Derek has a final burst of energy after days of Cyndie keeping vigil at his bedside. She helps her anguished son walk on April 26. A cancerous tumor has distended Derek's stomach so far that his pants no longer fit. Another tumor in his brain impairs his eyesight making navigation difficult inside their rental home.

~multum in parvo~


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Cyndie always tries to have something at hand to take the sting out of her son, Derek's doctor appointments. On March 8 after undergoing radiation treatment, they make the most of a dollar can of Silly String - and Cyndie then meticulously cleans up every bit of the stuff from the ground.Cyndie is a big fan of the Dollar Store.

~multum in parvo~


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Derek is tearful as Cyndie tries to reason with him at the UC Davis Cancer Center on Feb. 14, 2006. She and Dr. William Hall argue that Derek should have a series of radiation treatments to shrink tumors spreading throughout his body and alleviate his pain.. "Derek, you might not make it if you don't do this," Cyndie tells her son. Derek fires back: "I don't care! Take me home. I'm done, Mom. Are you listening to me? I'm done."

~multum in parvo~


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Just in case you've ever wondered about it, here's an answer from mrBadak.com:


(0_o) ..w00t!!

Now the million dollar question: guess who's the pervert. *grins*

~verus rara avis~

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Realizing that Derek may never have an opportunity to get his driver's license, something he's told her he is anticipating, Cyndie French defies the rules and lets him drive up and down their street in West Sacramento. On the same day, Feb. 9, 2006. Cyndie met for the first time with hospice workers, and learns there is little time left for Derek.

~multum in parvo~


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Shortly after his 11th birthday and Cyndie’s 40th, Derek is comforted by his brother Micah Moffe, 17, left, and mom Cyndie, right, as he gets a tattoo in preparation for radiation therapy on November 30, 2005.. Micah often accompanies Derek to treatments even though his schoolwork suffers.

~multum in parvo~


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Derek playfully taunts his mother as Cyndie tries to coax him down from a wall outside the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento on July 27. They are there to admit Derek for cancer surgery the following day.Cyndia, who understands Derek’s emotional meltdown before procedures, spends hours getting him in the door of the hospital.

~multum in parvo~


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Derek Madsen, 10, gets a soothing massage from his mother, Cyndie French, at her Sacramento nail and tanning salon.. "I’m going to do whatever it takes to make him happy, to see him smile." Cyndie says. A single mom of five, Cyndie had to give up her salon at a financial loss to care for her dying son.

~multum in parvo~


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Cyndie French, embraces her son, Derek Madsen, 10, on July 25, 2005, after learning Derek needs surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his abdomen. The emotional impact is taking its toll on her. “How can anyone maintain a nine-to-five job and do this?” she begins to wonder.

~multum in parvo~

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Starting today I'll start posting Renée C. Byer of The Sacramento Bee's intimate portrayal of a single mother and her young son as he loses his battle with cancer. It will be done a photo at a time, once a day. These photos won Renée the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.



Racing barefooted after kicking off her flip-flops, Cyndie pushes her son Derek Madsen, 10, up and down hallways in the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento on June 21, 2005, successfully distracting him during the dreaded wait before his bone marrow extraction. Doctors want to determine whether he is eligible for a blood stem cell transplant, his best hope for beating neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer, which was diagnosed in November 2004.

~multum in parvo~

P.S: The title "Derek's Journey To Heaven" is my own words not Renée's.

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Violence against women is a despicable crime.

Victim of violence against women, Guatemala. Probably the woman was thrown out an apartment window by her husband, plunging to her death. It seems that her skull has shattered. Photo credits: Walter Astrada, Argentina/World Picture Network.

What do you think about violence against women?

~multum in parvo~

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The tragic image of 13-year-old Omayra Sanchez trapped in debris caused by a mudslide following the eruption of a volcano in Colombia in 1985. Red Cross rescue workers had apparently repeatedly appealed to the government for a pump to lower the water level and for other help to free the girl. Finally rescuers gave up and spent their remaining time with her, comforting her and praying with her. She died of exposure after about 60 hours.

Photo credits: Frank Fournier (pictured below)


Click here to read about Frank's story of Omayra. May you rest in peace Omayra.

