By Shannon Flanagan – CPT
Sam struggled with cystic fibrosis all of his life. He was diagnosed at 9 months and was told he would most likely not live to see his 16th birthday.
Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. The body produces abnormally thick mucus that coats the walls of the lungs and sticks there like cement. Since it is very difficult to cough up the mucus, it just stays on the walls of the lungs collecting pathogens that then lead to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia. CF patients do not have the ability to absorb fat in their bodies, so maintaining a healthy weight is a struggle.
After numerous hospital stays in Sam’s high school years the damage had been done. He tried to attend college and have a “normal” life, but in the high populated community he got too sick and could not finish. The bouts of pneumonia began to take its toll on Sam. He got down to 79 pounds and needed to be placed on oxygen 24 hours a day. His 21st birthday came and went while he sat on the couch waiting for a new lung.
He was placed on the lung transplant list and within 6 months received the call. May 22, 2002 was tattooed on Sam’s arm along with a black band that honors the donor. He received a double-lung transplant that saved his life. Not without complications that put him under the knife multiple times.
His sister Katie would never forget that day. She said, “He was getting ready to go and I heard him tell my mom, “If anything happens to me, sell all of my stuff so that Katie can go to a good college”. That’s who my brother was. For a guy who’s been through hell and back so many times, his selflessness continued to amaze me every day.”
Sam tried to go back to school so that he could become an elementary school teacher. During Sam’s time back at school, he experienced chronic rejection of his lungs. His immune system attacked the lungs and he had to undergo a treatment similar to dialysis. His blood was taken out of his body via a pen-sized needle in his arm. The blood was then zapped by an ultraviolet light – the goal was to zap the white blood cells so that they would stop attacking the lungs. A temporary fix that wiped out Sam’s immune system on top of the immune suppressant drugs he had to take for the transplant.
Just as Sam was approaching his 10 year transplant anniversary and getting past chronic rejection, he was diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer. He underwent chemo and radiation treatments and surgery to remove the tumor, but it was not enough.
Samuel John Thompson passed away at 31 years of age. After his surgery, his body could not recover from the many complications that kept him in the hospital for a month.
Sam never took pity on himself. He was always a positive soul, when I think I am having a bad day, I think back to how strong and amazing Sammy was. He never complained and always just brushed off what challenges lay ahead of him. I would joke with him how he was a real life superhero. We all miss him so much.
With this said, Shannan Lynch and I are going to be running 31 miles, one mile for every year Sam was with us, on November 17, 2012. We will be running from Manhattan Beach to Malibu starting at 7 am. We would be grateful for any help or support anyone can give. The Samuel John Thompson Memorial Fund has been set up in his name. We plan to help individuals like Sam. Donations can also be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Thank you all for your support.
http://www.cff.org/LWC/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?idEvent=20530&idUser=597845