Little Jackson's Journey

On the 11/08/26 Jackson, only 3, was found to have a large brain tumour. This was a terrifying answer to why Jackson has been losing a lot of weight over the last 8 months, dealing with severe food aversions, & constant headaches.

Kayla, Patrick & Jackson have been in Starship Hospital ever since, only being allowed to head back home to the Waikato early September, after he has had two surgeries to put drains in for the fluid in his brain. They finally received biopsy results that showed it was a Suprasellar and hypothalamic low-grade glioma (non-cancerous). This is causing Diencephalic syndrome, which is why Jacksons weight has plummeted to the 0.4th percentile for his age.

The Gullet family now face at least two years of treatment to shrink the tumour, & although there is some relief that it is non-cancerous, there is an immediate threat to his eyesight because the growth is putting so much pressure on his optic nerves.

During this month in Starship, daily household costs have not stopped, as well as the logistics of caring for Jackson's two sisters, with Auntie Bex taking time off from her work to essentially have full-time care of them.

The family now have Jackson at home with a feeding tube, which requires round the clock care, & are starting medication to shrink the tumour. When it does, Jackson's future will likely be filled with physio & speech therapy appointments, as his brain adjusts to having the room it is meant to have for a busy & growing young boy.