Like birds of a feather we flock together..

I am a HEART MOM

Tough

Blessed

1 in 100

Inspiring

Pushed to the limit

Prepared

Knowledgeable

Compassionate

Brave

Special

Tired

Grateful

On an Amazing Journey

Germaphobic

Fiercely Determined

Selfless

Aware of what REALLY matter

Amazing

Hopeful

Strong Beyond Measure

Courageous

Seeking Miracles

Sleep Deprived

An Ordinary Woman Caring for an EXTRAORDINARY CHILD

Living for the moment

Taking nothing for Granted

Doing what I think is Best for MY child

Loving

Willing to do whats required of me

a cheerleader

a Warrior

Worried

An Example

An advocate

in survival mode

a student

Lucky

Pleading

Following my Instincts

Nervous

Stressed

STRONGER THAN I KNOW

THANK YOU KATIE FOR THE AMAZING COOKIES!

I have spent what feels like a lifetime getting to know other heart mothers "virtually". I do not always get the opportunity to meet them face to face but when I do it feels like we have been friends forever, almost like I just saw them the previous week.

This month I had the opportunity to enjoy the most amazing lunch with some other heart mothers.
We even had a few crazy mom's drive hours to join us (I say crazy with LOVE).
For me this just shows how special our heart mom get together are, we after all know intimately the journey each is on even though we all are at different stages in the journey.

These women (above) all have children like Mason. Single ventricle kids with their own unique, beautiful and complex hearts.
This photo is a real life example of the scary truth we all face... Statistically one of our children will not make it to their first birthday. Sadly two days after this lunch one of the moms lost their baby after a courageous fight.

Raising a child with a complex heart is difficult, scary, and hard.
Losing a child to to a CHD is earth shattering.

Comments

Loaded Diaper?!?!?

Today's post title comes to you from the one and only Greg Garka... Thanks for the idea babe! As far as Mason is concernced today was another good day for our little man! We made our goal and got up and went on a total of three walks. The last walk of the night he spotted the “playroom” and was interested so we stopped and visited with our neighbors while he played. It was the highlight of the day. His appetite decreased today but that is to be expected since he hadn’t yet had a bowel movement (in 6 days)– however about 60 minutes ago things changed in that department and I am happy to report his bowels are working and back in action… During his echo he was again a crowd pleaser and was on his best behavior. The technician said that he was the best 3 year old she has done. It is so funny; he gets upset when something is about to happen and he doesn’t understand what. He tells us he is scared and then after we explain to him what they are going to do and that it won’t hurt –...

10 Years....

Mason, It is amazing how time passes by in the blink of an eye after you have kids…. It seems like just yesterday, yet this week, 10 years have passed since our life was turned upside down. The day our world took a turn we never saw coming. Each year leading up to the anniversary, I get anxious, emotional, sad, scared, and angry. I WISH 10 years later I felt differently. But I don’t. It almost feels just as raw as the day we were told…. This year. I am consciously recognizing what it is… MONDAY FEBRUARY 11 th ,2008. We sat in a room where a Doctor carefully articulated and explained to us about your special heart. There is one detail about this day I have seemed to forget in time. That is the name of the doctor who told us about our fate…. I could describe to you in details about anything else you might want to know, who was there, what we were wearing, what the Doctor himself looked like and the conversation we had. Yet his name, which used to be...

Our Day at Children's

Hello all, Kelsey and I spent the morning at Children's Hopsital in Seattle today, what a place! They sure do a good job of trying to make the kids feel comfortable...part of me didn't even feel like I was at a hospital. We met with a Cardiologist, Dr. Vernon, and a Paranaetologist, Dr. Holmgren (yes, Mike Holmgren's daughter). Both of them were very nice and extremely informational. Dr. Vernon did confirm that Mason has HLHS and is a candidate for the Fontan Operations, which are the three stage surgeries he will have to go through to get his heart working as normal as possible. Kelsey and I have been talking about where we would want to do the surgeries in case we weren't comfortable with Seattle Children's. We knew going in that Children's in Seattle is one of the premeir hospitals in the country, but weren't sure how they were compared to other hospital's like University of Michigan with this particular heart disease. I'm glad to say that w...

Mason Gregory Garka

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