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AUGUST 21, 2013
Vol. 5 No. 51
A Princess’ Rare liver disease claims 7-year-old Addison Locke By Denise M. Baran-Unland For the Bugle
L
ooking back at photographs, Steve Locke can see signs his daughter Addison was ill long before her diagnosis with hepablastoma, a rare liver cancer: The “fake” smile. The pale complexion. “In the fall of 2011, she complained of pain in her right shoulder but we attributed that to cheerleading,” said Locke, of Joliet, athletic director at Joliet Central High School. “We now know that was referred pain from her liver.” But when Addison became sick in late February 2012 during a trip to Walt Disney World, Locke said he and his wife Erin assumed she had picked up the same virus plaguing her siblings. That is, until Addison didn’t get better.
Tale “On April 5, they found the mass,” Locke said. For Addison, hepablastoma meant consultations at several children’s hospitals, a liver transplant, 12 rounds of chemotherapy with five different chemotherapy combinations (Addison was resistant to them all), palliative treatments to shrink the tumors and/or slow their growth, several biopsies and a hernia repair. “All the throwing up from the chemotherapy gave her the hernia,” Locke said. In addition, Addison’s family also tried alternative therapies such as juicing, acupuncture and chiropractic treatments. At one point, Locke considered taking Addison to Spain for holistic care; then decided against it. “It was not covered by insurance,” Locke said, “and we kept thinking, ‘If See ADDISON LOCKE, page 3
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Addison Locke, daughter of Joliet Central High School Athletic Director Steve Locke, passed away July 19 after battling a rare liver cancer.