The Bluebonnet Gala was Amazing!!!

[I know it has been a very, very long while since I posted, but I’ve been quite busy. To hit the highlights, after two months of heavy networking, I’m back in Dallas (Irving, actually) working at my new job! I started on February 5 and I’m really enjoying the new gig. The hours are long, but, maybe I that’s just related to the fact that I hadn’t really been working a normal, full-time schedule since Jamie fell ill in November 2008… Man, lawyers work a lot!! I’ve also been the No. 2 in command of planning The J.A.M.I.E. Group’s first annual Bluebonnet Gala, which is our first major/formal fundraiser. Also, I ran a half-marathon on Valentine’s Day. It’s not related to my absence from this blog, but it’s still pretty neat!]

Anyway, that being said, I’m glad to be back writing about Jamie and her story. It’s been so long since I’ve written that the general theme of her story has changed. When I used to post, the posts were dedicated to the medical minutiae of her recovery from Meningococcal Septicemia and the amputations related thereto. (“Thereto”… can you tell I’m working as a lawyer again?) Now, the story has changed a bit. Certainly, a vast majority of the story pertains to Jamie’s gradual acclimation to her new life, new legs and new abilities; however, there’s a large chunk of this blog that will become dedicated to Jamie’s new mission. By acting as the main voice of The J.A.M.I.E. Group (which is an acronym for Joint Advocacy for Meningococcal Information and Education), Jamie will attempt to educate students, teachers, parents, doctors and whoever else that will listen about the dangers posed by Meningitis. Meningitis is a life-threatening disease that, considering how severe and sudden its effects are, the public and the medical community are relatively under-informed about. But, if you’ve been reading along, you’re well aware about the damage that this disease can do.

This post is about The J.A.M.I.E. Group’s Bluebonnet Gala and what an amazing night it was. Everything went as planned, and, thanks in LARGE part to some amazing volunteers, the evening was a rousing success. The event was held on Saturday, February 27 at St. Michael’s, Jamie’s high school. Upon entering the building, you’d have no idea that you were stepping into a cafeteria. The place looked magnificent. The good folks at Great Events, a party planning company whose time was donated by one of Jamie’s supporters, flew in from Chicago and they put on a great show! Anyway, people from all over the state came to Austin to celebrate Jamie’s inspiring recovery and her new mission. I’m still flabbergasted about the amount of live and silent auction items that were donated for the event. There were over 80 items, including a 1.00 carat diamond, a football signed by the 2009 Texas Football team, autographed Adrian Peterson, Devin Hester and Matt Forte jerseys, lots of artwork, a villa in Acapulco for 10 people (with staff), $1000’s of gift cards to restaurants and other stores… I could go on and on. The food, prepared by renowned local chef, Alma Alcocer-Thomas (who donated much of the expense of the food), was fantastic. Everyone left talking about the meal that she prepared. The night was hosted by Ron Oliveira, one of mom’s high school buddies who just so happens to be the main anchorman for KEYE-TV (Austin’s CBS Affiliate). He did a fantastic job, and along with our auctioneer, Steve Glink, kept the crowd entertained all night. The best part of the evening was, without a doubt, Jamie’s video and speech that she made to the crowd after dinner. As the blog readers have witnessed first-hand, Jamie has developed into a budding writer and public speaker, and she showed off those skills on Saturday. She was great up on stage.

Also, Letty Landa and Lindsay Stillman, who both volunteered their time and also arranged for other volunteers to attend, made sure that our event had the right amount of supporting staff for the set-up, the event, and the post-game. Amy and Wade from St. Michael’s were critical for us as well when it came to setting up for and cleaning up after the party. Then, there were the two bands that were perfect: The Brimmers and The Cory Cross Band. Even though they aren’t typically playing at formal galas, you’d never know it. They, like everyone else, were perfect. Needless to say, a LOT of people came together to make this work, and they did their job. It was amazing!!!

I think I can speak for the family when I say how grateful we are for the amazing and jaw-dropping amount of assistance we received from both obvious and random sources. We couldn’t have done this on our own. We don’t have the final tally on the amount of money that we raised, but I can definitely say that we exceeded my highest expectations. We’ll be doing this again next year in Dallas, so we hope to see you all there. Thank you all so much, and now, it’s back to real life for a bit! Hopefully, the next update will be about Jamie’s new pair of legs that she’s been wearing… Thanks for reading!

