An incredible test of Faith

A 10-year-old girl battles against brain cancer and her community embraces her family to help

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo David S. Spence⁄The Gazette Cancer patient Faith Jackson, 10, works on a word search puzzle at home with her mother, Katie Jackson.

Three months ago, the young Clarksburg girl couldn’t hold a spoon or sit on her bed. The people around her say it is her determination that has helped her in the middle of some unbelievably difficult circumstances.

In October 2005, Faith’s mother Katie Jackson noticed some changes in her 10-year-old daughter. She was having headaches and couldn’t keep her balance at times. At first, her mother thought the headaches were due to a new pair of glasses. School became frustrating and that was very uncharacteristic for Faith.

Then on Nov. 1, Faith collapsed while dancing in her room. She was taken to the emergency room at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital and was released after some tests.

But the headaches and falls became more frequent, and Jackson took her back to the hospital on Dec. 7 to have her checked again. She thought that Faith might have suffered a concussion from her November fall.

‘‘When we went to the emergency room I felt like, ‘‘You shouldn’t go,’” said Jackson, 36, who moved to Clarksburg a year and a half ago. ‘‘I felt like you had to have a limb hanging off. I was reluctant to take her ... because I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

But there was something wrong.

The diagnosis

Faith was diagnosed with medulloblastoma — a cancerous brain tumor. She was transferred to National Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., and underwent surgery to remove the tumor on Dec. 9.

It was a nine-hour surgery. Faith didn’t wake up for five days.

She stayed at Children’s until Dec. 27, when she was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, in Washington, D.C. She was a patient there until the end of January.

‘‘I felt bad and very weak,” Faith recalled in an interview Monday.

Darlene Melkonian, a friend of the family and a Damascus resident, visited the hospital right after Faith’s surgery.

‘‘She wasn’t walking and she was barely talking,” Melkonian said. ‘‘I was surprised to see the hardship it put on her body. I wondered if she would even walk again. It was heartbreaking. Each week I saw her get better.”

While at the hospital, Faith underwent radiation Monday through Friday. She also had chemotherapy every Thursday. Jackson had to help her daughter with routine activities, like bathing, until she had the strength to do them herself.

She’s a single mother of two without health insurance who has not been able to work at her job cleaning houses since Faith was diagnosed. She’s been juggling things, trying to meet all her family’s needs.

To donate Checks payable to Faith Jackson can be mailed to her fund at Chevy Chase Bank, 21117 Frederick Road, Germantown, MD 20876.

‘‘Katie doesn’t have anybody. She does it herself,” Melkonian said. ‘‘I couldn’t imagine being a single parent and going through that.”

Reaching out

The Damascus and Clarksburg communities rallied around the Jackson family.

Melkonian did all she could to spread the word. During the holidays friends brought a number of gifts, including a Christmas tree which is still standing in their house today. Eventually people the Jacksons didn’t even know began helping.

‘‘We wouldn’t have had Christmas without the gifts,” Jackson said. ‘‘They were sending Target and Wal-Mart gift cards. It can’t get better than that. It is a load off your shoulders.”

Staff members at Clarksburg Elementary School, where Faith was a student, gave the Jackson’s grocery cards and bought Faith a keyboard.

Caryln Breese, the vice principal at Rocky Hill Middle School where Faith’s sister Kayla is a student, visited the hospital and delivered grocery cards.

The Jackson family rents an apartment from Lakewood Church of God. Church members also provided assistance.

‘‘I’m a single mom and it had been hard,” Jackson said. ‘‘It is like God surrounded us with people that have helped us get through all of this.”

Melkonian opened an account for Faith at the Chevy Chase Bank in Germantown that has a current balance of $200. Melkonian’s husband also gave the Jacksons a big screen television and set it up in their living room.

‘‘I wanted to make sure everyone in Clarksburg is aware of Faith’s story,” Melkonian said. ‘‘If anybody deserves help they do. They never asked for it. It will be ongoing and Faith needs the support in other ways too.”

Coming home

Faith returned home at the end of January. She said that she feels better, and she is getting a lot stronger.

‘‘It feels good to be back home,” she said. ‘‘I can walk around and go outside and play. I can do whatever I want. It is fun to do activities and do something creative.”

She said she likes to do crafts, crosswords and other activities.

Faith finished her radiation six weeks ago, but she still goes for chemotherapy every Thursday and will continue to do so for the next year.

Her mom said her daughter is getting back to her old self.

‘‘Since we have been home she never complained or cried once in any way,” Jackson said. ‘‘Children are much more resilient in a lot of ways than adults. They somehow do it and come through.”

Faith’s sister Kayla, 12, stayed at Melkonian’s house while Faith was in the hospital. She is happy her sister is back home and can play games with her.

‘‘She has been strong because even though she feels tired, she still helps around the house,” Kayla said. ‘‘She wakes up before all of us and she goes to bed before all of us.”

Faith is finally strong enough to start school studies again, and her first home-school session was last week. It was a two-hour lesson, and she didn’t want it to end.