Jackson’s Journey

Posted on Apr 16, 2011 in | 4 comments

Jackson was the youngest of our four children; Summer, Cesciley, Eli, and then Jackson.  He was a very active boy who showed a zest for life.  Constantly on the move, we learned early on that we would need to keep a close watch on him.  Life was an adventure and he lived it fearlessly. His contagious smile and personality impacted all who came in contact with him.

At Jackson’s four year old “Well Child Check Up”, Jackson’s doctor did a blood draw to check his levels. The test came back and it showed that his blood levels were extremely low and we needed to get him up to DeVos Children’s Hospital.  Over the next 24 hours Jackson received numerous blood transfusions to stabilize his counts.  Many tests were done trying to come up with the cause, but all were coming back negative.  It wasn’t until two weeks later that one of the tests came back positive, it was for Fanconi’s Anemia. 

Fanconi’s Anemia is a rare genetic that effects the bone marrow’s ability to function.  Over the next few months Jackson’s counts continued to be unstable and he continued to receive numerous transfusions.  In March, Jackson was admitted into the DeVos Children’s hospital to receive a bone marrow transplant.  The first week consisted of radiation and chemotherapy to prepare his body to accept the donor’s cells.  Then the transplant which consisted of introducing the donor cells through in IV.

Over the next few weeks Jackson was isolated in his room while we waited to see if the cells would start producing.  Jackson’s body began producing and he was finally able to come home in June. However, around the end of July we began to notice Jackson’s balance was off and he was getting weaker.  An MRI was done and some inflammation was found on his brain.  Over the next several days he lost the ability to talk and move his legs and arms.  Further MRIs showed that the brain cells were being killed off and that Jackson would not recover.

Eight days after his 5^thbirthday we brought him home and called in Hospice.  One week later Jackson was welcomed into Heaven by his Heavenly Father, Jesus.  Throughout his entire journey Jackson lived courageously, brought joy to those he came in contact with, and could often be heard singing praises to God.