Teen cancer survivor collecting donations for St. Jude
By Kat Russell, Reporter
Kentucky New Era
September 7, 2014
http://www.kentuckynewera.com/web/news/article_3a8ac7ce-370a-11e4-87d7-0019bb2963f4.html
To look at her, Christian County High School sophomore Kadie Bumpus is an average 15-year-old girl.
She goes to school, she enjoys hanging our with her friends, she’s a Bluegrass Cheercat and she’s involved with Future Farmers of America, Sub Deb and other youth organizations.
But Kadie wasn’t supposed to be able to do any of those things.
When she was 4 years old, Kadie was diagnosed with stage-4 anaplastic ependymoma — a tumor that develops in the tissue of the central nervous system. In Kadie’s case, the tumor had attacked the left side of her brain.
“It really, it just turned our world upside down,” said Kadie’s mother, Jill Dixon. “I mean we never thought, you know, nobody ever thinks something like that could happen to their child.”
There had been no signs to indicate something was wrong, Dixon said, until one morning when Kadie woke up with her left eye turned slightly inward.
“We were in Gatlinburg (Tennessee),” Dixon said. “It was maybe a few weeks before Christmas and she woke up one morning and her eye was turned inward and we thought, ‘Oh, she’s developing a lazy eye.’”
When they got back to Hopkinsville, Dixon took Kadie to see Dr. Russ Heltsley, the family’s eye doctor.
“He came out (after examining her), and his eyes filled up with tears and he said, ‘She has a mass,’” Dixon recalled. “I didn’t know what a mass was, I mean I really didn’t and I said, ‘What do you mean,’ and he said, ‘We have to get her to a hospital, she has a mass I can see it behind her eye.’”
They went straight to Jennie Stuart Medical Center where Kadie had an MRI, which confirmed the doctor’s finding. Surgeons at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville removed the tumor.
“They told us when she had the surgery that she would have to live at the hospital probably six months to a year, and that she wouldn’t be able to talk or walk — she would have to learn that all over again,” Dixon said.
After the surgery, Dixon was told Kadie’s type of tumor was too aggressive, that it would most likely grow back and that Kadie wouldn’t live past her fifth birthday. The doctors recommended they take her home with hospice and spend the next 10 months making the most of their time together.
“Nobody wants to hear that about their child,” she said.
Kadie and her family returned to Hopkinsville devastated, and prepared for the worst. All the while, though, Dixon said she just couldn’t accept that nothing could be done so she started researching Kadie’s type of cancer and possible treatments.
“We just started Googling about that brain tumor and found a doctor who specializes in that type of tumor at St. Jude, and he said, ‘Get her here now,’” Dixon said.
For the next several months, Kadie and her family spent five days a week at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Kadie got into a cancer study program and underwent radiation treatments for about 4 months.
That was nearly 12 years ago and Kadie is still here and doing well. She will be turning 16 on Oct. 13.
In celebration of her upcoming milestone, Kadie has asked, not for gifts, but for donations of either toys or money for St. Jude.
Kadie and some of her friends are going to businesses, churches, schools and other organizations to collect donations. They will be collecting donations until Sept. 20.
On her actual birthday, Kadie and her friends plan to take what they’ve collected down to Memphis and give it to the hospital, then she and her friends will tour the facility.
“You can tour the hospital and see what the fundraising money goes to,” Dixon said. “They’ll show you how much it costs to do an MRI for one child or to give a chemo treatment to one child. They’ll go through all the statistics with you and then actually take you to all the places and show you what the money goes to.”
For Kadie, much of what she went through when she was 4 is a distant memory, although she said, she can never put it behind her. The tumor has permanently altered her short term memory and, although she has been in remission for 12 years, it still affects her ability to
concentrate.
Of her experience, Kadie said she remembers being sick and throwing up a lot, she remembers being in the hospital and she remembers having a lot of doctors and nurses take care of her. But she was young enough, that she didn’t really understand what was going on.
Above everything else, she said, she remembers the hospital staff and how they treated her.
“They remember me and they’re always happy to see me and they never treated me like I was sick,” Kadie said.
“They go so far beyond treating the illness,” Dixon added. “They really try to meet the needs of the whole family. We can’t say enough good things about St. Jude.”
With another year under her belt, Kadie said she can’t help but feel grateful.
