Christine has passed, she is finally at peace.

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[Christine]

Christine passed away today, October 17, 2007, 2:00 pm. This is her husband (Chris) posting this for her. She made me promise I would keep all of you updated as she cared very deeply for every one of you.

I want all of you to know how much I appreciate your kind words and support towards her. I really believe these forums helped keep her going at the times things were very difficult for her. She lived life to the fullest right to the end and fought this horrible virus with everything she had.

She started having mild fevers Friday evening, but nothing out of the ordinary. This continued into Sunday night when she had a fever that peaked at 103.9 degrees F. However, her spirits were up all through the weekend, she even worked on her crafts Sunday afternoon before the fever hit. Sunday night after her fever broke, she wanted to check her blood pressure. It was 70/35! Monday morning on the advice of her nurse and doctor, we took her to the ER. She was quickly admitted, but they could not stabilize her blood pressure which was even lower at this point, so she was transferred to the intensive care unit. Tuesday morning at 4:30 am she told me she couldn’t fight anymore and want to stop the blood pressure treatment, I told her it was okay.

The hospital (Hershey Medical Center) was fantastic, they let us bring in our dogs (4) one by one so she could say goodbye. As I’m sure some of you know, they were VERY special to her. After that at 2:00 pm on Tuesday they stopped the blood pressure medicine and put her on a morphine drip to help with her chronic pain and make her comfortable. We were told she should pass within a few hours after she fell asleep, but Christine was going to have the last word on that and silently fought on for another 24 hours until she passed today (Wednesday) at 2:00 pm. She passed so peacefully, I couldn’t have wished for more. Through all of my sorrow and grief, I feel great relief that her pain and suffering are finally over. Nothing will hurt her ever again. I will love her with all of my heart forever and I hope I made her time here as happy as it could be.

I will do the best I can to follow this post and answer any questions or concerns you might have.

Anyway, the service is being held at 2:00pm on Monday, October 22 at Saint Joan of Arc church in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Instead of flowers, we would like donations to be made in her name to Molly's Place Pet Rescue (it is where we adopted our latest pup, Scooter). We think she would really have preferred that. Even small amounts make a difference. Here is the web link on how to do that.

http://www.mollysplace.org/donate.htm

I know that Cindy started a thread for this and you can continue to send contributions to her also. It will all get to the right place and hopefully make a difference for these animals she cared so much for.

Thank you with all of my heart.

[mjmel]

My condolences, Chris.
May she rest in peacefulness.

Mike

[Moffie65]

Thank you Chris, you are one hellofa gentleman!

Christine is now at peace, and the pain that many of us live with daily; she has now gained victory over. 

Please keep us posted, and I think the donations in her name will work here somehow.

Love, Tim.....

[cjc]

Thank you Chris for letting us know. My deepest sympathy to you and you family. You all meant a lot to her and made her last days very happy.  Cristy

[Dachshund]

Chris I am just heartbroken, I feel like I know a bit about you from the few times I have spoken to Christine. She spoke so highly of you. The last time I spoke to her I think she was trying to gently let me know it was her time to go. She spoke of you and her best friend and the concern she had that she might be a burden. That was Christine, always thinking of others first. She was a rare light on the forums and she will be greatly missed. She told me she left you my email in her folder and if there is anything you need please let me know.

sincerely,
Hal

[Jeff64]

What a loss...she will be missed.

Jeff

[blondbeauty]

I am sorry Chris. It is hard to believe she is no longer going to be among us, posting her pictures...always smiling. My deepest sympathy to you.  

[J.R.E.]

Dear Chris,

My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to you and your family. I am so sorry.


In sadness-----Ray

[blondbeauty]

I was reading again her last thread: "hello and update". We will miss her.

[Jerry71]

My condolences, Chris. She will be missed.

[bryonut]

I too went back and read her past posts. She always had kind and encouraging words for everyone. She will be missed terribly.

May she rest in peace.
bry

[aztecan]

Chris,

Thank you for letting us know. I am very much saddened because she is no longer with us, but take solace in the fact she is no longer suffering and is now at peace.

