december time! 12/8

Hey everyone its Jamie, writing you another blog post. Well its December and I can't believe how fast it came. It's silly to think that this summer, i was hoping for it to be December because thats how long I was told, that it would take to independent. I now go and study at coffee shops by myself, I am also driving on 35(watch out), and I also walked into my class for the first time last week. Everything is stupendous when it comes to taking notice at my progress. But I also do something new everyday. All thanks to St. David's rehab, who helped me get my back on my feet-pun intended.

A year ago from today, my family were looking for doctors anywhere that would help me save as much as they could for my limbs. Because in Austin, we were told that we were looking at amputating above the knee, and at my forearm. Pretty insain, which makes me grateful that we found the connection to Doctor Linn, who put me in multiple hyperbaric treatments to save more than we were told. And another thanks to him because Doctor Linn was always saying to wait last minute (more like 2 days) until we amputate because, by doing so, we were able to add in more hyperbaric time to give more oxygen to my limbs, which evidently saved as much as it did. Thank you, Doctor Linn!

With it being december and xmas time, my family are going to Brownsville for some family time. We're even going to make tamales! yumm... but its also going to be the first time to celebrate xmas with the Silvas because it has been a loooonnngg time since we have all celebrated xmas together, and the first to make tamales together. "December time" also means school final's to study for, then old fiends come back in town for the break. Im in the moment of studying, but I know soon enough I will be with all of my friends from the A group-Michelle, Sarah, Andy, Cris, Claire, Molly, and Julie. I call them the A group because they were there for me 100% of the time when I was in the hospital and i am eternally grateful to have them in my life. And I haven't been with everyone since the summer, and back then I was in the wheelchair, but now i think they'll all be excited to see me on my legs. "December time," is a good time.

Thanks. Jamie.

11/15 - Thank you!

So, on Saturday, November 7, we had our first fundraiser and it was a huge success. We don’t know exactly how much we raised, but it was a lot. Maybe I’ll post the final amount, when we finally compile the numbers…. It’s not that it’s a complicated calculus, its that now that we’re done with the event in Dallas, we’re onto planning for the “big” event in Austin on February 27. But, before we (mentally) leave the Dallas event, we have someone we need to thank. Regan Wagh came through for us in a big way, “helping” arrange the venue for us at Liar’s Den, which, by the way, was a fantastic place to have the fundraiser. She’s wonderful! I’d also like to thank the amazing turnout from Jaime’s Dallas-based supporters. I got to see lots of our friends and their families (who, of course, are also our friends) that showed up. Jamie had a great time, and there wasn’t a walker to be seen. Jamie walked around the event meeting all of her fans. She’s really getting quite good at working a crowded room. Really, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that helped make the fundraiser a huge success. So, thank you… and no, I didn’t win in beer pong. I’m a bit embarrassed.

11/13 - One Year Later

One year has passed since Roni rushed Jamie to the hospital because she was having a severe asthma attack. It has been a long, arduous, inspiring, exhausting, heart-wrenching and difficult year for Jamie. Still, knowing how close we got to losing Jamie, we can’t be anything other than happy with where we are. Jamie wasn’t able to get out of bed from November until May (more or less) and now she is walking on prosthetics without any assistance. Remember how many posts were almost entirely dedicated to things like protein levels? Crazy, right? In December of 2008, we sent pictures to Houston in a last-ditch effort to get someone (anyone!) to give Jamie a second opinion about amputating her hands at the wrist and legs above the knee. No one would take her except for Dr. Lin in Houston. Then, in February, after Jamie took about 50 drives in the hyperbaric chamber under Dr. Lin’s supervision, we compared those December 2008 pictures with those taken in February and we saw the miracles that took place in the hyperbaric chamber. Now, Jamie is speaking about her experiences in front of large audiences and telling them about how far she’s come, and those same 2008 pictures are included in the video that plays before she speaks. Jamie has made so much progress, it’s amazing. After thinking that we were going to lose her whole hands, Jamie is writing and drawing better than I ever could.

We have a long way to go before we’re done – in fact I’ll be posting soon about the recommendations we got from Advanced Arm Dynamics about hand-prosthetics and the amazing fundraiser we had for Jamie in Dallas last weekend. She spoke at Shelton and at St. Michael’s. She’s been busy, and I don’t think she would want it any other way. She (and the rest of us) owe a big debt to everyone out there who helped Jamie get back to her life. This is our way of making sure that Jamie has the opportunities to return the favors. Thank you all so much for following Jamie’s journey. It has been… interesting, to say the least. Dramatic? Fun? I hope that, no matter how dark things got, we were able to handle things with a bit of levity and humor. That’s Jamie in a nutshell. She’s got grit but also has a great aura about her. She has embraced her new role and her new life and is really working it. She’s absolutely killing it at her speaking engagements and is making major strides (literally) with her physical recovery on a weekly basis it seems. Jamie is amazing and we’re so lucky to have her with us still. Thank you to everyone who helped us get here.

