Many of you know the story of Adam Lumpkins. If you don’t, please take a couple of minutes to read this story. Adam is a courageous and amazing five year old boy who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Adam’s mother Jaime is a Paramedic in Charles County and has volunteered in St. Mary’s County. His father, Chris works as a federal firefighter and has volunteered in Charles and St. Mary’s Counties.
On December 19th 2008, Adam woke up in the middle of the night with a high temperature. Jamie took him to the Pediatrician's office that morning, where he was diagnosed with an ear infection. He was given an antibiotic and the doctor said if he is not getting better bring him back. On Tuesday, December 22nd, Jamie came home from work, to find her mother in law holding him on the couch. He was burning up with a fever and shaking. The family was supposed to leave that day for North Carolina for Christmas. Jamie decided to take him to the Pediatrician's office on the way down the road. The Pediatrician advised "his ear infection has gotten worse and spread to the other ear, here is a different antibiotic, if he doesn't start to feel better, bring him back." When Jamie went to get Adam dressed, she noticed 4 freckle sized dots on his thigh that hadn't been there before. The doctor advised "that could be a sign of low platelets." She drew his blood and sent them to meet with an Oncologist/Hematologist. Adam was admitted for more testing.
On Christmas Eve 2008, at 21 months old, Adam was diagnosed with Pre-B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was diagnosed through a bone marrow aspiration. He underwent surgery to have a portacath placed in his chest, which would be used to administer chemotherapy. The diagnosis was hard on the entire family. The family, including his siblings Christopher and Raegan, spent Christmas and New Year's together in the hospital. After spending a few weeks in the hospital, Adam was allowed to come home. He was very weak and had to learn to sit up alone, crawl, and walk all over again. He underwent chemotherapy weekly and had spinal taps and bone marrow aspirations monthly. He lost his beautiful blonde curly hair in no time, but his smile always stayed. The chemotherapy made Adam very sick, he would vomit in excess of 30 times a day. They tried every medicine they could to help with the vomiting, but nothing worked. Adam was in and out of the hospital all the time. Adam developed an infection in his portacath and had to have it removed. He underwent another surgery to have a new one placed weeks later.
Months later, Adam's bone marrow showed no more cancer cells. He was considered to be in remission!!! He would still have to undergo chemotherapy until Spring of 2012. He was originally supposed to be finished in winter of 2011, but he had a lot of setbacks. His chemotherapy treatments changed from weekly, to biweekly, to monthly. With no more bone marrow aspirations, he was started on oral chemotherapy at home. He had a handful of pills he had to take multiple times a day. Like a champ, Adam would chew every one of his pills with no complaints. Adam was turning back into the child he was before this terrible diagnosis, still smiling and he even got back the beautiful blonde curls that he loved to twirl as he was falling asleep or anytime he felt insecure.
On January 7th 2011, Adam began not feeling well and running a fever. He looked like he was breathing faster than normal. Jamie took him to the Emergency room, they did a chest x-ray, diagnosed Adam with an ear infection and told that he was only breathing different because he had a fever. No matter how much Jamie argued that he has had many fevers in his 3 years and has never breathed like this, they still let them go home. On Monday, January 10th, Adam was still breathing fast. Jamie decided to take him to his Pediatrician's office. His pediatrician advised "his lungs are clear but I agree with you, I think he needs to be admitted." She sent them to the oncology office. The oncologists advised that they didn't see anything but they would take Jamie's word for it and start him on antibiotics and admit him for observation. That night, Adam's breathing became more rapid and he could not speak. They placed him on high flow oxygen overnight. The following morning, Adam was still having respiratory distress. It turned into respiratory failure, and Adam was intubated, medically paralyzed, and put into a medicine induced coma. Adam was placed on a ventilator which took over Adam's breathing for him so his lungs could rest and heal. Adam was then diagnosed with RSV, pneumonia, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Adam was placed on many types of medications, from blood pressure meds, antibiotics, pain medications, electrolytes, nutrition, etc. The ventilator proved not to be enough for Adam's sick lungs. He was switched to an Adult Oscillator. They used an adult one because they did not feel that the Pediatric one was enough to help him. The Oscillator delivered over 600 Puffs of air a minute. The machine was performing all of Adam's oxygen exchange. Unlike the ventilator, the oscillator did not make Adam's chest move up and down as if he was breathing on his own. Instead, it made him shake constantly, almost like he was vibrating. The Oscillator did not seem to be helping. Adam's Pulse ox kept dropping. They discussed placing Adam on ECMO, also known as The Iron Lung. They said they would take the blood from Adam's body, pump it through an iron lung and kidney to oxygenate it and then return it to Adam's body. They said that a normal (not a child with cancer history) child would stand about a 50% survival rate on ECMO. They said they would give Adam half that chance. The Lumpkins reached out for so many prayers. Finally, things started to look up. The Oscillator seemed to be working. Adam's lungs were starting to get better. Then two days later, they began going downhill again and they were discussing ECMO again. Then a miracle happened, things began to get better again. After 3 weeks of being on the oscillator, they weaned Adam down to the ventilator again. They then took him off the paralytic and allowed him to wake up. It was an amazing feeling for Jamie to see her baby boy's eyes for the first time in nearly a month. They started to wean him off the medications and eventually off the ventilator. During all this time, Adam's chemotherapy had to be held due to the fact that they wanted his immune system strong enough to fight this infection. Adam was discharged from the hospital on February 4th. The day Adam got discharged, the white of his eye was pink, the doctor gave Adam artificial tears and said it was probably dry from going so long without blinking. After two days, the pink went away.
