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.
A discouraging MRI
August 10, 2006
Sadie's first post-treatment MRI on June 27 showed considerable shrinkage in the top right tumor and no growth to the left-hemisphere tumor.
Unfortunately, her MRI six weeks later showed definite growth in the left-hemisphere tumor. The report stated that the images were more consistent with
a GBM than a PNET.
We decided to grasp the slim chance that a PNET was what Sadie had; 5-year survival rates for PNETs can be as high as
60-70%, while they hover around 0% for GBMs. Two weeks later we started the second round of PNET treatment.
The second phase of treatment begins
August 21, 2006
By late August, Sadie's blood counts had recovered enough to start the second phase of the PNET protocol. On the 21st she had her first carboplatin
infusion and began the 3-week regimen of etoposide capsules. If all went well, she'd do this three times, followed by eight rounds of vincristine and
cyclophosphamide.
It was hard to watch Sadie get so sick again so fast. Within 3 days she was vomiting and worn out, in bed most of the day. It looked like we were
in for a very rough year.
A sudden decline
August 26, 2006
Five days after Sadie started the second phase of treatment, we received a crushing blow.