Who was Sadie?
Sadie was our daughter. At 15 she was diagnosed with a very malignant brain tumor. Despite radiation and chemotherapy the tumor continued to grow,
and she passed away 13 months later.
Why this website?
During Sadie's illness we scoured the Internet searching for information about brain tumors, treatments, and, once she was terminal, other people's final days.
All the personal stories we found were very comforting to us: not because they offered us hope, but because they helped us understand what Sadie was going through. This
site is our way of contributing to others walking this frightening path. We hope Sadie's site helps make the journey a little less lonely.
What kind of tumor did Sadie have?
We aren't sure. Her MRIs suggested glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), but her biopsy was inconclusive. After a second and third opinion, her medical team
concluded that she had either GBM or a supratentorial PNET. The biopsy seemed to favor PNET, and that's what they treated her for. Her post-treatment MRIs, and her ultimate outcome, seemed to indicate it was GBM after all.
Comment or question?
Feel free to contact us.
Slipping away
February 20, 2007
Sadie woke with rapid, shallow breathing that continued all day. Her condition declined spectacularly rapidly; by mid-afternoon she
could no longer speak. It was clear she would soon lose the ability to swallow solids as well; we picked up liquid morphine to give her
by dropper. By late evening she could no longer drink from a straw. Her nods and shakes became so faint we often couldn't tell if she
had answered a question.
Despite her late-morning temazepam, Sadie wasn't able to sleep. She let us know her head hurt by raising her hand to it. Her breathing
remained rapid and shallow into the night.
Coma
February 21, 2007
Around dawn, Sadie's breathing changed, becoming more labored and mucous. She had slipped into a coma during the night. A cream-and-coffee-colored
runny mucus oozed copiously from her nose and mouth. Her arms and legs became cyanotic (bluish), though they remained surprisingly warm.
Sadie also had some Cheyne-Stokes breathing: every ten minutes or so, her rapid, labored breathing calmed, then stopped briefly before resuming. A
definite sign that Sadie was in her final hours, but we just couldn't believe it.
Gone
February 21, 2007
Around midmorning, Sadie's breathing changed again, becoming a kind of "fish out of water" reflexive gasp. An hour and a half later, she suddenly
started breathing much, much more slowly. Over the next fifteen minutes, she took about ten of these breaths with long pauses between; then no more came.
As far as we were able to tell, Sadie was not in any pain, nor did she seem to be frightened or agitated during her last hours. She
passed peacefully and gently, without a struggle.