“I’m just happy to be here with my family,” she said. “I’m glad to be alive — not a lot of kids survive this illness. It makes me grateful and I try to live everyday to the fullest.”
She goes to school, she enjoys hanging our with her friends, she’s a Bluegrass Cheercat and she’s involved with Future Farmers of America, Sub Deb and other youth organizations.
But Kadie wasn’t supposed to be able to do any of those things.
When she was 4 years old, Kadie was diagnosed with stage-4 anaplastic ependymoma — a tumor that develops in the tissue of the central nervous system. In Kadie’s case, the tumor had attacked the left side of her brain.
“It really, it just turned our world upside down,” said Kadie’s mother, Jill Dixon. “I mean we never thought, you know, nobody ever thinks something like that could happen to their child.”
There had been no signs to indicate something was wrong, Dixon said, until one morning when Kadie woke up with her left eye turned slightly inward.
“We were in Gatlinburg (Tennessee),” Dixon said. “It was maybe a few weeks before Christmas and she woke up one morning and her eye was turned inward and we thought, ‘Oh, she’s developing a lazy eye.’”
When they got back to Hopkinsville, Dixon took Kadie to see Dr. Russ Heltsley, the family’s eye doctor.
“He came out (after examining her), and his eyes filled up with tears and he said, ‘She has a mass,’” Dixon recalled. “I didn’t know what a mass was, I mean I really didn’t and I said, ‘What do you mean,’ and he said, ‘We have to get her to a hospital, she has a mass I can see it behind her eye.’”
They went straight to Jennie Stuart Medical Center where Kadie had an MRI, which confirmed the doctor’s finding. Surgeons at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville removed the tumor.
“They told us when she had the surgery that she would have to live at the hospital probably six months to a year, and that she wouldn’t be able to talk or walk — she would have to learn that all over again,” Dixon said.
After the surgery, Dixon was told Kadie’s type of tumor was too aggressive, that it would most likely grow back and that Kadie wouldn’t live past her fifth birthday. The doctors recommended they take her home with hospice and spend the next 10 months making the most of their time together.
“Nobody wants to hear that about their child,” she said.
Kadie and her family returned to Hopkinsville devastated, and prepared for the worst. All the while, though, Dixon said she just couldn’t accept that nothing could be done so she started researching Kadie’s type of cancer and possible treatments.
“We just started Googling about that brain tumor and found a doctor who specializes in that type of tumor at St. Jude, and he said, ‘Get her here now,’” Dixon said.
For the next several months, Kadie and her family spent five days a week at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Kadie got into a cancer study program and underwent radiation treatments for about 4 months.
That was nearly 12 years ago and Kadie is still here and doing well. She will be turning 16 on Oct. 13.
In celebration of her upcoming milestone, Kadie has asked, not for gifts, but for donations of either toys or money for St. Jude.
Kadie and some of her friends are going to businesses, churches, schools and other organizations to collect donations. They will be collecting donations until Sept. 20.
On her actual birthday, Kadie and her friends plan to take what they’ve collected down to Memphis and give it to the hospital, then she and her friends will tour the facility.
“You can tour the hospital and see what the fundraising money goes to,” Dixon said. “They’ll show you how much it costs to do an MRI for one child or to give a chemo treatment to one child. They’ll go through all the statistics with you and then actually take you to all the places and show you what the money goes to.”
For Kadie, much of what she went through when she was 4 is a distant memory, although she said, she can never put it behind her. The tumor has permanently altered her short term memory and, although she has been in remission for 12 years, it still affects her ability to
concentrate.
Of her experience, Kadie said she remembers being sick and throwing up a lot, she remembers being in the hospital and she remembers having a lot of doctors and nurses take care of her. But she was young enough, that she didn’t really understand what was going on.
Above everything else, she said, she remembers the hospital staff and how they treated her.
“They remember me and they’re always happy to see me and they never treated me like I was sick,” Kadie said.
“They go so far beyond treating the illness,” Dixon added. “They really try to meet the needs of the whole family. We can’t say enough good things about St. Jude.”
With another year under her belt, Kadie said she can’t help but feel grateful.
“I’m just happy to be here with my family,” she said. “I’m glad to be alive — not a lot of kids survive this illness. It makes me grateful and I try to live everyday to the fullest.”
