Mia's Story:

On Monday, November 23rd, Mia Mason, from our Under 13 Black team, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Prior to that, she had been experiencing headaches which had gotten progressively worse. Her pediatrician (Dr. Negar Ghafouri @ the UCLA clinic in Manhattan Beach) ordered a CT Scan which discovered what they thought was bleeding in her brain. She was admitted to UCLA Medical Center where an MRI confirmed she did indeed have a tumor.

On Wednesday, November 25th, Dr. Jorge Lazareff successfully removed her tumor in a 6 hour surgery. Dr. Lazareff described the tumor as the size of a small fist located in front of her cerebellum. Unfortunately, the tumor proved more aggressive than originally anticipated. An additional MRI on Thursday showed that there were no more tumors in her brain, neck or spine. We are currently awaiting the return of the pathology report to determine what additional treatment she will need.

Dr. Lazareff has given us a very optimistic prognosis and expects her to recover completely and be the same energetic and spirited girl we all know and love.

For more information, please visit:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/miamason

Donations can be made to the Caring Bridge

Tributes to Mia

(Mia is standing in back row, 2nd fromleft next to Coach Jim Millinder.  Pictured is the current GU13 Black)