Speaking of, here is a picture of Jamie and Jen Griffin, who has been a major inspiration for Jamie:

11/4 - Jamie drives my car! (but first, some info about Saturday's fundraiser)

I really want to tell you this awesome story about Jamie, but first, we need to talk about the fundraising event we’re having for Jamie on Saturday. At Liar’s Den, which, of course, is located at 2710 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX 75204. It’s going to be awesome, and you’re going to wish you were there… unless you were there… then you’ll be cool. It’s on Saturday, November 7. It starts at 12 and goes until 6 pm, but most of the fun will happen early. We are planning three attraction/events on Saturday. All it costs is 20$. Here is what the 20$ gets you: you’re entered into a beer pong or flip cup tournament and you get all the beer you can drink. If you want to be entered into both of the tournaments, you just need to throw down another $20. Also, there are $3 wells during the event too. Oh, and there’s food too, but that’s from Liar’s Den. I’ve got a few details to add, below…

(1) Silent Auction – holy crap. There are so many items that have been donated for the event. A small sampling of items includes a slew of sporting event tickets (Stars, Mavs, Byron Nelson), hotel stays (Joule Hotel, for example), bottle service (Wish Lounge, PM Lounge), lots of gift cards to stores (Tootsie’s, Castle Gap), restaurants (Sullivan’s, Craft, Pappadeaux and more) and other things (iPod shuffle, wine basket… ). Sounds like a lot, right? Well, it is! And that is why you want to come, obviously!

(2) Beer Pong and Flip Cup tournaments – Not that I condone drinking games (I do), but we’re having a few tourneys set up, just for fun. The Beer Pong Tournament will start at 1 and we’re planning for a bunch of teams, so let me know asap if you and a partner want to play, so I can reserve you a spot! Only 32 spots in the beer pong tourney, max… we may break it down to a 16 team tournament if we don’t fill it up 32, so get in soon! As for the flip cup tournament, it will be 6 people a team and will start, more or less, after the beer pong tournament ends. That’ll be fun too. And the winners of the tournament each get a brunch at Blue Mesa Grill, which, as most people know , is an amazing restaurant in Dallas (and soon, Austin!). Like I said, above, we’ve received some amazing items!

So, yeah, that’s about it for the event, email me if you want to sign up for a beer pong team. My email is “my last name” at gmail.com (you should be able to figure out how to email me, I just don’t want any spambots to get my email…). So, email me with questions or with your beer pong or flip cup teams!

And now, a cute story… So, on Monday, Jamie drove again at occupational therapy with Bob. Later that day, mom told me that Bob told her that Jamie is cleared to drive on her own! This is wonderful and frightening news for everyone! Anyway, Jamie and I were at a calculus review session on campus (which, was an interesting experience on its own) and drove there. Afterwards, I mentioned to Jamie that I was really proud of her for being cleared to drive…

Jamie: What do you mean?

Nick: You’re cleared to drive? Bob said that you can drive on your own now.

Jamie: He didn’t tell me…

Nick: Oh, well he must have told mom then, and she told me… so, do you want to drive?

Jamie: Now?

Nick: Yeah, right now. Sound good?

Jamie: Sure!

Nick: You ever driven at night?

Jamie: No…

Nick: Whatever, drive anyway….

So, the drive went really well! Jamie is still relatively bad driver, so that’s great! We drove from campus to home in my car, not a long drive, but it was dark and student-filled, and she did a solid job! She drove in my car, used her prosthetics to push the pedals, and drove like normal. It reminded me of when she was first learning to drive… so, that’s scary. But, it’s a big hurdle for Jamie, and one of the more fun hurdles to overcome. Anyway… back to the party planning… hope to see you on Saturday!!! We’ll all be there… waiting for you! For now... more pics!

Jamie (as Charlie Chaplin), John Michael (as himself)

Jamie making the ugly-sad face at her reunion tour to Houston last week:

Jamie looking fierce for her birthday dinner..

See you Saturday!

