Some Good News

Good news! Miss Ann's raffle has raised almost $5,000 -- enough money to send Lisa and her family to Disney World, plus a little extra for her to use however she wishes. Honestly, it is just awesome that so many people came together to help a friend realize her dream before she starts chemo treatments.

Lisa plans to attend TequilaCon '08, too since she lives in the area. I'll actually get to meet her after reading and commenting for a year! There will be much squeeee-ing, hugging, and kissing going on at the Lounge 'n Lanes in Philly that night. Especially, when we'll have the likes of Dustin wearing the very special outfit his mom sent him. ROFLMAO!

The other good news is that our niece, Alex, and her boyfriend, Adam, are out of the hospital. Adam was fortunate in that his injuries were not too extensive because his seatbelt did not break. He had two broken ribs and the right side of his body was bruised.

Alex was not so fortunate. She was driving. Probably too fast, but do you know any 19-year old who doesn't? It was raining, and she hit a bad pothole that she couldn't see. I'm fairly certain that she was driving her dad's big Chevy truck and the seat-belt broke. The truck flipped numerous times (I think 5), she was ejected, the truck rolled over her left shoulder and her arm was completely severed. She also sustained a broken eye-socket, broken jaw, a laceration on her face, and significant blood-loss (there could be more, but this is all I can recall).

A passerby helped them, found her arm, and called for help. They were transported to Methodist Hospital, the trauma center in Indianapolis. However, none of the surgeons there wanted to attempt to reattach her arm because her shoulder was so damaged. I think it was her big brother, Matt, who made the decision to find another doctor willing to attempt the surgery. Her parents were in Florida at the time of the accident (they're moving there), so a lot of the decision-making was on his shoulders. He just turned 24 April 13, but has served two times in Iraq. He told his mom and dad, "This was the hardest thing I've had to do in my life." I guess you do what you've got to do, and he did a fine job!

The doctor willing to attempt to reattach Alex's arm was at St. Vincent's Hospital. She underwent numerous surgeries to remove dead tissue and bone, transfusions, as well as litres and litres of fluids. By the end of the weekend her little body weighed 50 pounds more than when she was admitted.

The doctors decided to allow her eye-socket to heal without surgery, but they repaired her jaw with a titanium plate rather than wiring it shut because of nutritional concerns. We actually got to speak with her last Sunday on the phone. She'd only had the tube removed from her throat hours before, and her voice was remarkably strong.

So far, she's stable and healing well. She was released from the hospital Saturday, and even posted a short note on Facebook saying that she won't be on the computer much for a while. She's got a long row to hoe, but I know she can do it!

Thank you all so much for your good thoughts and kind words for both Lisa and Alex. They mean a lot to all of us.

This is a tough post for me to write

A lot has happened in the last 24-hours and I need to let you know the latest. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for going to Lisa's and Miss Ann's blogs to offer your kind and generous support. If you haven't yet, I hope that you will take a bit of time to go to Lisa's blog, click on the "comment" button, and leave her some words of encouragement -- yes, even though you don't know her.

Here's what she says in the comments section of her blog...

"I want to reply to each and every one of you. I mean that in all sincerity because your comments mean so much. I have been printing them and so far have 43 pages!!! They will keep me strong and remind me what to be grateful for on the days I feel weak and feel like I can’t fight.

I’m grateful for all of you! "

She's an amazing woman who is such an inspiration to all of us.

Here's an update from Lisa:

"... It turns out that I have tumors on my liver and abdomen. This is an aggressive cancer that seems to be spreading fast. I’m inoperable although my only hope may be that Johns Hopkins is the only hospital on the East Coast that may be willing to try surgery to “debulk” the tumor in my abdomen but it’s very risky.

Using chemotherapy at this stage in the game may or may not produce good results..."

An update from Miss Ann (she's hosting the raffle):

"...We’ve reached $3000+! Since people don’t like to insure two time cancer survivors, and since the raffle is still running and even MORE stuff has been donated, which I will post tomorrow, I’m asking for the donations to continue to help with medical expenses and such. As I said yesterday, the raffle might end early depending on what goes on with her at her next doctor appointment sometime next week. I have to pull it abruptly if she needs to go NOW. You guys are the greatest. Seriously. Your thoughtfulness and caring are amazing. Thank you so much..."