If there is anything I can do, please let me know.

Mark

[pozattitude]

Chris,

my condolences to you and your family.
Christine touched the lives of many of us here and she will always be remembered with much love.
i am very saddened by the news.

[thunter34]

She was a rare light on the forums and she will be greatly missed.

Chris, there is no praise that can be spoken of this woman that I'm sure you don't already know.  I had the opportunity to speak with her just last week, and I am so thankful for that because it gave me a chance to see even more clearly the brilliance in the light of this lady's spirit.  And as another forum member here has recently stated, it is a light that will never be dimmed.

Peace be with you and yours, Chris.

~Tim Hunter

[milker]

My condolences to you and your family. Christine will be missed.

F.

[catwoman]

I send my prayers and condolences.

[Basquo]

Thank you for letting us know.  It couldn't have been easy to write this post. I'm glad she is at peace, and my sincerest condolences go out to you and the rest of her family and friends.

Love,
Creighton

[Miss Philicia]

Chris, it's with much sadness that I saw this thread title and clicked to read it.  My most sincere thoughts are with you and your family at this time, but I know you take great solace knowing that your wife is no longer in a struggle.  Please know that everyone on this board took great strength and inspiration from Christine and she will be most missed.

Fondly,

David

[emeraldize]

Chris,

Thank you for sharing with us not only Christine's last wishes, but her last days and hours. She would appreciate how you explained things.

I send my condolences.

Em

[Teresa]

Chris,

I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. Christine was a true inspiration to so many here at the forums. We loved her so much and will miss her terribly.

My sincere condolences

Teresa

[RapidRod]

Chris, thank you for taking the time to advise us. Christine will be sadly missed. Please except my condolences.

Rodney

[Jody]

Dear Chris...My condolences on the loss of Christine, she was a fine lady and a trusted member of these forums...She will be missed and I know you were blessed by having her in your life.

Jody 

[Denver Toad]

Thoughts and prayers to you and your family. Christine was an amazing woman, a true light in the darkness.

[komnaes]

Thanks for posting the news here Chris.

Christine was a remarkably strong and kind person and I am sure she will be dearly missed in this forum. It was also a relief to know that she passed so peaceful - we Chinese believe it's a blessing, a result of all good deeds she had done.

My condolences to you and your family.

Shaun

[xyahka]

I am really sorry for the news...

Words are really not enough to express the feeling of emptiness i have right now knowing she won't write to us again... her words were always so brilliant, so inspirational... they gave me so much strength...

There are really no words to express how i feel... nothing can express how this big loss affect us.

She will be missed a lot, like we miss the stars in a full moon night, cause she was like an star for all of us.

I am really really sorry.... my heart goes to you and your family.

Christine, que descanses en paz. Te queremos mucho.. te vamos a extrañar tanto 
Christine, rest in peace. We love you a lot.. we are going to miss you so much


Juan Carlos

/edited to add translation.../

[Queen Tokelove]

Thanks so much Chris for letting us know about Christine. I did not know her personally but to of read her posts told me how truly an amazing women she was, so much so that I have often referred others to read her posts for inspiration. She will continue to be an inspiration to me. You have my heartfelt condolences.....

[northernguy]

Thank you Chris for letting us know. From what i read here, she was truly blessed to have found someone like you to share her life with.

Rob

[Robert]

Christine will be remembered as a kind and gentle woman who warmed our hearts.  She will be dearly missed.  My deepest sympathies to you and your family.

robert

[randym431]

So Sorry to hear this. I somehow missed knowing her, so i read thru some of her posts. I could see right away she was a very special person. Nothing but positive caring words for everyone in her posts. The Sprit never dies. She is still with us.

[Life]

Christine will live in our hearts forever Chris... She touched each one of us in such a beautiful and caring way.. With everything she was experiencing, she always found the time for others.....

What a gift she must have been to you Chris, to have her as your Wife, for all these years..  

This is so hard...............

