Adam Campbell was only nine years old when doctors discovered an astrocytoma in his brain.
More than three decades later, after recurrences, radiation treatments and years of physical and emotional challenges, Adam describes his experience in a way that might surprise some people.
“I’m grateful for the journey,” he says.
It hasn’t been an easy one. But along the way, Adam discovered writing, faith and a sense of purpose that have helped him navigate life with a brain tumor.
A Brain Tumor at Nine Years Old
Adam’s tumor was located near the cerebral aqueduct, a narrow passageway that allows cerebrospinal fluid to flow between ventricles in the brain. As the tumor grew, it interfered with that flow and caused his ventricles to become significantly enlarged.
By the time the tumor was discovered, Adam says his ventricles were approximately four times the size expected for someone his age.
The effects of his tumor and treatment would become part of his life for years to come.
Adam has experienced double vision, migraines, balance problems that required him to relearn how to walk, periods of paralysis, depression and other physical and emotional challenges.
The tumor also affected hormone production. As a teenager, Adam had to give himself daily injections and receive additional treatment at a local clinic.
But Adam also remembers something else about being diagnosed at nine: the extraordinary response of the people around him.
Friends, relatives and even strangers surrounded his family with compassion, assistance and prayer.
“There was an unbelievable outpouring of compassion, love, help and assistance,” he recalls.
Finding an Outlet Through Poetry
After his first brain tumor experience, Adam began writing poetry as a way to express what he was going through internally.
It became a form of release.
“I’ve been writing creatively since then,” he says. “It’s therapeutic.”
And he never stopped.
Over the years, Adam has written hundreds—and possibly thousands—of poems. Sometimes he has written a poem in the moment for someone who needed encouragement and simply handed it to them without keeping a copy.
He has also published two collections of personal poetry, Embattled We: A Poet’s War and Walking With My Angel, and completed his first novel.
Writing became more than a hobby. It became one of the ways Adam processed experiences that were often difficult to put into ordinary words.
Wanting to Be Treated Normally
When Adam faced another growth of his tumor as a teenager, he made a decision: outside of his family, school faculty and church leaders, he wasn’t going to tell anyone.
He wanted his friends to treat him normally.
“I didn’t want to face adverse social consequences for having a tumor,” Adam says.
At the time, keeping his diagnosis private seemed like the best way to protect himself from feeling different or isolated.
Then came graduation.
Adam was selected to receive his graduating class’s Courage Award. Still struggling with his balance and relearning how to walk, he made his way down the steps as thousands of people stood and cheered.
The moment changed something for him.
“I started to heal from the inside out,” Adam says. “I was learning, finally, that my challenges enabled the touching of many lives. It had a broader purpose than I had known.”
Facing Treatment Again
Following high school, Adam underwent six weeks of radiation therapy in an effort to control the astrocytoma.
Treatment took a significant toll. Adam remembers sleeping as many as 20 hours a day during that period.
In the years that followed, he continued experiencing complications and challenges related to his brain tumor journey. Through those difficult periods, Adam says his faith became an increasingly important source of strength and meaning.
For many years, his tumor remained controlled.
Then, in 2024, at age 41, Adam learned that the astrocytoma had returned again.
This time, advances in treatment meant his experience looked very different than it had decades earlier. Adam underwent a highly focused form of radiation directed at the small tumor.
After living with an astrocytoma since childhood, he once again found himself moving forward.
Finding Meaning in the Journey
Adam doesn’t pretend that everything is easy today.
Stress remains challenging, and the effects of his brain tumor experiences have not simply disappeared.
But neither have the things he discovered along the way.
There is his writing. His faith. The people whose lives have intersected with his own. And the realization that sharing his struggles can sometimes help someone else with theirs.
Adam has come to see both sides of his experience—the pain it has caused and the unexpected gifts that have emerged from it.
“While there has been a great deal of pain and struggle, there have also been so many events, wondrous and even miraculous, that have occurred,” he says.
Today, after more than three decades of living with the impact of a brain tumor, Adam describes himself simply:
“I’m challenged and blessed and eternally loved. I’m grateful for the journey.”