February!

hey there everybody. I just wanted to squeeze in a new post. February is a big month, especially to the J.A.M.I.E. group because we are having our first annual Blue Bonnet Gala, thats being held at my old high school St. Michael's. It will be taking place on the 27th, we are expecting people from all over to come in. It's going to be really exciting to see who comes, because I know that I will be seeing plenty of people that I haven't seen in years. The Schanbaums are in the midsts of all of the planning and it's about to exceed maximum capacity of stress for us. Everyone is working really hard in putting it together. It's going to be a really amazing event.

Another exciting thing that happened in february, was my grandfather's birthday, Gene Schanbaum. He just turned 32 and looks amazing! but on a serious note, this man has always been there for me, through it all. I have always been able to rely on him, and he would be there for me to give me advice. I love him so much, and I hope he had a super birthday - Love you!

Another exciting thing that is happening with me are my legs! When one becomes an amputee, you are given your first set of legs, called temporaries. New amputees use their temporaries until their leg conforms properly to the prosthetic, which can take some time. When an amputee moves up from their temporary legs to their permanent legs, it is a big deal - FYI. Which is what I am in the process of doing right now! Im getting my permanents, that are "cutting edge," and will have calves(instead of the crobar). I am so excited and I can't wait to wear my leggings with my "shaped" legs and moccasin boots! haha. I will be sporting them at the gala.

I also just want to squeeze in that Im really proud of my sister Roni and her company erro creative. The company has only started just a few months ago, and they have so many clients that keep them busy all week. If anyone out there needs any branding done for a company or a website, erro creative is the one to do it(http://errocreative.com/). They're wickedly good!

Other than that everyone has been on a move. My brother just got a new job with the Ethos Group in Irving. KC got a new job at the "eye doctor" office in dallas, and is finishing up her course work with school. And my mom is going over and beyond for this event, she has been amazing coordinating everything with great events. I am very proud of my family, and I love them very much.

I am also proud of myself, for I am officially a 1 year amputee, as of february 6th. I cant believe that a year ago, i was in the hospital, wanting it to be a year from now. and here I am, a 1 year amputee who has overcome one heck of a year. I am someone who was told that I was not suppose to make it, and that the fact that I am alive, is a miracle. And here I am, already enrolled at UT, taking a full load (15 hours), walking to my classes, driving, regaining my independence and it feels gooood.

i am proud to be where i am right now, and happy that ya'll are still apart of my life. thanks for always reading the blog, praying, visiting, updating, and/or just basically thinking of me. everyone out there has helped me through the way, and i thank you for that.

other than that I hope to see everyone at the gala, it should be a blast!

1/15 - Here's to 2010 - It's Been Too Long

First of all it's been too long since I have posted and second it's been too long since there's been a post but the holidays were sooooo busy - to say the least. It's was very important that the holidays be extra special for Jamie and the family since a year ago we were in the hospital - more importantly ICU. Thanksgiving was in ICU Seton and December holidays were in ICU Houston as well as New Years in ICU. So these holidays were definitely a time for reflection and gratitude . How could it not be? We knew that the holidays could have been a whole lot different. We reflect that we could have had the holidays without Jamie - we're grateful that we had the holidays to celebrate with Jamie. And we did just that - Thanksgiving was in San Antonio at Uncle Dean & Aunt Betty's - Hanukah was in Dallas at Papa Gene's with all the Schanbaum/Clay/Gross Family. Thanks Aunt Nancy for pulling it all together and for the doozies - Yum Yum!!!!!. Xmas was down in Valley at Uncle Joe and Aunt Cindy's house with the Silva/Martinez/Fernandez family where we feasted on all that is good and culminated with a killer game of Chalupa (Mexican Bingo). New Years - well that's a different story - Jamie & Roni celebrated in Austin with lots and lots of friends at the house that included a bounce house - Nicholas & KC celebrated in Dallas & I quietly brought in the New Year in San Antonio with Uncle Dean & Aunt Betty and loved every quiet moment of it. That been said - it's time to diet!!!

More Importantly - The Schanbaum Family would like to send a huge Happy New Year to all our family and friends. To all the people who have stood by Jamie and to everyone who has stood by every word, every breathe we took. It was one hell of a year - one that I hope I will never have to live again. As Jamie puts it -" It was - forever - a life changing experience". Jamie continuous to inspire many people who cross her path. She is my inspiration, my hope and my love. As we turned the corner into 2010 Jamie is already in full swing - spreading awareness of the disease that changed her life forever. I asked that you continue to follow our journey because the best is yet to come. Here's to 2010!!!!!!

Tune in next week where we will update you on the media swing we have had - The Jamie Schanbaum Act came into law in January. Also Jamie continuous with her struggles on her legs and on her way back to UT as a full time student.

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!