Five-year-old Jack Falter greets anyone who enters his room at Tampa General Hospital with sticky darts from an orange plastic gun. After target practice, he muffles a greeting and lifts his t-shirt to show off an IV tube with the face of a “Despicable Me” character patched onto it.
Jack has lost most of his ability to speak and walk in just 10 weeks.
On June 16, a tumor was discovered in a critical portion of Jack’s brain. Since the fateful day, the tumor has been removed, but the trauma has left him with several medical issues that did not allow him to attend his first day of kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary Magnet School Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Principal Jennifer West believed that, while Jack’s name was on the roster and his lunch number was in the system, he should be included in the school more than by electronic means. He needed to meet his teacher and classmates.
Faculty members decided that the best way of doing this would be FaceTime.
West and Jack’s teacher, Amanda Holland, FaceTimed him from West’s phone Monday, August 24, for a special orientation. Holland showed him his future desk, along with the decorated walls of the classroom, so he’d know what to expect.
“He was very friendly and had so much to tell me,” Holland says.
The following day, he met his classmates through FaceTime, as well, making it a successful first day of school for this little fighter.
THE DIAGNOSIS
While Jack’s mother, Bethany Falter, rattles off the surgeries and procedures he has undergone, he wrestles her hand open to give her one of the toys he clenches in his tiny fist.
“A few weeks ago, this fight would not be happening,” Bethany Falter says.
This summer did not start out as the Falters had hoped. Jack began to experience headaches, which lasted for about a month. It was then that Bethany Falter took him to a neurologist.
“I did it as a formality,” Bethany Falter says.
It was much more serious than any of them could have imagined. Jack had a brain tumor.
“When I got the call, I started crying because I knew something was wrong, and when (Jack) saw me cry, he started to cry,” Bethany Falter says.
The type of tumor that Jack had is called pilocytic astrocytoma. Thankfully, his was benign, or not cancerous.
Twelve hours after he was diagnosed June 16, Jack went into emergency surgery to have a temporary shunt placed. Then, two days after the original procedure, the tumor was removed from his body.
Jack still suffers from speech and coordination complications because of the portion of the brain that the tumor resided in.
He is bound to a wheelchair but insists on moving as much as he can. His speech is incoherent at times, but when someone asks his age he will say, “5,” with determination behind his eyes.
“I remember within a few days after the surgery, he was getting a CT scan and was just waving at strangers in the hallway,” Bethany Falter says.
After the removal of the tumor, Jack’s airway collapsed, and he had to get a tracheostomy. The procedure made it even more difficult for him to speak.
“It was hard for him because he is such a chatterbox,” Bethany Falter said.
After 36 days at St. Josephs Children’s Hospital, Jack headed to Tampa General Hospital, a facility known for its rehabilitation programs.
Jack’s success may be because of the intensive speech, physical and occupational therapy he receives for a few hours everyday. He is expected to make a full recovery with extensive care and treatment.
He was release from the hospital this month, but it will be a few more before he takes his first steps into his classroom.
Of course, he’s already familiar with his teacher and classmates.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
“He knew a few of the kids in his class from Pre-K,” Bethany Falter said. “They were really excited to see him again.”
The support system that the Falter family has established extends far from just the school system.
Bethany Falter has received countless gift cards, meals are dropped off at her house and a wheelchair ramp was built outside her house, for free.
Her sister, a professional photographer, is also donating in her own way. She is taking family Christmas pictures with the phrase “Pray for Jack” and donating the funds to support the family’s hospital bills.
“Our church family has surrounded us with love,” Bethany Falter said. “I’ve seen it happen for other people, but I’ve never been on the receiving end of that kind of love.”
