Angel Sadie's battle began when she presented with some sporadic symptoms of headaches, unbalance, fatigue, drooling, and speech changes during the last week of February, 2008. That weekend these symptoms seemed to be more combined. We took her to the pediatrician's office on the morning of Monday, March 3. A CT scan was ordered, and with those results, our lives changed forever... a brain stem tumor. Through more tests, we found out the awful scope of what she is battling: a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (dipg). It is very rare and is in a spot where surgery or a biopsy isn't possible. There is no home run to treat this tumor -- the statistics attributed to this diagnosis are just absolutely heartbreaking. So we did all we could, knowing that her life was truly in the Lord's hands.

She was just so brave and mature through it all! She was under the loving care of wonderful staff at Primary Childrens Medical Center in Salt Lake City, UT. She began with 6 weeks of radiation at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, and this radiation was combined with chemotherapy pills (Temodar). She had been on a protocol of Avastin/Irinotecan chemotherapy since late July, as an MRI showed progression of the tumor. We saw very promising results and changes with this treatment. It was also good for her quality of life, as she didn't get sick and it was once every two weeks. Unfortunately, at the end of January, symptoms began returning. She kept on the protocol, as MRI's continued to show tumor stability despite progressive symptom changes.

Around the end of April, our little gal stressed her desire for a break, and the decision was made to postpone treatment and hospital visits indefinitely. She was kept comfortable in the settings of home health care, then hospice care, in the capable hands of some amazing and loving individuals.

She peacefully passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

You can read about Sadie's battle and our life after at www.sadiehuish.blogspot.com (the beginning of the blog - March 5, 2008 - is two days after her diagnosis).