Memorial Fund

Thank you to everyone who is ask about supporting a memorial fund.  We have set up a memorial fund at the University of Florida Shands.  The information for donating is below.  Thank you to everyone who contributes, every penny makes a difference in the fight against CDH.


A Memorial Fund has been set up in Memory of Jackson Dean Purvis son of DeWayne and Caroline Purvis at the University of Florida Shands. The Fund will support Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) research under the administration of Dr. David W. Kays.
Donors can call 877-351-2377 to contribute with a credit/debit card. Communication with the operator needs to include Jackson's full name along with the fund number - 008237
A check can be mailed to University of Florida, PO Box 14425 Gainesville, FL 32604 Be sure to include Jackson Dean Purvis #008237 on the memo line.
A card will be mailed to DeWayne and Caroline acknowledging the gift.

Thank you,

Caroline, DeWayne, and Jackson

Jackson Dean

Jackson Dean was born on July 16, 2013 and passed away a few hours later in the arms of his mother.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  While we wanted to keep Jax here on earth with us, God had other plans for him.  We will forever remember our first born son  and he will always have a piece of our hearts. 

Thank you to each and everyone of you who have prayed for us and our families during this time.  Please help spread the word about CDH and support the efforts by doctors and researchers to work to better understand the birth defect in hopes that other parents will never have to experience the heart ache we have felt this past week. 

It is not good bye little boy, it's just see you later.

Morning July 16, 2013

Good morning!  Nothing big to report here, Praise God!  Everyone slept well last night and DeWayne is back at work this morning.  Sometime today Jackson and I will be getting an MRI, but that could be anytime today.  Once we have the MRI it will still take a while to get the results.  We hope to meet with Dr. Kays again either today or tomorrow.  The MRI will show the severity of the CDH.  Please be in prayer that his liver is not involved in the hernia as this will increase the severity.  If the liver is involved, please be in prayer for us as we will need to come to grips with this diagnosis. 

Have a great day and thanks again!
DeWayne, Caroline, and Jackson

Uneventful Monday July 15

Today has been another uneventful day!  DeWayne went back to work this morning and was able to work a full day.  He did manage to come to the hospital for lunch which great.  My mom (Caroline's mom) has been wonderful and is in town until Jackson is born.  She is staying with me all day while DeWayne is at work for which I am extremely grateful.  We had a lot of visits from doctors today and all had positive things to say about my health and Jackson's.  He is holding very stable without the medications I was on previously which is a huge blessing.  The last member of our team, Dr. Gregg, made it back into town today and he came by.  It was a great visit with him and he is extremely positive and firmly believes we can have a positive outcome.  The situation is still very critical at this time, but very hour that passes right now is huge.  Dr. Gregg is coming back tomorrow to re-evaluate and determine if I can move to another part of the floor where I am less monitored.  This would be a positive move and reflect that they believe I am holding steady and out of immediate danger.  Pray this can happen tomorrow or sometime in the near future. 

Thanks again for all the prayers and kind words of encouragement.

DeWayne, Caroline, and Jackson

25 Weeks!

Yay we made it 25 weeks!!! That was goal number 2 when we got here so it feels amazing to have accomplished it.  Praise God for He is good all the time!

Caroline slept over 9 hours last night which was perfect!  The doctors have also decreased the meds to keep little Jackson in place and he has responded beautifully. 

DeWayne is back at work this morning, but will come by for lunch.

Keep the prayers coming and we will hopefully enjoy another uneventful day!

DeWayne, Caroline,  and Jackson

Evening July 14

Today has been a very uneventful day!  This is exactly what we are praying for.  I have been able to stay very stable as has Jackson.  I have even felt well enough today to eat a lot more.  They are telling us that while we are focusing on Jackson staying put until 34 weeks (at least) the biggest goal is to get him to weigh 4.4 pounds. In order for this to happen I have to eat, a lot!!! I was able to enjoy an entire bag of gummy bears today, which has become the joke of the room since I did not even realize I was eating the entire bag until they were gone! Oh well more calories for Jackson. 

Several people have been asking about the CDH and I wanted to take a minute to let you all know a few things.  First, the CDH diagnosis while very difficult at first is something DeWayne and I have had time to come to grips with and have come to realize is simply part of Jackson's journary to becoming a strong, amazing, man one day.  It is not something that will define him, but is something that will make him stronger.  All of that being said, it is scary.  The diagnosis is extremely hard to hear and the possible complications with a full-time are high.  We have been able to deal with this reality and feel we have a choice: we can either bury our heads in the sand and ignore the problem and feel bad for ourselves and Jax or face it head on and beat CDH and allow it to simply be a part of our family story.  We have prayed often and will continue to pray for God's healing on Jax and his CDH, but in so many ways our prayers are being answered every single day.  Dr. David Kays is in town, he has hope for Jax, Jackson's heart while shifted to the right is developing normally, he is growing right on schedule (45% I mean really have you met his parents that's kind of impressive he is that big!), he is super active and most importantly he is a child of God.  With all of these positives we firmly believe that one day Jackson Dean will come home with us and we will look back on these days simply as days I was able to be a stay at home (or hospital) mom who gave Jackson her undivided attention.  Until then we will continue to pray that the seriousness of his hernia is at a minimual and that God is able to work through Dr. Kays to repair his hernia. 

During our time here we are going to collect scripture vereses that are encouraging and uplifting to our family.  If you have any verses now or anytime in the future you would like to share please do so.  If not verses simply quotes that are positive and you feel would help us during this time would be great. 

Thank you all again for the love, support, and prayers!

DeWayne, Caroline, Jackson

Sunday morning July 14

Last night was by far the best night we have had seen Tuesday night(which of course was at home). Jackson stayed very stable all night, Caroline slept over 8 hours, and DeWayne slept about 8 hours as well. We really think the sleep will help all of us because we are running a marathon not a sprint and we have a long ways to go (ok it really maybe longer than a marathon more like a 50k or an ironman but you get the picture).  

We are planning to spend our morning just relaxing until First Baptist starts online at 10:50 and we will be able to be at church from Shands! How great is technology:-). 

Please pray we continue to have an uneventful day. Tomorrow is our next goal and we are keeping our eyes on the prize! 

Love to all,

DeWayne, Caroline, and Jackson