Shana Bearden

9-20-08– We still have Chrissy here with us as a refugee from Hurricane Ike. She still does not have electricity to her home and her school may reopen Wed. if they get full electricity to the school. Many schools in neighboring districts won’t reopen until christmas or later. Houston ISD is taking most of the kids from Galveston but many other school districts are doubling up and helping each other out. That’s Texas.
Shana has a cousin who lived on West Beach in Galveston. Her home was brand new and it survived the hurricane with only a little damage. Most of the older homes were wiped out. That Cousin’s daughter is the PR spokesman for UT medical school and hospital in Galveston and she had to ride out the hurricane in the hospital communications center. Her house was spared even though it is almost 100 years old. An association that I am General Counsel for has launched a rescue and assistance project for a number of missing members in the affected areas. So if you are a displaced member of TALI, please check in with the Yahoo group or call me directly at 800-943-2670 and we will get help to you one way or another.
Shana is doing well although she has a lot of abdomin pain. It appears that she has a inflamed uriter and that we may have to take out one of her stints so that she has less pain. The trade off is that she may then have trouble going to the bathroom some. I got to review her CT scan and the tumor has shrunk dramatically. It is downto the size of a tennis ball from the size of a large grapefruit. There does not appear to be any other spreading of the tumor and her kidney and liver seem to have healed a lot from the CTtaken after her last surgey. So things are doing very well. I have sent off her CT scan to the surgeon in Baltimore for him to consider another surgery to remove the tumor now that the tumor has shrunk. I am kind of inclined to continue the chemo to see if we can get the tumor to shrink even more and then do the surgery. We will see.
As I write this we are getting a free once over of our air conditioning vents and sytems paid for by a grant from the government. They have tested our A/C units and are fixing all of the leaks. They even put foam gaskets behind all of our wall sockets and they have sealed all of the holes around our plumbing. they are redoing much of our vent work in the attic and the have sealed off any room leaks that we might have. Kind of neat to watch(particularly when it is free) and the purpose is to help save energy. Give it a try when they come to your neighborhood.
Have a good weekend,
Jim

9-13-08 Sat. after hurricane Ike hit Galveston–
We got some incredible news on Thursday. We got the results of Shana’s most recent CT Scan and the results indicate that the Shana’s Tumors have been reduced by 1/2 since Late May. This is a miracle that by all odds should not be happening. This type of cancer normally does not shrink and the best that can be hoped for is a type of remission where the tumor doesn’t grow much or at least not quickly. Our quiet, low key local Doctor, Dr. Xiong, is unbelieving and ecstatic. On Thursday when we learned the news, Shana was initially blaise about the news because she had not slept well the night before and was very tired. I think her reaction disappointed Dr. Xiong but later she (and our whole family) got really excited about this dramatic development. There is no question in my mind that everyone’s prayers and well wishes as well as the skill of our physicians is the cause of this very positive development. Thanks to each and every one of you who said a prayer or sent us your best wishes during the last 10 months. God has been very good to us during this time of difficulty.
When we returned from Baltimore in mid May (that was just over 3 months ago but it seems like 5 years!), I expected Shana to die within a few weeks. Her doctors had opened her up for her second surgery and the cancer had grown so much and become so intertwined wth her organs that they determined they could not operate and that she had only weeks to live. We returned to Arlington to spend her last days with her family. We then started chemotherapy with the Center for Cancer and Blood disorders in Fort Worth using Dr. Xiong, the director of research and medical director. We also started some home treatments with some folk remedies and tried to give Shana a reason to live. Mostly, we just prayed a lot and asked you to pray with us. It seems to have worked. Shana will continue chemotherapy and we are being reevaluated for more surgery if the tumor continues to shrink and Shana’s health continues to improve. If we can have another surgery and remove the bulk of her remaining tumor, our chances of long time survival soar and the odds may be in our favor for once. We can only ask you to continue praying for Shana and for her recovery. It is in God’s hands.
The CT result is particulary surprising in light of the fact that for several days before we went to the Doctor, Shana had an area of her abdomin that was swelling visibly and was sore. We really suspected that the Tumor had started growing again and that the news from the CT scan would not be good. It turned out that the swelling was just a problem with her intestines which had been worked around and moved around during one of her surgeries. It has since gone down to normal.
ON top of this good news, Chrissy flew into town on Thursday night to evacuate from her home ahead of hurricane Ike. She lives in Deer Park which is only about 1 mile from the ship channel in Houston and directly in the path of the eye of Ike. The eye of the hurricane passed over her house on Friday night and early Saturday morning. Chrissy’s husband Doug Bailey, is a police officer with Deer Park and had to stay in town to protect the citizens of Deer Park and surrounding cities. Some of the smaller cities evacuated even their police departments and Doug had a very long night last night. He spent a good part of the night rescuing citizens from an apartment complex that was blown over trapping a bunch of people. For some reason, that disaster has not yet made the news. He rescued and arrested a drunk that was leaving a “hurricane party” and ran into a police car placing up barracades for flooded streets. The guy would have drowned if not for Doug. He has a bunch of other police officers staying with him so they can be close to the station during this crises. His and Chrissy’s house had a neighbor’s tree fall on the electrical line so they have no electricity in a house that is boarded up without air conditioning with 100% humidity and temperatures in the 90’s. The refrigerator is not working. It is not fun and he is working 18 hour days. Be thankful that the police are there to help. Please offer up a prayer for our fellow Texans who have been and are in harm’s way.
Thank you for helping my wife with your prayers and well wishes, I will never forget you.
Jim