Another blog friend, whom I haven't met yet has made the following video. It is beautiful and makes me very proud to be a part of the blogging community.



Now, I need to ask for your love, support, good vibes, and prayers. Our niece, Alex and her boyfriend, Adam, were in a terrible auto accident yesterday in Indiana. It was raining, the country road was slick, and they hit a pothole. I don't know many more details except the truck flipped 7 times. My niece was thrown from the truck and her arm was severed. Adam found her arm, and called for help.



They were both airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Alex was assessed there and the doctors determined that she could withstand the surgery to reattach her arm. She was then transported to St. Vincent's Hospital. She made it through surgery and her arm's circulation is good, but she has started running a fever and is in critical condition. She also has significant facial injuries, but the swelling has to go down before the doctors can do anything.

It's my understanding that Adam is still at Methodist Hospital in critical condition suffering from internal injuries and hemorrhaging. Unfortunately, I don't know anymore than that at his time.

It is very hard for us to be so far away when something as devastating as this happens. The movers arrived here this morning to begin packing our household goods. Michael packed up a lot of things today and took them to the service apartment. I still have a bunch of forms to fill out, but I'm getting there -- slowly, but surely. I promised Lisa last night that I would stop procrastinating the shitty stuff that I hate to do.

I'm so thankful for technology, the internets, and the beautiful people behind those computer screens. I'm pretty sure I'd be a total basket case right now if I didn't have them. It felt good to talk to Jimmy and my Mom on Skype this morning and to be able to see them. They had been to see Alex, and it was terribly difficult for them to see her little body so battered and broken. So, once again, I thank you for your love and support. It means a lot to me.

Sometimes We Need A Little Help from Friends

I was going to write about our anniversary evening, but something more important has come up and I need to ask for your help.

I know many of you don't understand this blogging business or the friendships that I've made over the last couple of years. After I started reading blogs, I began to know these people -- probably even better than some of my In Real Life (IRL) friends.

We interact with comments on each other's blogs, Flickr, Twitters, chats, etc. My circle of blogging friends are talented writers, smart as hell, and almost always very funny. I'm always drawn to people who have a sense of humor. When a fellow blogger has a crisis and shares it with us, the blogging community rallies in support. These friendships are real. Connecting with other bloggers all over the world has helped me tremendously while living in Singapore. I'm not so sure I would've adjusted as well as I have without knowing these wonderful people were out there and willing to lend a hand if I needed it.

One of my favorite blog friends is, Lisa, a 41-year old wife and mother of two beautiful daughters. I've been reading her since the beginning of last year. She spent a lot of last year in a coma as well as suffering amnesia resulting from surgery for ovarian cancer. Even though she was in the hospital or at home recovering from March to September, she still managed to graduate from college in October. She went back to work and started working on her Master's degree. She is an amazing woman, honest and forthright.

The following is a quote from Lisa's Promises, Promises post from last November:

Changed jobs
Battled depression
Seen my father on a ventilator after having two heart attacks
Turned 40 and had a mid-life crisis
Battled depression
Had cancer
Survived six surgeries
Was in a coma
Had amnesia
Battled depression
Couldn’t walk
Had numerous other medical complications
Battled depression
My dad had a heart transplant
My mother was diagnosed with cancer
Battled depression
Graduated from school
Started Graduate school
Battled depression
Lost 60 pounds
Battled depression

Yesterday, Lisa wrote that she has cancer again, and it has spread. As I said, when a friend is going through rough times, the blogging community rallies. In this case, Miss Ann Thrope, decided to host a raffle of one of her beautiful afghans to earn enough money for Lisa and her family to go to Disneyworld. Since then, a lot of other bloggers have donated prizes to the raffle too. Check out Miss Ann's post for the additional prizes. All of them are very generous and given from the heart.

This is a cause very near and dear to my heart. I hope you'll consider a donation.

Lisa and her family went through hell last year (that is an understatement if there ever was one). They deserve to have some fun times together without worrying about finances.

A couple of other things I ask of you... go over to Lisa's place and leave a supportive comment. Yes, even if you don't know her. Bloggers love comments and feedback. At a time like this, it is even more important.

If you believe in the power of prayer, I would ask you to keep Lisa and her family in yours. If you don't believe in prayer, please just think good thoughts for them and donate as much money as you can afford.

Thank you, my friends.