10/27 - Walking into Houston and more

Yesterday, Jamie, mom and I went back to St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, where we lived from December to the beginning of May. This was our first visit back to the hospital since we left to come to outpatient rehab at St. David’s in Austin. At the time, Jamie was more or less bedridden. She was able to get in her wheelchair with great effort, and she really couldn’t sit up straight for longer than a few minutes without getting sore or winded. She still had wounds that hadn’t closed, some MRSA on her right knee, and was still in isolation (meaning everyone needed to wear plastic suits and facemasks while in contact with her… well, we were supposed to…) It’s been a few months since that time, and, especially to the folks that hadn’t seen Jamie in months, everything has changed for Jamie. She left in a wheelchair and, yesterday, she walked on her own back into the hospital. She left with open wounds, and returned with barely a bandage on her. In May, Jamie had a few tufts of hair and nothing more, now, she has a cute little mini-fro. We’d worked to pass the Jamie Schanbaum Act (requiring incoming freshman and transfer students at all Texas colleges to prove they’ve been immunized from meningococcal disease) and attended a signing ceremony with Governor Perry. Jamie’s hung out with Ghostland Observatory, her favorite band, not once, not twice, but a few times… even getting an impromptu acoustic set in St. David’s by Aaron Behrens, Ghostland’s lead singers. She was on stage at ACL on the day before her 21st birthday. Jamie has reenrolled in UT-Austin and is back attending classes… you know what? You get the point. A lot has changed for Jamie and her fan club since we left Houston in May. The only thing that didn’t change? The weather in Houston: Still sucks.

So, the three of us woke up at the crack of dawn and drove to Houston yesterday to see all of our old friends. Ostensibly, we were there to see Dr. Smith, Jamie’s plastic surgeon who performed the skin graft surgeries for Jamie. We were really there to say hi and show off. Oh, and Uncle Dean came to film some interviews with Jamie’s team of medical folks. We didn’t get everyone on film that we wanted, but we’re planning on coming back to Houston to get the rest of the interviews. Anyway, there were a lot of tears shed by Jamie, mom and all the ladies we saw at St. Joe’s… not being sexist here, it’s just that I, Dr. Lin, Dr. Thai, Dr. Smith, Michael, Anthony, Cody, Luke and the other guys are really tough… and cry on the inside. Everyone was blown away by Jamie’s luxurious locks of hair and how well her skin has healed. The biggest treat was seeing Jamie stand - remember, no one in Houston had seen her stand before…. In fact, no one had seen her stand from November 13, 2008 to May something. Jamie took pride in walking up and down the halls of the hospital, and when she wasn’t walking, we pushed her around on her walker, which has wheels. Jamie probably gave 40 hugs while she was there… everyone was so happy to see her. It was like old times. Dr. Lin was the cutest. Apparently, he had spent the week before our arrival spoiling our surprise visit… though I think mom forgot to tell him it was a surprise. Anyway, there are a bunch of pictures at the bottom of the post, so check them out. Thank you to all of our friends in Houston for taking such good care of our Jamie while she was in your… care. Also, thanks for letting us barge in and own St. Joe’s for another day. It felt good to be back.

On another note, Jamie’s spoke at the Blanco United Methodist Church last weekend and rocked it. She wrote about this already, and no, I wasn’t in attendance, but I wanted to give some impressions that I’ve soaked in from everyone else. Jamie did amazing… I don’t think Jamie wrote that, but she did. Uncle Dean produced a video that played to the congregation prior to her walking/speaking on stage. This was the first time anyone had seen this video and it was very good… very intense, as most videos of Jamie tend to be. [Something I’ve said several times in the past couple of days is, “I can’t believe how normal we thought this was… this was pretty intense.” … we looked over some old pictures of Jamie’s legs prior to her surgeries… it was … graphic]. This was her first time to address a crowd of strangers and talk to them about her story. According to all accounts of the story, Jamie knocked it out of the park! She got a standing ovation from the congregation and then there was a reception in her honor afterwards, as well.

Finally, we’re getting close to our first big fundraising event! I’ll have a separate post for this, with all of the details and whatnot, but it’s looking to be a rousing success! It will be held on November 7, from 12p to 6p (duh), at Liar’s Den (2710 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX 75204). We’ve received commitments for a lot of big time auction items, some of which I’d like to be on the winning end of (for example, we’ll have some amazing tickets to the Mavericks, Stars and Byron Nelson). We’ll also be having beer pong and flip cup tournaments, with the tourney winners getting some actual prizes that they’ll want to compete for. More on this soon, but just mark this on your calendars and spread the word!!