Christine
Our tomorrows stopped today
We shared your joys
We shared your sorrows
We knew you cared from the very first moment
Your life met so much to so many, we will never forget
We miss you Christine
Now your spirit soars
You are free

Love and Peace

Eric & Will

[lovingsister]

My deepest sympathy to you and your family. may her soul rests in peace. my prayers are with you especially in this time of grief. God bless always

from: lovingsister

Christine passed away today, October 17, 2007, 2:00 pm. This is her husband (Chris) posting this for her. She made me promise I would keep all of you updated as she cared very deeply for every one of you.

I want all of you to know how much I appreciate your kind words and support towards her. I really believe these forums helped keep her going at the times things were very difficult for her. She lived life to the fullest right to the end and fought this horrible virus with everything she had.

She started having mild fevers Friday evening, but nothing out of the ordinary. This continued into Sunday night when she had a fever that peak at 103.9 degrees F. However, her spirits were up all through the weekend, she even worked on her crafts Sunday afternoon before the fever hit. Sunday night after her fever broke, she wanted to check her blood pressure. It was 70/35! Monday morning on the advice of her nurse and doctor, we took her to the ER. She was quickly admitted, but they could not stabilize her blood pressure which was even lower at this point, so she was transferred to the intensive care unit. Tuesday morning at 4:30 am she told me she couldn’t fight anymore and want to stop the blood pressure treatment, I told her it was okay.

The hospital (Hershey Medical Center) was fantastic, they let us bring in our dogs (4) one by one so she could say goodbye. As I’m sure some of you know, they were VERY special to her. After that at 2:00 pm on Tuesday they stopped the blood pressure medicine and put her on a morphine drip to help with her chronic pain and make her comfortable. We were told she should pass within a few hours after she fell asleep, but Christine was going to have the last word on that and silently fought on for another 24 hours until she passed today (Wednesday) at 2:00 pm. She passed so peacefully, I couldn’t have wished for more. Through all of my sorrow and grief, I feel great relief that her pain and suffering are finally over. Nothing will hurt her ever again. I will love her with all of my heart forever and I hope I made her time here as happy as it could be.

I will do the best I can to follow this post and answer any questions or concerns you might have.

I am going to try to start some type of donation fund in her name to benefit local animal shelters, since that was so special and dear to her. If any of you have any suggestions or comments on how I should go about that, I would greatly appreciate it. I was think some type of PayPal account would be easy.

Thank you with all of my heart.

[GSOgymrat]

I'm very sorry for your loss. I didn't know Christine personally but I appreciated reading her posts.

Ford

[Mouse]

My heart went into my throat when I saw the title of this thread.

Everything about her was so kind, even the tone of her writing made it so obvious that she was such a impossibly gentle person. I can't even comprehend not reading that writing anymore right now. I don't even know what to say. I'm glad she is at peace, but I selfishly wish she could have stayed with us.

[StrongGuy]

My deepest condolonces to you and your family. Her big heart and fighting spirit was an inspiration and she will be missed.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers...

Mike

[mikeyleerocks]

Chris,

My condolences for your loss and my apprecition for the great love and support you felt for Christine.

Thank you so much for your support for the entire community , that is monumental and necessary for any of us to see a long-term solution to this epidemic ...

m

[woodshere]

May you find strength and comfort in the memories and love you shared with Christine.

Peace to you,

Woods

[Lis]

god bless you both... As i sit here and cry, I know that your heart breaks far more then mine..

GOD SPEED LOVELY WOMAN!!!!!

[BuckmarkTX]

Chris,

I am sad, very sad, to learn about Christine.  I can't even imagine what you are going through.  I will say a prayer for both you and Christine tonight.

Hugs,

Henry

[HealthyMomma]

Chris,
   I didn't know Christine but judging what everyone has said about her she was an amazing woman! You are in my prayers!
Nicki

[MOONLIGHT1114]

Hi Chris~

I am terribly saddened by Christine's passing.  She PMed me last week and I was so happy to hear from her.  I only wish I had gotten the chance to meet her in person.  I was so glad to see the thread she started recently, and was glad to hear that she was back at home.

