Sixta

Sixta was born in Mexico, March 30 2006, she was named in honor of her great-grandmother Sixta Santana. She was an exceptionally smart and healthy baby. Those who knew Sixta describe her as a friendly and timid girl, there were never any complaints of her from anybody. She attended preschool in Mexico then moved to California and attended elementary school in Santa Ana. Learning a new language was not impossible for such an intelligent little girl. In Diamond elementary school Sixta's interest for the violin bloomed, so she continued to play it in Carr intermediate school’s mariachi and orchestra. Through the middle school years Sixta was involved in extracurricular a ctivities and stayed after school. Aside from being an A-grade student, Sixta was a role model for her siblings and an extra set of hands for her parents. She would wake up everyday at 5 in the morning to get ready for school, then wake up her siblings so they’d get ready. At home she had the initiative to do many of the household chores without being told by her parents, she made sure her siblings were involved in helping out in the house as well.
2020 like every year Sixta and her siblings had gotten their physical check up, it was one crazy year because COVID was spreading very quickly. The whole family was checked and everything was fine. However there was a lump on her upper back that was ruled as a cyst that could be removed with surgery. Due to COVID and many restrictions that were implemented, getting surgery on non-emergent procedures was not a priority. On August 5th Sixta had a surgery scheduled to remove the mass. However on August 4th the clinic called to inform her family that her COVID results came back positive without having any symptoms, the surgery was canceled. During the same week she had felt legs fall asleep in which she asked her mom about it but her mom didn’t think much of it since it’s a common occurrence. By Friday August 14th Sixta was putting on her shoes but as she was trying to stand up, her legs would not move. Sixta was taken and admitted into the hospital because she had no feeling on her legs and she couldn't walk. Doctors at CHOC ran tests and when results came back, the family found out that she had several tumors on various parts of her body, one of which was on her spine preventing her from walking.

Sixta was rushed into surgery because her case had become an emergency. The cancer had already reached metastasis, it was a stage four unidentified sarcoma. In the duration of four months she was hospitalized, given chemotherapy and radiation to reduce the size of the tumors. Sixta was able to go back home December 2 2020, because the size of the rumors had reduced; this was good news for the family. Three months went by and right on her birthday on March 30 2021 she received the terrible news that the treatment didn't work and the tumors were back. Surprisingly, Sixta only wanted a red mole and a cake to celebrate her birthday. Sixta also spoke to her siblings the same night telling them she was gonna die and that they had to be strong. A 15 year old girl who ignored the news she had just gotten and was focused on preparing her siblings instead of planning a quinceañera. Sixta spoke to her mom about her wishes in case she would pass away. She asked that no one put an altar with a picture of her while on cancer, jokingly she said she would come back and throw it off. In addition she requested that there would be a dress code for her funeral service, anyone to accompany the family must wear purple and nothing black. The family acknowledged her wishes but was hopeful that Sixta would be out of the hospital and better in no time. Her parents and doctors discussed and came to the conclusion of putting her on a stronger treatment than before. On April 28th however her test results didn't show any improvements. By April 29th it was decided to not submit Sixta to any other painful treatment, her parents just focused on enjoying every moment that we have left with her. Medically there was nothing else the doctors could do to prolong her life. While Sixta was in hospice, she played video games, texted her friends, watched tv, listened to music and prayed with her family.
She was very normal looking like there was no cancer as if she was gonna make it to another annual check up. She was strong because there was no day that she would not say that everything was fine, but everyone knew she was in constant pain. Nine months are enough to create a life, in this case it took Sixta nine months to battle this sickness, not giving up always being optimistic on getting better. However, Sixta died on May 23rd 2021, an unidentified sarcoma defeated her. Sixta is forever with us!

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Special thank you to Adolofo Chanez, Sarah Koors, and Aaron Coley.