight-av3jk
His story and updates are also shared on a Facebook page at Mason: My Super Sonic Survivor.
Carly added: "As his mum, there is nothing harder than knowing I can't fix this.
"I would take every bit of this away from him if I could. Because he doesn't deserve any of it."
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