~multum in parvo~

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A 2004 sandstorm in Chad. May the maelstrom of thoughts swell up in your mind to all you guys suffering from writer's block especially Rebel, Bohemian and our camera girl. I'll get a vaccine for lost of passion soon. XD

~multum in parvo~

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This picture really captures the tragedy of Beslan. An innocent child's life snatched away by evil humans that show contempt to the sanctity of life. May you all rest in peace, victims of a tragedy. Photo credits: Yuri Kozyrev, Time Magazine.

I dedicate this picture to our Bohemian who loves this kind of pictures. May you be cured of writer's block and be prevented from losing your passion.

~multum in parvo~

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An Najaf, Iraq, 31 March 2003. Iraqi man comforts his son at a holding center for prisoners of war. Photo credits: Jean-Marc Bouju, France, The Associated Press.

Working quickly and discreetly, Bouju couldn't help thinking about his own child, and how it would be if the roles were reversed. Try to imagine the fear of the child has to go through. War is hell, especially a war with lies as it's casus belli. What do you think about the Iraqi disaster?

~multum in parvo~

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Tokyo, Japan, 26 March 1978. Protest against the construction of Narita Airport. Photo Credits: Sadayuki Mikami, Japan, The Associated Press.

It seems that someone was using self immolation to protest like the Buddhist monk in Vietnam but this time he's trying to make it spectacular by charging at police.




April 1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger with a missionary.Karamoja district, Uganda. Photo Credits: Mike Wells, United Kingdom.

There is a stark contrast between the child's and missionary's hand. The photo is good example to contrast the rich with the poor. Another fact to note is people usually starve to death due to the lack of money to buy food (there is no shortage) when crops fail.




Beirut, Lebanon, 18 September 1982. Aftermath of massacre of Palestinians by Phalangists in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Photo Credits: Robin Moyer, USA, Black Star for Time.

Moyer saw Israeli flares burst above the camps, and went there to discover piles of bodies - brutally shot. He photographed for hours surrounded by the smell of death, while Israeli soldiers joked around. The killers were never brought to justice. In this cruel world Americans and Jews are treated with respect while Palestinians are considered sub-humans. Palestinians are to be slaughtered and then joked about.

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All in all there are 10 photos.




1957. The first day of Dorothy Counts at the Harry Harding High School in the United States . Counts was one of the first black students admitted in the school, and she was no longer able to stand the harassments after 4 days.




January 12, 1960. A second before the Japanese Socialist Party leader Asanuma was murdered by an opponent student. Photo Credits: Yasushi Nagao, Japan, Mainichi Shimbun




1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist monk in Southern Vietnam , burns himself to death protesting the government’s torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound or moved while he was burning. Photo Credits:Malcolm W. Browne, USA, The Associated Press.





Puerto Cabello naval base, Venezuela, June 1962. A soldier who has been mortally wounded by a sniper clings onto navy chaplain Luis Padillo. Photo Credits:Héctor Rondón Lovera, Venezuela, Diario La República.




1965. Loc Thuong, Binh Dinh, South Vietnam, September 1965. Mother and children wade across river to escape US bombing. Photo Credits:Kyoichi Sawada, Japan, United Press International.




1966. Tan Binh, South Vietnam, 24 February 1966. American troops drag the body of a Viet Cong soldier to be buried. Photo Credit: Kyoichi Sawada, Japan, United Press International.




Saigon, South Vietnam, 1 February 1968. South Vietnam national police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong member. Photo Credits: Eddie Adams, USA, The Associated Press.




South Vietnam, 8 June 1972. Phan Thi Kim Phuc (center) flees from the scene where South Vietnamese planes have mistakenly dropped napalm. She survived the attack and has become a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador (photo of Kim Phuc in 2004). Photo Credit: (Nick) Ut Cong Huynh, Vietnam, The Associated Press.




Santiago, Chile, 11 September 1973.
Democratically elected President Salvador Allende moments away from death during military coup at Moneda presidential palace. Photo Credit:Anonymous, The New York Times.




1975. Boston, USA, 22 July 1975. A woman and a girl are hurled down as the fire escape of their apartment building collapses. The girl survived, as her fall was cushioned by her dead mother. Photo Credits: Stanley Forman, USA, The Boston Herald.



I'll post more similar photos tomorrow because Blogger is getting cranky making it impossible to post photos.

Bye

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