Iowa football’s Kid Captain this weekend from Clear Lake

IOWA CITY — The Kid Captain for the University of Iowa’s homecoming game against Northwestern this Saturday is a Clear Lake girl who has been battling cancer.

Six-year-old Adeline Lovell was diagnosed two years ago with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow, but through treatment at the UI’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital, her cancer is considered in remission with chemotherapy treatment scheduled to end next week.

Started in 2009 as a partnership between the Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the University of Iowa football team, the Kid Captain program honors pediatric patients by celebrating their incredible stories.

UI Hematologist-Oncologist Doctor Jessica Zimmerman says Adeline’s treatment was very intense. “The first nine months or so of therapy, she was coming to see us about once a week, sometimes even more frequently than that, to get therapy, and there’s a few times where you have to be admitted to the hospital for a few days as well. After you get past that first nine months, there’s about a year and a half worth of taking medicines at home and then coming to see us about every four weeks. We get to see her quite frequently and get to know her really well. It’s been really fun to watch her go through some of the challenges and just kind of come out on the other side as a bubbly and fun kid.”

Zimmerman says with Adeline’s last chemotherapy treatment coming up next week, they’ll now continue to monitor her progress. “We’ll continue to monitor labs and kind of space things out over the next few years to kind of make sure things stay in remission and that she’s doing well. We’ll monitor for any complications from the therapy, but hopefully she’ll go on and live a long, healthy life after this.”

Zimmerman says Adeline being the Kid Captain for homecoming weekend brings a special meaning to her and Adeline’s pediatrician in Clear Lake, Doctor Kristin Avery, who Zimmerman taught while she was completing her residency at the UI. “She’s actually my first primary patient who has been a Kid Captain, so it’s been really fun to go through the whole process with her and see how much fun she’s been having with it as well. It’s kind of a little special for her to be the homecoming Kid Captain with her pediatrician being an alum of the residency program here, and I’ve done all my training here too, so it’s kind of been really special for her to be chosen for this game in particular.”

Adeline is the daughter of Chris and Morgan Lovell