I was overcome when I heard of her passing today.  Chris, I hope I'm not imposing, but I'm only a little ways down the road in Frederick.  I don't know if you know how to use the PM (email) feature here but I will PM you.  I'd like to know if her services will be private or not?  I hope I'm not overstepping at this difficult time.

We all loved Christine so very much.

God Bless You and Your Family,

~Cindy

[her_sister]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.  I will continue to pray for you to have peace in your heart and strength to make it through.

[OzPaul]

My sympathy and condolences are with you and your family.

I will always remember Christine as a kind and loving person. Her generosity of spirit and compassion will remain with me.

Paul

[matty.the.damned]

Oh Christine!

Since you're gone and can no longer hear me, you'll forgive me if I make this post about myself. Grief brings out terrible selfishness in one. Despite all my bombast and vainglory I'm not terribly good at dealing with losing the people I love, especially to this awful, awful disease.

And at the moment the pain Matty the Damned is feeling is overwhelming.

I'm sorry I missed our skype date last week. The internetz failed us. I would have loved one last chance for you, Aunty Doxie and I to have laughed and bitched and conspired but it was not to be. I knew that there would not be another one. Aunty Doxie told me how ill you sounded when he spoke to you last Thursday.

We knew. We three knew, I think.

Nevertheless I take comfort in the knowledge that your suffering has ended. No don't thank me, it's the least I can do. And not before time. You of all the people I know from this place, did not deserve to suffer how you did.

And I know that you died as you lived. With compassion, and grace and dignity.

As Daddy Tim remarked to me when our beloved James died a couple of years back, your time to suffer has passed and we, your positive brothers and sisters now shoulder that burden. Go to your peace knowing that we will keep the light of your memory bright. It's a grim and terrible honour to shoulder your burden, but an honour nonetheless.

Your life and death will be remembered all around the world.

To Chris and your loved ones Matty the Damned sends his unqualified and boundless love.

MtD
(Who can say no more at this time)

[Ric Wilke]

Dear Chris,

Thom and I are saddened to hear of your loss of Christine.  We would have like to have met her but is seems that time did not allow.  She will always be a part of these forums and we will all remember her dearly.

When an unfortunate event such as Christine's passing occurs, it reminds me of how much each of us have to be thankful for; the advances in medical care, the doctors who care for us, and most importantly the families that stand beside us while we fight this horrid virus.

Chris, you were there for Christine and bless you for your caregiving and love.

Christine now has the wonderful advantage of being able to look upon each of us and continue to give us her support.  We are lucky to have such an Angel.

Rest in peace Christine but continue to help us who miss you to continue the fight!

Love, Ric and Thom

[frenchpat]

Chris,

Christine touched many hearts including mine, and I thank you for the way you told us of her passing. I wish you courage and strength.

peace,

Pat

[jabez]

I am deeply sorry to hear this, Chris.  May God bless her spirit and give you the comfort that you need.

[matty.the.damned]

I just took the liberty of checking Christine's last few posts in the Forums. I think her last one (posted on October 4th) indicates the quality of the person we have lost today.

Bucko you must get better soon! I have been told from some of our AM family that you have the most wonderful, delicious, sexy voice which I hope to someday have the privilege of hearing!

I am wishing you a week of not horrible hospital food, and hopefully not a huge amount of blood cultures taken, which usually seem to be drawn between 2am-4am...

Hugs and kisses that you feel better soon!
Christine

Vale Christine.

Matty the Damned

[lucas clay]

my condolences to you and your family.

                                 Lucas

[Dragonette]

Dear Chris

My deepest condolences to you & your family. I am so saddened to hear. Others have said it all much better that I could express.  I always made sure to read Christine's posts, because there were always valuable and touching, and extremely relevant to anyone with this disease. I loved the photos she posted too. I would like to thank you sincerely for posting. 

[egello]

i am so sorry for you loss and even though i never read any of her post before, i feel somehow secure and jollier in knowing the fact that she had a loving partner like you who took care of her saw her go peacefully.