Sad News

We were preparing for Kevin to come home this week with home-hospice, but yesterday things took a turn for the worse. He had been responding quite well to the antibiotics, but then the infection broke through. He remains at MD Anderson and his Drs do not want to release him now. They have him on the strongest of antibiotics but they are merely slowing down the infection and delaying the inevitable. His body can no longer fight off the onslaught of bacteria.

His family is with him round the clock since yesterday and he has brief moments of alertness. He also is being given pain meds as needed. Please pray for a peaceful transition for him.

The clean-up party planned for this weekend will be postponed a week.

The Saints Come Marching In

For the past week we have had an outpouring of support and help from family, friends, colleagues, friends of friends, neighbors of friends etc. They helped us find a rental, clean up the Todville house, clean the rental (I begged the landlord for keys early so he didn’t have time to clean or do any repairs), packed up what remained salvageable, unpacked at the new house, lent us a refrigerator, went grocery shopping to stock it, housed us and fed us. Luckily these folks are highly motivated self-starters, because I was seldom around – being either at the hospital discussing Kevin’s care with his Drs or on the phone with realtors or insurance companies. Those first few days were pure chaos for me. I went in circles multiple times looking for a path out of this disaster and would probably still be there if it weren’t for our dear friends. - THANK YOU!!  THANK YOU!!!  THANK YOU!!!! I’ll never be able to thank you enough for helping me get my family settled again.

Kelden & I spent our first night in the new house last night and tonight Nick will have a bed too. Kev’s folks show up tomorrow to help me finish unpacking and my brother, Cale, shows up on Thursday to help out also.  For all of you who know Nick and his uniqueness of building/fixing/experimenting, you’ll understand how strong genetics really are. Nick is pure hybrid - not only does he get all these attributes from Kev, but my father could and did fix anything. We never hired anyone to repair or build anything in or out of our house when I was young. Even though he died when my little brother was 13, Cale is exactly like my father and Nick can’t wait to see him again.

Dave McCann is going to organize one last cleaning party this weekend at the Todville house if you’re available. Everything need to be out in the front for the collectors and segregated by appliances / household goods / yard debris. 

Lower Todville

Todville is comprised of an eclectic mix of people and homes - one of the uniquenesses that we loved.  Along a two-mile-long stretch of road some of these water-front homes date back to the 1880s and some were built just this year. Most have full-time residents, but some are weekend-homes for Houstonians or vacation homes for out-of-staters. Styles range from simple beach cottages to 7500 sq ft luxury homes. In this day and age of planned communities it was refreshingly different. That will all change now. As I've walked our road, it's obvious that the homes that survived are those built in the last 10 years. Although all the neighbors I've spoken with say they will rebuild, there will be no more "old" homes and the "look" of Todville will never be the same.

Courtesy of the Seabrook Fire Department -  Our home is "UNSAFE"

Some of our neighbors who lost everything. 


Three homes missing here.

A home collapsed
Windward side damaged


Complete loss
Three homes side by side gone here

This one started on the other side of the street
As did this one
Another complete loss

Lakewood Yacht Club

Access to power and internet is still difficult. Tonight Kelden & I enjoyed a delicious dinner with the McCann Family (they're fully powered). 

Nick & I went to LYC last Monday and I took these photos. Amazingly, most of these boats are now cleared.

"If you are going through hell, keep going." --Winston Churchill

For the good news, Kev has turned the corner and is trending in the right direct. He's responding to the antibiotics well enough to get transfered to a regular room. 

I found a rental house today not far from our home and hope to have keys tomorrow or at the latest Friday.

I have sucessfully registered with FEMA as a homeless refuge and initiated a claim with our Flood insurance Co. Windstorm/Hail and Homeowners are still not answering their phones.

