Callaway Farkas

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  Margaret Meade

Callaway is a sweet, resilient, adorable, and strong girl with first-time parents who are deeply in love with her and prepared for all the challenges that come with having a child that will need special support in the form of nutrition and other services as she grows up.  For now, there are medical bills and out of pocket maximums to clear.  Together we can support her existing medical expenses - and start to save for her ongoing expenses post hospital.  Our fundraising goal is $20,000 to start.

Callaway had a rough and scary first week of her life to be sure.  She's endured and conquered more in a week than many of us have in a lifetime.  Luke and Carina have been put through so much over the last couple of weeks and continue to rise to the challenge that has presented itself.  She will need special nutrition formulated specifically for her and other ongoing support.  You can read more about Methylmalonic Acidemia at https://www.oaanews.org/ 

We will continue to support our friends in this journey and play a meaningful role in her recovery and care. For now, contributing $ is the best most immediate way to extend our loving care.

Yours  - now & always.
xxxx

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From Luke & Carina's CaringBridge;

Our daughter, Callaway True Farkas, was born on Thursday, June 18th, at 11:53am at the Baby+Co birthing center,  happy and healthy. We enjoyed our life as a little family of three for one and a half days at home. but we noticed on Saturday afternoon that Callaway was getting strangely lethargic and breathing heavily. We took her to the Vandy after-hours clinic and they called an ambulance within seconds of seeing her. She had become visibly more pale and limp on the way to the clinic. 

We were ushered to the ER, where a team of doctors and nurses acted quickly and kindly to address all of the possible infections that may lead to these symptoms. By the time she reached the ER, Callaway presented with a dangerously low body temperature, severe lethargy, and strained breathing.  Over the course of the time in the ER, the team decided she needed to be admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and they had surfaced the possibility that what she has going on may be genetic. Sure enough, within hours of being admitted to the PICU, her doctor identified the hugely excessive levels of ammonia in her blood, and said, "We now have a cause... for everything."

Callaway has a genetic condition called Methylmalonic Acidemia which is not tested for during pregnancy (Carina underwent typical genetic screening early in her pregnancy and was determined low-risk) so the only way to know if this is going to be a risk factor is after birth, when newborns have their 24 hour newborn screen. Calla of course had this screening at her 1-day old doctor's appointment. So even if we hadn't noticed Calla's deteriorating health, we would have received an urgent call from the Tennessee Department of Health once her screening results were read, telling us to immediately head to the hospital. 

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