June 18, 2016 – January 15, 2022
Diagnosed: August 3, 2018
Karisa was diagnosed with DIPG shortly after her 2nd birthday on August 3, 2018. It was the hardest day of our lives until January 15, 2022 when she was called to eternal peace.
She was a praying baby who loved her family and her friends and all the pets with all her heart.
Each DIPG journey is different and Karisa’s is one that had a period of a stable tumor that allowed for life and love. Unfortunately with DIPG, in the end, the result is largely still the same with a 99% fatality rate.
This should not and cannot stand.
Karisa had irradiation, a biopsy, a shunt, and re-irradiation. She traveled many miles to pursue these interventions. This is no experience for a child, and we need to do more.
We will be forever grateful for her life and grace and time. We want to honor her by sending support for better and more promising treatments and a cure so that her life continues to have purpose and meaning to children who she looked at as friends.