On March 24th, Adam woke up with a pink eye again. It seemed like light bothered his eye. Jamie took him to the Pediatrician, thinking he may have Conjunctivitis. His Pediatrician sent Adam to an opthamologist. The opthamologist advised that she could see what she believed to be Leukemia cells in Adam's eye but had to do a procedure where they collected fluid from his eye to confirm. With this possible diagnosis, Adam's oncologist decided to collect some bone marrow as well to test. On March 28th, Adam had bone marrow taken to test. On April 1st, they collected fluid from Adam's eye. Jamie received a phone call a few days later that advised that both the bone marrow and the eye were positive for blasts (tumors). Adam had relapsed. The family was devastated. They met with the oncologist to discuss the next step. She advised that Adam would have to restart chemotherapy from the beginning, this time more intense chemo. She said that he would have to undergo 15 weeks of intense chemo, then radiation to his eye, and then a bone marrow transplant.
On April 5th, Adam began the new chemotherapy, and they began to search for a donor for his bone marrow transplant. They tested his siblings and neither were a match. Adam has undergone chemotherapy weekly, and sometimes even daily. He has been in and out of the hospital frequently. Adam is still smiling every day. He has had a lot of bone pain this time, that has kept him and us up many of nights, but he is fighting like a champ. He has had alot more hospitalizations and is on oral chemo again, as well as intrathecal and regular chemo. Jamie is happy to report that Adam is in remission once again!! Hopefully for good this time. Adam still has a long road ahead, but he is always in good spirits, and his only request is to "get rid of my cancer" and thanks to the great organization called Fighting Kids Cancer, he got his only other wish this Christmas, a hound dog The family appreciates any donations to the ASK organization, because without them, this journey would've been far worse.
On June 26th, 2012, Adam was once again admitted to the hospital with breathing problems. He has been diagnosed with Pneumocystis and is once again heavily sedated, intubated, on a ventilator, multiple medications, and in a fight for his life. Adam was in the hospital for a couple of months, and again battled through this.
This week Adam became sick again. Test show that his Leukemia has returned and spread to his bone marrow and brain tissue. Adam is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant and only has about a month to find a donor. Please check out this link and decide if you would be willing to help.
Be The Match: Hope for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, blood cancer and sickle cell disease
On December 19th 2008, Adam woke up in the middle of the night with a high temperature. Jamie took him to the Pediatrician's office that morning, where he was diagnosed with an ear infection. He was given an antibiotic and the doctor said if he is not getting better bring him back. On Tuesday, December 22nd, Jamie came home from work, to find her mother in law holding him on the couch. He was burning up with a fever and shaking. The family was supposed to leave that day for North Carolina for Christmas. Jamie decided to take him to the Pediatrician's office on the way down the road. The Pediatrician advised "his ear infection has gotten worse and spread to the other ear, here is a different antibiotic, if he doesn't start to feel better, bring him back." When Jamie went to get Adam dressed, she noticed 4 freckle sized dots on his thigh that hadn't been there before. The doctor advised "that could be a sign of low platelets." She drew his blood and sent them to meet with an Oncologist/Hematologist. Adam was admitted for more testing.
On Christmas Eve 2008, at 21 months old, Adam was diagnosed with Pre-B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was diagnosed through a bone marrow aspiration. He underwent surgery to have a portacath placed in his chest, which would be used to administer chemotherapy. The diagnosis was hard on the entire family. The family, including his siblings Christopher and Raegan, spent Christmas and New Year's together in the hospital. After spending a few weeks in the hospital, Adam was allowed to come home. He was very weak and had to learn to sit up alone, crawl, and walk all over again. He underwent chemotherapy weekly and had spinal taps and bone marrow aspirations monthly. He lost his beautiful blonde curly hair in no time, but his smile always stayed. The chemotherapy made Adam very sick, he would vomit in excess of 30 times a day. They tried every medicine they could to help with the vomiting, but nothing worked. Adam was in and out of the hospital all the time. Adam developed an infection in his portacath and had to have it removed. He underwent another surgery to have a new one placed weeks later.
Months later, Adam's bone marrow showed no more cancer cells. He was considered to be in remission!!! He would still have to undergo chemotherapy until Spring of 2012. He was originally supposed to be finished in winter of 2011, but he had a lot of setbacks. His chemotherapy treatments changed from weekly, to biweekly, to monthly. With no more bone marrow aspirations, he was started on oral chemotherapy at home. He had a handful of pills he had to take multiple times a day. Like a champ, Adam would chew every one of his pills with no complaints. Adam was turning back into the child he was before this terrible diagnosis, still smiling and he even got back the beautiful blonde curls that he loved to twirl as he was falling asleep or anytime he felt insecure.
