Mason Gregory Garka

I know... We get out of the hospital and I stop writing. So I apologize - life just seems to move at a much faster rate once you step back into reality. You have to juggle and wear many different hats once you get discharged so I prioritize  and sitting down to write hits the bottom of the list. Mason continues to thrive. He is an amazing gift that we are given EVERYDAY and I continue feel overwhelming blessed with the outcome. When we started down this journey almost 4 years ago I could have never imagined that things would have turned out so.... (do I dare say it) PERFECT! We had a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS! Mason received a fire truck from Santa - To bad the elves let the one that doesn't work come to our house. So sadly we had to return it to the North Pole. We told Mason that Santa would surely bring him a new one... We are still patiently waiting for it to arrive (Mom and Dad can not find a fire truck anywhere. We are hoping a new shipment of trucks come in with the new year!

I had no idea that getting discharged from the hospital this time would come with such emotions. I couldn’t help but cry, cry and cry some more. Of course I was happy – I felt like the weight of the world suddenly was lifted off of my shoulders and for the first time in almost four years I could breathe a little easier. We made it – we beat the odds; with a healthy thriving little warrior. I also felt a huge sense of sorrow for all of the parents who had to take this same walk with out their child. I couldn’t imagine bearing that cross and the day of our discharge – I thought of each family I had meet whose child hadn’t made it. Discharge day was bittersweet and filled with emotions. We are SO VERY GRATEFUL for Seattle Children’s; the surgeons, the doctors, the nurses, all of the cardiac staff…Mason is alive because of them. When Mason was first diagnosed we knew that the outcome could have been different; we knew what we were up against but believed with the team in Seattl