IOWA CITY, Iowa — Like many 4-year-olds, Adeline Lovell was known for boundless energy. When she spiked a fever and suddenly slowed down, her parents, Chris and Morgan, began to worry.
During a Fourth of July weekend, the family attended a party in Clear Lake, Iowa, during which Adeline appeared tired, “which was unlike her,” Chris says. “She typically goes 100 miles an hour, but she took a nap in the middle of the day.”
After the celebration, her parents noticed what looked like a rash on Adeline’s back and, thinking it might be a heat rash or a reaction to swimming in the lake, sent a photo to Adeline’s pediatrician, Kristin Avery, DO.
Avery – a lifelong friend of Morgan’s who had completed her residency at University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital – suspected the rash was petechiae, pinpoint-sized dots that can develop under the skin of someone with leukemia. Tests confirmed the probability of leukemia.
The young parents asked Avery what she would do if her own daughter had cancer. “Without hesitating at all, she said, ‘I would absolutely go to Stead,’” Chris recalls.
With Avery’s emphatic recommendation, Adeline’s family drove to the children’s hospital and met with pediatric hematologist/oncologist Jessica Zimmerman, MD, MS, who taught Avery during her time at UI Health Care, and who would become Adeline’s oncologist.
“It’s just remarkable to have this connection,” Chris says. “And it’s been such a blessing.”
Read Adeline’s story here.