On January 7th 2011, Adam began not feeling well and running a fever. He looked like he was breathing faster than normal. Jamie took him to the Emergency room, they did a chest x-ray, diagnosed Adam with an ear infection and told that he was only breathing different because he had a fever. No matter how much Jamie argued that he has had many fevers in his 3 years and has never breathed like this, they still let them go home. On Monday, January 10th, Adam was still breathing fast. Jamie decided to take him to his Pediatrician's office. His pediatrician advised "his lungs are clear but I agree with you, I think he needs to be admitted." She sent them to the oncology office. The oncologists advised that they didn't see anything but they would take Jamie's word for it and start him on antibiotics and admit him for observation. That night, Adam's breathing became more rapid and he could not speak. They placed him on high flow oxygen overnight. The following morning, Adam was still having respiratory distress. It turned into respiratory failure, and Adam was intubated, medically paralyzed, and put into a medicine induced coma. Adam was placed on a ventilator which took over Adam's breathing for him so his lungs could rest and heal. Adam was then diagnosed with RSV, pneumonia, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Adam was placed on many types of medications, from blood pressure meds, antibiotics, pain medications, electrolytes, nutrition, etc. The ventilator proved not to be enough for Adam's sick lungs. He was switched to an Adult Oscillator. They used an adult one because they did not feel that the Pediatric one was enough to help him. The Oscillator delivered over 600 Puffs of air a minute. The machine was performing all of Adam's oxygen exchange. Unlike the ventilator, the oscillator did not make Adam's chest move up and down as if he was breathing on his own. Instead, it made him shake constantly, almost like he was vibrating. The Oscillator did not seem to be helping. Adam's Pulse ox kept dropping. They discussed placing Adam on ECMO, also known as The Iron Lung. They said they would take the blood from Adam's body, pump it through an iron lung and kidney to oxygenate it and then return it to Adam's body. They said that a normal (not a child with cancer history) child would stand about a 50% survival rate on ECMO. They said they would give Adam half that chance. The Lumpkins reached out for so many prayers. Finally, things started to look up. The Oscillator seemed to be working. Adam's lungs were starting to get better. Then two days later, they began going downhill again and they were discussing ECMO again. Then a miracle happened, things began to get better again. After 3 weeks of being on the oscillator, they weaned Adam down to the ventilator again. They then took him off the paralytic and allowed him to wake up. It was an amazing feeling for Jamie to see her baby boy's eyes for the first time in nearly a month. They started to wean him off the medications and eventually off the ventilator. During all this time, Adam's chemotherapy had to be held due to the fact that they wanted his immune system strong enough to fight this infection. Adam was discharged from the hospital on February 4th. The day Adam got discharged, the white of his eye was pink, the doctor gave Adam artificial tears and said it was probably dry from going so long without blinking. After two days, the pink went away.
On March 24th, Adam woke up with a pink eye again. It seemed like light bothered his eye. Jamie took him to the Pediatrician, thinking he may have Conjunctivitis. His Pediatrician sent Adam to an opthamologist. The opthamologist advised that she could see what she believed to be Leukemia cells in Adam's eye but had to do a procedure where they collected fluid from his eye to confirm. With this possible diagnosis, Adam's oncologist decided to collect some bone marrow as well to test. On March 28th, Adam had bone marrow taken to test. On April 1st, they collected fluid from Adam's eye. Jamie received a phone call a few days later that advised that both the bone marrow and the eye were positive for blasts (tumors). Adam had relapsed. The family was devastated. They met with the oncologist to discuss the next step. She advised that Adam would have to restart chemotherapy from the beginning, this time more intense chemo. She said that he would have to undergo 15 weeks of intense chemo, then radiation to his eye, and then a bone marrow transplant.
On April 5th, Adam began the new chemotherapy, and they began to search for a donor for his bone marrow transplant. They tested his siblings and neither were a match. Adam has undergone chemotherapy weekly, and sometimes even daily. He has been in and out of the hospital frequently. Adam is still smiling every day. He has had a lot of bone pain this time, that has kept him and us up many of nights, but he is fighting like a champ. He has had alot more hospitalizations and is on oral chemo again, as well as intrathecal and regular chemo. Jamie is happy to report that Adam is in remission once again!! Hopefully for good this time. Adam still has a long road ahead, but he is always in good spirits, and his only request is to "get rid of my cancer" and thanks to the great organization called Fighting Kids Cancer, he got his only other wish this Christmas, a hound dog The family appreciates any donations to the ASK organization, because without them, this journey would've been far worse.
On June 26th, 2012, Adam was once again admitted to the hospital with breathing problems. He has been diagnosed with Pneumocystis and is once again heavily sedated, intubated, on a ventilator, multiple medications, and in a fight for his life. Adam was in the hospital for a couple of months, and again battled through this.
This week Adam became sick again. Test show that his Leukemia has returned and spread to his bone marrow and brain tissue. Adam is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant and only has about a month to find a donor. Please check out this link and decide if you would be willing to help.
Be The Match: Hope for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, blood cancer and sickle cell disease