Mason Gregory Garka

Mason is out of surgery!! Kelsey and I finally got some good news. Dr. McMullen told us the surgery went as expected with no surprises. He told us Mason's heart is "vigorous" and is doing well. Hearing that word was like music to my ears. We have not been able to see him yet, but we know it will be a tough sight to see. However, we are so thankful that God has kept His hand on our little boy and got him through the first step. The next 24-48 hours will be critical for Mason as he is still at risk for several issues to arise. We will keep you posted on his progress. Praise God for His protection on our son. Greg & Kelsey

Hi everyone, Well, this is it. Kelsey and I have been preparing ourselves the best we can for Mason's first surgery. He will head to the operating room tomorrow sometime around 7:00-7:30am. Many prayers have been said over the past several months by us and by all of you. Thank you so much for the outpouring of support. Kelsey and I are confident that tomorrow will soon pass and it won't be long before we are wiping mud off his clothes, putting him in timeout, or working with him on his homework. Tomorrow is just the first step in a relatively short process compared to the rest of his life. The blood clot in his leg did not get much better so it is something his body will have to adapt to. His body will adjust to the clot and form additional vessels for blood to flow back up to the heart (isn't God incredible?). So, if you're wondering if there is a chance the clot could break and cause issues we have been assured that that typically only occurs in adults....

Hi Friends, Mason has been doing pretty good the last couple days. He seems to be taking shape right before our eyes. It's so funny to see how big he looks compared to the other babies. That should fair him well when it comes time for surgery. Please pray for a blood clot to clear that has formed in his leg. This in not uncommon, however it would obviously be nice to get it taken care of sooner rather than later. They have put him on some additional medication to break up the clot. The doctors are going to do an ultrasound on Sunday to see if the medication is having an effect. As of right now the surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday, 7/1. If the clot does not get better or takes longer than they would like to clear it could postpone the surgery. Obviously, Kelsey and I don't want this surgery to take place, but we know it is inevitable so additional delays make things pretty tough on us emotionally. We know there are going to be bumps in the road as we progres...

Friends, Not a whole lot of new information to share, which is I guess an update in itself. The team of cariologists and surgeons were supposed to have a conference this morning to determine a gameplan for Mason and have a pretty solid date for surgery. The surgeons were not available to meet due to an immediate heart transplant that had to take place. Obviously this is understandable, our prayers go out to the child that needed the transplant as well as to his/her family. We also know that in order to get a heart another child had to pass away so our prayers are with that family as well. The conference has been rescheduled for Wednesday morning, hopefully we'll get some news as to when Mason's surgery will take place. Kelsey was discharged from the hospital today and is feeling pretty good. She's obviously very sore after 72 hours of labor but is holding up well. We have been able to see Mason everyday. We usually spend a couple hours at a time staring at him, ...