Eliza update 8/15

Dear family and friends,

Thank you to so many of you who have responded to our
email from last night. We're grateful for your prayers. Just a quick note of clarification: we are not considering "terminating life support" as in so many cases we hear about in the news. What we are faced with deciding is whether to continue a range of medications, some of which, all along, we and the doctors have agreed may not be doing her any good at all. Discontinuing medications would, nonetheless, constitute a significant change in her course of care.

We shared with you many months ago, for example, that we have questioned the usefulness of anti-convulsants in Eliza's case, since no combination of these drugs has ever managed to stop her seizures for a significant period of time. We have reached a point, then, at which the doctors agree that one option among many is to begin weaning these and other medications. We are not at the point of considering withdrawing nutrition or hydration, which, unlike some of the medications, clearly are enabling Eliza to live
comfortably.

We appreciate your sensitivity to the deeply personal and private nature of these decisions.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4a

Love,
dixiejax

Eliza update 8/14

Dear family and friends,

A short update after a full couple of days:

On Sunday, Eliza was baptized. The celebration
couldn't have been better: Eliza slept peacefully
through the entire thing (water and all!), we were
surrounded by so many family and friends who have
loved and cared for Eliza and our family over the past
six months, and the service was a beautiful
celebration of God's promises and grace concerning His
children, and in particular, His child, Eliza. We
hosted eighty-five people at our house following the
service, which, those of you who have been at our
house will know, is quite a few for our small space!
But God provided even in this detail a beautiful day,
so we were able to use the backyard and welcome so
many of Eliza's faithful friends. We'll send out
photos just as soon as we get them organized.

Then this afternoon, we met with Eliza's pediatrician,
neonatologist, and social worker to discuss Eliza's
future. Rather than go into a lot of detail at this
point, when we haven't yet had a chance ourselves to
process what was discussed, we have a simple request:
please pray for us as we begin to face some difficult
decisions about how to continue with Eliza's care. We
have reached the point that we have long known was
coming, when we must decide whether to continue with
medications and life support, and to what degree. We
covet your prayers for wisdom and comfort as we begin
this discussion.

Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You.

With love,
dixiejax

Eliza's baptism

Dear family and friends,

Eliza will be baptized this Sunday, August 13, and we would love for you to join us. We will be hosting an open house following the service. If you would like to come celebrate with us, please email us at shdbjackson@yahoo.com and we'll give you the details.

Love,
dixiejax