Look who's 18!

June 1, 1998: Jackson came into the world crying. And he couldn't stop. A doctor privately told the new daddy that his son probably wouldn't make it through the night.

June 1, 2016: Jackson started the day bursting with smiles. "Happy birthday!" he exclaimed as his mom walked into the room. He just couldn't wait for it to be said.

"Jackson's 18?" asked little Sara. "Yes," 9-year-old Christian replied, "he's a premature adult." I haven't heard that phrase before, but it's actually a good description.

In the weeks prior when Angy would ask Jackson what he wanted to do on his birthday, he always said "hotel." What he likes best about staying at a hotel are the little toiletries in the bathroom. It seemed an expensive way to get "free" travel-size toiletries, so she hoped he would change his mind.

Angy asked again on the big day what he wanted to do. "Bath & Body Works." (Good call, buddy.) They spent an hour in that little store while Jackson took his time examining all the products and happily dancing to the '90s music being played.

He finally settled on $60 worth of scented products in the usual quantity of two each. When Christian saw the purchases later, he noticed that Jackson had selected two men's fragrances, which he normally doesn't do. "Now," Christian proclaimed, "you're a true man."

Jackson brought a few of his treasures to our Sunday gathering. Do you see the little bottle without a matching pair? Angy bought that one for herself, but Jackson confiscated it.

Since he doesn't like cake, we put together a bowl of birthday candy filled with two of his favorites—strawberry gummies and butterfly gummies. I also made Jackson a card and put some cash in it so he could do more shopping. I love that he took time to study his card and reread it.

It said in part: "Through all of your ages and stages, you've been a
beautiful, bright light in our family—a marvelous blessing from God."

My mom, Jackson's beloved Mema, always said she wanted to live long enough to see him turn 18. She missed it by only 6 weeks.

When Angy would bring Jackson to visit her in the hospital, she had to assure him that he wasn't going to have anything done. Naturally, he doesn't like hospitals (except for the gift shops, that is). And he didn't like seeing the hospital bed in Mema's living room when she was under hospice care.

During the 10 weeks she was sick, Jackson continued his usual mantra of "Mema's house" because he always wanted to go there. When Angy told him about Mema's passing, he didn't show any reaction. But when she asked a few days later if he wanted to go to Mema's house, for the first time in his life, Jackson said "no."

With Mema in November

Less than a week after his birthday was his annual checkup with the cardiologist. We were apprehensive about it, given that each year Jackson gets heavier and the time for his next medical procedure gets closer. Every few years, he has to have something done, and it's been two years since his stents were dilated.

A lot of prayers went up from Angy, Darrell, and me. Here's how our gracious, merciful God answered. (You're just going to have to forgive me for the excessive use of exclamation marks.)

• Jackson's stents still look great, so no surgery this year!
• Although he's always had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure, which can enlarge and harden the heart even more, his heart has actually gotten smaller!
• The cardiologist said that when he watched the echogram, had he not known about Jackson's high blood pressure and aortic stenosis, he would have thought he was looking at a normal heart!
• Instead of Jackson aging out of the fantastic Texas Children's Hospital now that he's 18, he'll be in a new program for adults with special needs and receive medical care through Texas Children's for the rest of his life!

Wow, Lord. Just wow.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20–21).

And that's not all. Jackson generally hates going to the doctor and gets majorly distressed when his blood pressure is taken, but this visit was actually joyful!

When the nurse rolled the blood pressure machine into the room, Jackson started rocking and singing, then pointed to the machine and said "blood pressure." The whole time on the exam table while she took his pressure in all four limbs, his big smile never faded and he kept on singing. Angy asked if he was "loving life" to which he replied "YEAH!"

Wow again, Lord.

Afterward, Angy took him to Walmart to spend some of his birthday money. As he bounded across the parking lot back to the car with a bag of Axe body spray and a huge smile, she remarked that it was a good day. Jackson heartily agreed, "GOOD DAY!"

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).

Jackson has had quite a journey so far. And I'm so blessed to have been a part of it. My hope is to live at least long enough to see him turn 40. But if I miss it by 6 weeks, well, that would be close enough.

The checkup

Apologies for being so long in writing. (I'll place the blame on my crazy busy job, while thanking God that I have it!)

Last Sunday at Mema's, Jackson kept patting his heart and saying, "Doctor," which Angy said he's been doing for the past few weeks. She had called Dr. Petit's office about it and Jackson's continuing high blood pressure, but they advised waiting for his scheduled post-op checkup.

Every time Jackson patted his heart on Sunday and said, "Doctor," Angy would reply that they were going to see him on Tuesday. I think we were all concerned that Jackson was trying to say something was wrong, although he acted like he felt OK.

He also kept saying "Target," so we went there on the way home. Jackson led us to the candy aisle and selected a bag of Sploshberry Gummies. Angy said that he's been looking at this new candy on eBay and apparently researched where to find it locally.

On Monday, Angy received a call from the school nurse because Jackson was patting his stomach and his heart and crying hysterically. (Dr. Petit had said that Jackson might experience pain in his stomach because of the location the bottom stent moved to while he was in the hospital.) When Angy walked into the nurse's office, Jackson smiled and got up to go. He seemed perfectly fine then, so Angy talked to him on the way out about not pretending he's sick just to get out of school.

Jackson took a nap when they got home, which is unusual for him. Was it because he was physically ill or because he had actually been overacting and was tired from it? God only knows.

At the checkup on Tuesday, Jackson tolerated well having his blood pressure checked in both arms and legs. It was a miracle that the nurse only had to do it once in each limb, so good progress there. The x-rays, however, were a different story. Angy said that Jackson was hysterical the entire time, with tears flooding down his face. (I regret not taking off from my crazy busy job to be with them.)

Here's the rundown on the results of Jackson's checkup:

• Although the bottom stent is lower than Dr. Petit would like it to be, all three stents have remained in the same place as they were when Jackson left the hospital. (Thank you, Jesus!)
• Jackson's aorta is nice and big where the stents are, but everywhere else, his aorta is damaged by coarctation.
• Now that enough time has passed for his body to adjust to the new blood flow from the stents, Jackson's blood pressure should have gone down. It's still 155–165 over 90 when he's calm and in the 180s over 110 when he's agitated.
• Dr. Petit doubled Jackson's blood pressure medicine and changed the prescription to tablets that can be crushed in food as opposed to the expensive ($150/month) liquid compound medicine he's been taking that insurance doesn't cover. (Another praise to the King!)
• They're also going to double-check the MRI images from last October to see whether there's any coarctation in the arteries to Jackson's kidneys.

So, prayer warriors, you know what to do.

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord especially during this Easter weekend, give a listen to Chris Tomlin's I Will Rise and remember these words of Jesus:

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40)

When Jesus calls my name, I will rise, and Jackson will too. Our bodies will be perfect, and I'll get to learn the things my heart longs to know now.