My Story
Hello, my name is Andrew Wade Jackson. My friends call me Drew. When my mommy was 17 weeks pregnant they found out that I have a severe heart defect called an unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect. This means I have holes in the septal wall of my heart and that only 1 of my 2 ventricles is working properly. This heart defect was caused by trisomy 21 often known as Downs Syndrome.
I was born in Kalispell on July 10th and 3 hours after birth took my first plane ride to Seattle. I was there for 10 days as they monitored my heart. Then I went home to Kalispell to be with my family.
On September 10th I was set to have a pulmonary band surgery which is normally a low risk surgery. However, they were not able to do this surgery and had to begin the "Norwood" series of surgeries. My first surgery was Sept. 11th. Early in the morning I went into surgery spending 4 hours on the heart and lung by-pass machine. When it was time to come off they could not get my heart and lungs started again. I went on a life support machine called ECMO which takes the blood from the body, gives it oxygen and sends it back. This machine would be my best friend for the next 12 days and ultimately saved my life. After many days on life support, many more in the CICU, and a while on the floor I was able to return home. At home I was on oxygen full time, had a feeding tube, and many medications. On April 28th, 2009 I had my second open heart surgery, the Glenn. This surgery was not near as eventful as the first and we were able to return home after only 15 days away. At home things have gone well. I am now without oxygen and without my feeding tube. Currently my Cardiologist is watching me closly as we wait for my next open heart surgery, the Fontan. This will take place between the ages of three and five. My mommy and daddy are nervous as this surgery is more major than the last. Given the complexity of my heart, my past history of issues, and my trisomy 21 make my surgerys more difficult. However, my mommy and daddy trust in the Lord and the Power of Prayer.
August of 2011 we decided to move to Seattle to be closer to Childrens and are adjusting to life in the big city. On Tuesday July 31st I will have my next major open heart surgery. Please remember to say a prayer for me.
Thank you for visiting my site.
Here are a few statistics about my life from July 10, 2008 to July 24,2012:
Days lived at Childrens: 55
Days in ICU: 33
Days on Life Support: 17
2 Open Heart Surgery(Complete with Heart and Lung By-Pass machine)
1 Heart Surgery
3 Heart Cauterization
1 Life Flight(Kalispell to Seattle)
1 Ambulance Ride(Kalispell Hospital to Airport)
3 Trips to Seattle
1 Cardiac Arrest(Complete with CPR and Epinephrine-This saved my life)
To many Echocardiograms to count
To many trips to Cardiologist to count
To many blood transfusions to count
Please say a prayer for me.
Love, Baby Drew and Family
Day 13 Saying goodbye to a Friend
Today I had to say goodbye to my friend Ecmo. While it was my friend that has kept me alive and given me the time to rest it was time for me to take over. After being off for almost 24 hours the doctors decided I had been doing well enough to make it without Ecmo. This is a very big step for me and my mommy and daddy are so happy. While I am still deemed in critical condition on life support, this was a big milestone. Hopefully soon I get off the nitric oxide and the ventilator and then the recovery starts. I am so grateful for the strength the Lord has given me, and the many friends who have prayed for me along the way. I will still need prayers: for my lungs to stay strong and work good, for more strength when they go to get me off the other pieces of life support, and for a speedy recovery. I hope you enjoy the pictures of me without Ecmo.
Please remember to say a prayer for me.
Love, Drew and Family
3 comments:
Dear Drew,
Way to go with saying goodbye to your friend. Sometimes some friends just have to step away and let us walk without them. We know however, we are never walking alone. Keep up the hard work and I hope to see you soon. You are in our prayers!
Love,
Kelly
Dear Little Baby Andrew,
One giant step forward...what a
trooper fighting the good fight!
We are very happy and so very
proud of you. Soon we expect you
to be completely "on your own" and
ready to go home.
Keep up the good work. I am so
proud of my little great grandson.
Love forever.
Grandma Great
We're praying for you!
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