Beautiful Sadie Rose was born on 8th August 2009 weighing a very healthy 8lbs 6oz. But in October 2010, after being unwell for a month, parents Katie and Darren were told that 14 month old baby Sadie had stage 4 neuroblastoma.
Sadie has been through front line treatment here in the UK. This included 70 days of chemotherapy in November 2010, major surgery in February 2011 to remove a large tumour which was located above her left kidney and wrapped around the main artery in the body, her aorta. Sadie bounced back after this life threatening operation and was home after just over a week in hospital.
In March 2011 Sadie had an intensive course of high dose chemotherapy to prepare her body for her stem cell transplant. Sadie had her own stem cells given back, with the aim of helping her fight the neuroblastoma. Unfortunately she developed a very serious and potentially life threatening liver disease called veno-occlusive disease (VOD) as a side effect from her high dose chemotherapy.
Sadie had 3 weeks of radiotherapy in June and in July, Sadie started immunotherapy treatment. After just 2 weeks treatment she had a seizure, and an emergency CT showed that there was a tumour on the right side of her brain. The next day a 4 hour operation to remove the tumour took place, and tissue samples were sent to the lab for tests. These showed that the tumour was cancerous, and that the neuroblastoma had returned.
Sadie has since had more procedures, like bone marrow tests, CT and heart scans and specialised bone scans (MIBG). The results of these were used to determine the plan for further treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in America.
Katie and Darren went to America in January and Sadie Rose began the specialised treatment in America. Her treatment costs were £500,000 and Katie and Darren aim to raise as much as possible to cover the costs. However, on the 9th January the family's life was once again turned upside down, when new scan showed that Sadie Rose had relapsed again with tumours in her liver and chest.
As Sadie needs to be treated for this relapse as a matter of extreme urgency, the family will be staying in New York so that Sadie can receive chemotherapy to try and arrest the relapse. We all hope that she will get well enough to receive the planned antibody treatment. Meanwhile, Sadie Rose still needs your support as we have to pay for the chemotherapy which has a quoted cost of $290,000.
If you can help, please make a donation to the Neuroblastoma Alliance UK, or organise a fundraising event to raise money for Sadie. Every donation, no matter how small, helps.
