Picnic Will Benefit The Joey Eckler Fund

By Kaaren Valenta

Joey Eckler has had a lot packed into his life since he was born as Newtown’s first baby of 1991.

The nine-year-old Sandy Hook resident has been through 10 surgeries, including three major brain surgeries, nearly two years of chemotherapy, and countless other medical procedures since he was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 18 months old.

A smiling, cheerful boy, Joey, along with his parents, Laurie and Rich Eckler, and his brother, Kevin, almost 2, will be the guests of honor on Saturday, September 9, when the Orinda Learning & Support Center of Brookfield holds its second annual Old Fashioned Family Barbecue fund-raiser at the town park in Roxbury. Funds will help the Eckler family provide for Joey’s ongoing needs and for those of his brother, who was born severely vision impaired.

Joey was just a toddler when his family suspected something was wrong with his eyes. Their pediatrician referred him to a pediatric neurologist at the Westchester County (NY) Medical Center who scheduled an ultrasound and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure that showed a tumor on the optic nerve.

“They discovered it on Friday, July 3 [1992], and on July 4 he was having emergency surgery,” Laurie Eckler said. “They operated immediately to take the pressure off the optic nerve and save his vision.”

Chemotherapy followed, but in October 1992 a second surgery was performed when a cyst developed at the site of the tumor, which was wedged between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the optic nerve. “This was the most difficult surgery for him because he had just undergone major surgery and was already on chemotherapy,” Mrs Eckler said. Then because he became allergic to the first chemotherapy drug, he had to be switched to another, which stretched out the treatments.

When he was 3½ the tumor began to grow again so Joey underwent a third major operation. He had his last dose of chemotherapy in January 1996 but continues to have MRIs, at first every four months, now every six, to monitor the tumor, which could not be completely removed. Besides being partially blind, he has diabetes insipidus. He is on a daily dose of hormones to replace some of those no longer made by his body, and receives monthly injections of others. He also has regular physical therapy.

Despite his continuing health problems, Joey is a happy, optimistic boy who learned to ride a two-wheel bike this summer and will begin fourth grade at the Housatonic Waldorf School in Newtown this fall. His mother, who works three nights a week as a medical technician at Danbury Hospital, closely supervises his medical needs and those of his little brother.

The Ecklers have been married for five years. Rich Eckler, a microbiologist, adopted his stepson after Joey’s father died last summer.  Mr Eckler has been laid off from his job at Sharon Hospital in a staff cutback, however, and the family faces significant costs to continue their medical insurance under COBRA and to provide the educational setting that Joey needs. That’s when the Orinda Learning & Support Center, which has provided services to the Ecklers for years, offered to dedicate their second annual fund-raiser to the Joey Eckler Fund.

Founded in 1980 by Janice K. Steers, an educator, psychotherapist, and clinical hypnotherapist, the Orinda Institute has helped hundreds of individuals and families deal with the emotional and physical trauma of a chronic or catastrophic illness or injury. Incorporated as a nonprofit educational corporation in 1985, the Institute operates a center in Brookfield where programs, workshops, and seminars are held, as well as counseling and therapy. The institute also provides services in patients’ homes and teleconference programs. All fees are on a sliding scale and no one is turned away because of inability to pay.

“We help with the emotional and spiritual recovery, and provide a complementary approach to the ongoing medical treatment,” Ms Steers explained. “We use techniques like relaxation, guided imagery, and visualization to help patients prepare and cope.”

“Fortunately, most of the time people get well, even against incredible odds,” Ms Steers said.

When Joey was a toddler he had to be sedated to undergo MRIs because the medical test was terrifying. At Orinda he was taught self-hypnosis.

“He feels very empowered,” Ms Steers aid. “He was given the tools to be able to take his mind someplace else so he doesn’t need to be sedated.”

The Eckler family is grateful for the help that Orinda has provided.

 “They do a wonderful job. It’s very important that they are there when you need them,” Mr Eckler said.

The picnic for the Joey Eckler Fund will be held from noon to 5 pm at the Roxbury Town Park. There will be food, hayrides, and sing-a-longs with Newtown musician Erik Bagger. Tickets are $15 for adults; $8 for children under 12; reserve seating for groups of eight or more. Tickets and directions are available by calling 775-8685; contributions to the Joey Eckler Fund may be sent to the Orinda Institute, 18 Old Route 7, Suite 16, Brookfield, CT 06804.