Speaking up for a Crohn’s cure
Sixth-grader’s fundraising to fight disease
The stomachaches and weight loss began when Mason Wetmore was in fourth grade. Dark circles appeared under his eyes and he wasn’t hungry. He just wanted to lay down all the time.
So Mason’s mom, Jill Wetmore, took him to his pediatrician, who sent him to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he underwent a battery of invasive tests, including a colonoscopy, endoscopy and MRI. Doctors told Mason he has Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.
Mason said he “freaked out” when he heard the word disease, but since then he’s become a warrior in the fight to find a cure for it. Now 12 and a sixth-grader at Swampscott Middle School, Mason has helped raise more than $25,000 toward finding a cure since his diagnosis.
Not a lot of people know about Crohn’s, Mason told me yesterday, which is why he’s hard at work telling them about it.
Mason also wants people to know he’s so much more than the disease he’s battling. He likes mixed martial arts, riding his bike and swimming.
“Even though I have Crohn’s disease,” he said, “I’m still a normal kid.”
Tomorrow, a big group of Mason’s family and friends, called “Mason’s Marchers,” will take part in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s annual Take Steps Walk in Boston.
This is Mason’s third year at the walk. Last year, he was the event’s “Pediatric Honoree” and told his story to the crowd on Boston Common. This year, Mason has already raised more than $11,000 for the foundation.
In April, Mason and his family held a fundraiser at the Point of Pines Yacht Club in Revere. Strangers dropped off gift baskets. Over 160 people attended. Mason spoke to them, too. “This is showing Mason that he’s not alone in this,” Jill said of the community support.
After his diagnosis, Mason was put on lots of medications, including heavy-duty Prednisone, to get rid of the inflammation that was making him sick, his mother said. A year and a half later, Mason’s doctor, Jess Kaplan, suggested he try the “specific carbohydrate diet.”
That meant no wheat, no sugar, no lactose — except for cheese — and no bread, potatoes or rice. Mason started eating lots of fruits, vegetables and meat. He loves salmon and dried bananas. His mom makes him waffles with almond flour.
And then, Mason started gaining back the weight he lost. He’s been off medications for over a year. “Mason is thriving on this diet,” Jill said. “He is an expert on what he can eat and what he can’t eat.”
Mason, a big Patriots fan, got a personal video from former Pats lineman Matt Light applauding him for raising awareness. Light also has Crohn’s disease.
Jill is so proud of her son. “Mason is 12,” Jill said. “He’s got a full life ahead of him, hopefully at some point Crohn’s-free.”