“I adopted my son Gabe on November 29, 2011 and, almost immediately, a village formed around us. He was just 16 months old and so easy to love. He is now five and people still melt when he smiles at them. He is a lover of all things motorized – trucks, tractors, four wheelers, construction vehicles, lawn mowers – they hold his undivided attention. He especially loves visiting the race track with the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s Racing4Research program. He also loves electronic gadgets. If it has buttons, he wants to push them and many friends and relatives have received ‘special’ phone calls and texts from Gabe after he has snatched someone’s phone.
“Neurofibromatosis and metopic craniosynostosis were words I couldn’t pronounce before I met Gabe, but now I am an expert. Gabe underwent surgery on his cranial vault at two years old. The operation involved surgeons removing the front part of his skull, recreating it to make more room for his brain, and then putting it all back together. It took 18 months for him to recover but today he is doing well.
“NF has meant lots of doctor appointments, MRIs, and eye exams. There are days that I wish I didn’t know what either of those terms mean, and I wish even more that they had no connection to my child. But they do. And because they do, we fight to make each day a good one. We fight to find cure for NF. We strive to be positive about the people and opportunities that these conditions have brought into our lives. And we are eternally thankful for the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) and the programs they provide to raise funds and awareness. Because of CTF I kNow a lot of Fighters!”
Jeanette Walter, Gabe’s mother
