She Lives

I asked Dr. Reynolds to send me the picture that was in our local newspaper. (Christi's cells are in the flask with the blue lid.) I take great comfort in knowing that even though cancer killed Christi's body, it wasn't able to kill her ability to try and help tame the darn cancer beast. Her cells were able to survive against horrible odds and therefore a part of her will always live with us here on earth. I don't know why that gives me some peace, but it does. The article is now out in Science Magazine's Jan. 5, 2007 edition. We'll be looking for it when we get to a bookstore.

After school today Shayla and I went to get my X-ray and MRI results. While I thought my back/neck pain and limited mobility I've been having since October was just due to stress, when things let up in December my pain continued. I tried massage, chiropractic, over the counter pain medicines and narcotics...still I found no relief. Finally, the MRI taken on Tuesday showed what was up. I have a bulging disc protrusion on my spine, in between my shoulder blades. I have no idea how that happened, but at least I know it's "something" now. In hopes of avoiding surgery, I'll be having traction conducted on my neck/spine three times a week for sometime. Hopefully, I'll get some relief soon. It really is painful to move at times, yet I know the pain I'm experiencing is NOTHING compared to what Christi endured. When my doctor said, "You're quite a trooper to be able to take the pain for so long," I could only think that I learned to just keep marching along from a beautiful little solider forced to grow up and enter the war all too soon. She's my hero and my inspiration! I miss you, sweetpea!