OH! And, be sure to check out this amazing post, written in the Texas Jewish Post this past week and then, mom wrote a piece that was published today in the Dallas Morning News' mom's blog... you know, because she's a mom. Wow, that's a lot of links in one post... now for some more pictures!

Jamie and part of the Hyperbaric team:
Jamie and Mom hugging Allison and Michael:

Jamie and Dr. Lin:
Jamie and Waddell:
Jamie and Luke:
That's all for now!!

10-20 Thanks Blanco

Hello again! It’s Jamie with another blog post. I’m writing to you now, to report my trip that I had when I visited the Blanco United Methodist Church this past Sunday. I went to Blanco to give my first speech about myself and how my life is going today. When I arrived my Papa Gene and Aunt Betty greeted me. When we walked in I met Ken and Margo who were running congregation. The Sunday ceremony ran like any other ceremony and about halfway I took up about fifteen minutes to speak. I didn’t however, prepare a speech, but at the same time, I wasn’t nervous. I don’t know why I wasn’t nervous; after all it was my first speech. I guess I just knew that everything was going to go smoothly. So the halfway marker came up, and Ken introduced me with a video, that my uncle Dean made, and then I got up in front of everyone to tell my story. Let me add, that it was my fourth day or so, to be walking on my own without a walker. So I stood up and walked by myself up to the front. I definitely feel as if I did touch those that were listening, and I felt a whole great deal of satisfaction after I gave my speech, as if this is my new calling. Standing in front of a microphone was pretty easy, and I did love it. People even did come up to me and told me that I had good public speaking skills and that I spoke very well in front of everybody. It was definitely another good day in my life, and I do know that there will be more speeches in my future.

10/6 - Jamie's Birthday and ACL, wrap-up

Happy Birthday to Jamie! Jamie turned 21 on Sunday, and she really started her 21st year with a bang! I guess it would be more accurate to say she ended her 20th year with a bang, because, as promised by the boys from Ghostland Observatory – Aaron and Thomas – Jamie was dancing on stage at Austin City Limits (ACL) with Ghostland. OK, so she wasn’t, like, front and center, on the stage, but she was only a little to the side, where the band’s family hangs out. It was an amazing show!! Me, Jamie, Roni, mom, Becca and Cris got to go backstage, then on stage, at the AMD stage on Saturday night. That was the second largest stage at ACL, after the Livestrong stage, and the amount of people watching Ghostland blew me away. However, the real surprise came at the end of the show… up until the finale, it was your usual Ghostland Observatory concert (meaning, it was an awesome, frenetic, non-stop electronic rock, light show…), but, unbeknownst to the crowd, the University of Texas Marching Band was sitting backstage, right next to Jamie and her crew. When Ghostland started one of my favorite songs – And The Band Marches On – the UT band assembled on the stage and started to rock along with Thomas’ beats and Aaron’s vocals. It was pretty great and the crowd was really into it. Afterwards, Jamie got some quality time with Aaron and Thomas, and then said so long. We’ll see them again in Dallas on Halloween. All in all, Jamie had a fantastic birthday weekend. We are so happy we got to share it with so many of Jamie’s friends… frankly, we’re just happy that Jamie is still with us, enjoying life.

You may have wondered how in the world Jamie could be getting around at ACL. Ordinarily, Austin City Limits is very difficult to traverse. There are thousands upon thousands of people, trying to get from stage to stage to see their favorite performers (I think there were a total of eight stages), and everyone traverses the same routes, more or less, across Zilker Park. Well, ordinarily, it would be tough for Jamie to see her favorite performers, and it was made even worse by the much-complained-about rainstorm that hit ACL this weekend. So, it was muddy. Very muddy. So, presented with all of these challenges, how did Jamie fare? Pretty well! Jamie drove around the park on a motorized scooter provided to her by a friend of Jamie’s and Cris’ family, Tommie. This scooter was awesome. Jamie got through the crowds and the mud with ease…. And if that doesn’t sound awesome enough, Jamie was able to take advantage of the “special access” section at each of the stages. These sections were immediately in front of the crowds, in a sectioned-off area that gave Jamie access to some of her favorite acts. She’d have to tell you more about who she was able to see. I’m not cool anymore, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you half of their names. I mean, she saw Grizzly Bear and Michael Fonti (I think that’s how it spelled)

Anyway, that’s all for now. Mom and I are off to Brownsville for a few days to retrieve some of her old belongings from the Valley that we haven’t been able to retrieve since November. See you in a few days!