“ We will be forever grateful for God ’ s miracles that have been bestowed on Jackson , and our family , through the Little Light House .”
Jackson
Jackson Doyal Wilkey was born full term in December 2011 . A beautiful 6 pound 9 ounce baby boy , the first 5 months of Jackson ’ s life were typical . He was meeting and exceeding milestones , smiling , cooing , and sitting up , and we were over the moon with our first baby .
Over Memorial Day weekend in 2012 , we noticed a rhythmic twitching , similar the newborn moro reflex . Friends and family tried to reassure us , but we felt something was wrong . Our baby who was rolling , sitting , and smiling only days before , had seemingly lost all those milestones overnight . On Saturday of that weekend , we took him to the pediatric emergency room . It was there that Jackson was admitted for extensive testing over a 5-day period .
Jackson was diagnosed with a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy , infantile spasms . The root of his infantile spasms was determined to be a rare genetic condition called
Tuberous Sclerosis . Tuberous Sclerosis causes benign tumor growth on many vital organ systems and is the leading genetic cause of both epilepsy and autism .
After receiving Jackson ’ s diagnosis , a follow up appointment with a local neurologist led us to get Jackson placed on the Little Light House waiting list . Jackson was 6 months old when he was placed on the waiting list , and we were thrilled when he was able to attend , at age 2 , in August of 2014 .
Jackson had been receiving PT , OT , and ST from the time of his
“ We will be forever grateful for God ’ s miracles that have been bestowed on Jackson , and our family , through the Little Light House .”
diagnosis , but at the time of his enrollment in LLH he was still very delayed in speech , gross motor , and fine motor skills . He was also experiencing upwards of 100 complex partial seizures per day .
After his enrollment , Jackson began to develop social skills and interact with his peers . His gross motor skills began to dramatically improve , and he began to climb and jump . We were witnessing miracles each day .
At age 3 , in February of his first year at Little Light House , Jackson underwent brain surgery at Le Bonheur
Children ’ s Hospital in Memphis , TN . He had a right frontal lobectomy in order help control his refectory epilepsy . The surgery was successful , and through God ’ s grace Jackson has remained seizure free since surgery .
In May of 2018 , Jackson graduated from the Little Light House . During his 4 years Jackson has grown in so many ways . He can now run , ride a trike , and shoots basketball like a pro . He loves basketball and can easily shoot ( and make !!) baskets on a 10-foot goal . He is now verbal , and my very favorite words are , “ I love you
Mama , I do , I do , I do .” He also loves to request chicken and fries or pizza for every meal . He has also started pre-writing and can draw vertical and horizontal lines and of course basketballs ( circles ).
Jackson has excelled during his time at Little Light House . We will be forever grateful for God ’ s miracles that have been bestowed on Jackson , and our family , through the Little Light House .
Love , Matt , Lindsay , Landri , Jackson , and Posey Wilkey
6 | THE BEACON