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Out
of grief they search for hope, out of despair they
find determination and drive. One Colorado family
is turning their devastating loss into a mission
for a cure.
No parent should have to endure the pain of losing a child. And worse yet,
no child, no matter their age, should have to endure pain and suffering because
of an incurable illness.
But as millions of parents know, it happens
every day, in every corner of the world.
Families struggle to understand, struggle
to move on, and do what they
can to carry on and keep their child’s memory alive, and perhaps help,
in some small way, to contribute to finding a cure for the illness that took
their child’s life.
Kristina was in the prime of her life. She was almost 21, had a good job, had
completed her education, and was just beginning to find her way in the world.
She was a truly unique individual, never being untrue to herself and who she
truly was. She was in love, and planning to get married soon. Everything was
falling into place for her, after earlier struggles and growing pains; she
was truly coming full circle.
In the fall of 2000 she was fighting what seemed to be a severe case of tonsillitis.
Repeated doses of antibiotics seemed to do nothing, and after months of doctor
visits, it was decided to remove her tonsils.
The day before the surgery, February 20, 2001, she woke up experiencing severe
back pain. By noon it was so bad that we had to take her to the doctor. From
that day on, it was a whirlwind, a blur, a bad dream.
Jerry & Cindy Dec. 2004
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On February
22nd, tests confirmed Acute Mylogeneous Leukemia,
with a white count higher than some hospital staff
had ever seen. We still struggle to understand how
her primary doctor failed to see that more tests
were needed to find out what was wrong months earlier.
She was immediately transferred to another hospital
and on February
23 began her first chemotherapy treatment.
She was terrified, but never once talked
about dying except that she and Jason immediately
said it was “not an option.” He was
at her side almost constantly, as were her Father
and
I, and her younger sister. We knew how serious
this was, but still, we did not think about the
possibility
that she would not survive this.
She handled the treatment well, still eating,
and with mild side effects.Opti ism
was running high. Her oncologist talked of the difficulty of “getting her
into remission and keeping her there” but was convinced it would happen.
Each day things slowly began to change. She developed an infection and had absolutely
no immune system to fight it because of the chemotherapy. Although she was constantly
receiving blood, platelets and countless antibiotics, the infection was more
than her body could take. Her breathing became labored and she was taken to ICU
on March 11, 2001.
We are thankful that we were able to spend every single minute with her. Our
employers were gracious, compassionate and supportive in allowing us all the
time we needed to spend with Kristina. Those days with Kristina are priceless
and somewhat of a solace as we now struggle to make it through the days without
her
Kristina Ann died on March 15, 2001, three weeks before her 21st birthday.
We have now nearing the fourth anniversary
of her death. We’ve endured
the birthdays, Mother’s Days, Father’s Days, Christmas, etc. Our
lives are now termed by events “before Kristina died” and “after
Kristina died. We are not the same people we were before Kristina died, and
never will be again. It is excruciating and life altering; truly the most
painful thing
a parent can experience.
Now, all we can do is “go on.” We weren’t given a choice
in the matter.
Written by Cindy Schell (“Kristina’ s Mom”) Kristina & her
family are from Thornton, CO. She has a younger sister, now 22. |
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