Photo: Courtesy Matt Sooter
An Arkansas father is grieving the loss of his 4-year-old daughter who lived for more than a year after doctors found a massive tumor in her brain.
Adalynn Joy Sooter died Sunday morning, 18 months after doctor’s found a tumor growing on her brain stem and diagnosed the girl with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DPIG), thefamily announced on Facebook.
Doctors delivered the diagnosis on Nov. 12, 2016, and gave Adalynn just months to live. The Rogers, Arkansas, girl shocked medical officials with her survival and Adalynn’s parents, Matt and Chandra, were pleased when the girl’s tumor began to shrink with size.
Last month, Matt called Adalynn’s survival “purely incredible.” However, he said then that he knew his daughter likely wouldn’t live much longer.
“While we’re doing everything we can to change the outcome we don’t expect to win this fight. We haven’t given up, but it seems we are losing the war,” he told PEOPLE.
In the day before her death, Matt wrote in a Facebook post that Adalynn’s condition has grew worse, adding that sh “most likely doesn’t have much time left.” In the photo, Adalynn’s young brother is shown stroking her head as she laid in a hospital bed.
In the days since Adalynn’s death, family and friends have posted messages of condolences on Matt and Chandra’s Facebook pages. The family will hold a memorial service for the girl on Saturday.
Courtesy Matt Sooter
Adalynn endured dozens of radiation treatments after the diagnosis. And when doctors told Matt and Chandra there was nothing else they could do for the little girl, the family sought an experimental treatment offered in Mexico. For nearly a year, they took the little girl to Monterrey for treatment and Matt said a single trip could last up to 12 days. Travel and medical expenses cost the family more than $200,000.
The treatment hadn’t been effective in the weeks leading up to Adalynn’s death. But Matt told PEOPLE last month that the family was prepared for the worst.
“While we don’t look forward to a future without our little girl, we don’t fear it,” he said.
source: people.com