Long awaited pictures from Sunday's excursion:

A shipping crate washed up
what remains of Seabrook Sailing Club - totally guttedKemah

Nick loved all the combat-style police vehicles

what a week

Mon/Tues - spent all day at MD Anderson doing lab work, meeting with Targeted Therapy (Phase I Trials) and Kev's primary oncologist from Melanoma and then speaking with Social Work. There were some long emotional discussions but in the end everyone agreed it is was in Kev's best interest to stop trials and to receive Hospice care. His blood counts were low, as was his protein and other nutritional levels. The interests now were in preserving some quality of life. The melanoma oncologist suggested some "alternative medicines" including curcumine, bioperane, birch bark extract, red grape seed powder, white/green teas, dark chocolate & acai. It was a solemn departure since he has been such a large part of Kev's life these past 9 years (and the one most responsible for giving Kevin these extra years) and with our good-byes we all knew we would never see each other again. 

Wed - Kev is exhausted from Mon & Tues and sleeps until 4pm. Rumors are Ike is heading  to Gulf Coast including Galveston Bay.  Evacuations are voluntary and I decide to wait until the they are mandatory, knowing our city (Seabrook) is usually very conservative in calling for evacuations and Kev doesn't need the added stress of an evacuation right now. 

Thurs - Evacuations are mandatory with Galveston in the morning and Seabrook and surrounding coastal areas in the afternoon. The kids & I work all day to collect, pack & load the necessities in the car and board up the back of the house. Kev monitors the news and updates us with trajectory changes. MD Anderson calls and informs us Kev has a urinary infection (from the analysis they ran on Mon). They can't call the Rx into our local Walgreen's because they have already closed down so we have to stop by MDA pharmacy  to pick up the antibiotic. Luckily it's not too far out of the way since we are evacuating to our friends, Karen & Sam's house near the medical center in Houston. With our arrival we turn their home into Noah's ark - their 2 kids, our 2 kids, their 2 dogs, our 2 cats and our 2 hens and turtle. The cats get the kitchen, the hens the backyard & the dogs the rest of the house. 

Fri - The storm's trajectory is shifting north and it looks like we are going to take a full hit. Nick & I decided to make a run back home and grab a few more things - just in case.  The storm starts to roll in about 10-11 pm. I awaken a few times throughout the night and even though we find out later the winds hit 80-100mph, where we're at (~50 miles from coast), the inside of the house was fairly quiet. Multiple transformers blew out through the night and our power was lost at about 2 am.

Sat - We awaken to very calm skies. We're in the "eye". It's sprinkling outside but we all want to check out the neighborhood and see how everyone faired. Looks like other neighbors have the same idea. Karen & Sam's street was pretty clean, but just a block over in either direction huge oak trees were down. The bayou had spilled over into the street, but within the few hours we were out it was noticeable the waters were receding. Cell phone coverage is poor, but texting with folks on the outside informed us that the storm had broken up and the worst was over. Nick & I decided to head down to Seabrook to see how our home stood up against the massive forces of wind and water on the coast. No matter which way we tried, all entrances to Seabrook were closed off. A group of about 15-20 of us were waiting outside the roadblock. We saw a fellow sailing family (Goethe's) and quickly struck up a conversation to pass the time. The Police consistently told us they didn't know why Seabrook was closed, they just enforced the orders. not too long thereafter the Fire Chief and then the Mayor showed up and explained there were multiple gas leaks and power lines down. They need to safe the city before letting anyone in. In addition the sewer treatment plant was not functioning and it made no sense the let the folks come back into their houses if they can't flush toilets. They let everyone know the status of each neighborhood - everything is pretty good (shingles missing, fencing down) with the exception of Todville Rd. I started making calls to see if I could catch a ride on someones dinghy - it was the only way to see the waterfront property. 

Sun - I have 3 potential rides set up from guys from the club, but coordinating time/location is horrible due to poor cell coverage. Nick & I finally decided to drive to Kemah in hopes of connecting with 1 of them. While still playing phone tag Nick & I walk around Kemah Boardwalk. The destruction is massive and does not give me much hope for our home. We finally hook up and catch a ride over to see our house. The ride over there is ominous. The fish market is gone. Seabrook Sailing Club is gone - nothing but a few cinder blocks. The houses behind it are gone. There are bare patches and severely damaged homes all along the coast. I have a hard time recognizing our home - Nick points it out - a huge relief when I see that a structure still stands. But then I realize why I didn't recognize it - it's not blue. Did the storm strip the siding off? Upon closer inspection I realise the storm tore the entire backside of the house away and the white walls I see are what used to be interior walls. But amazingly, Kev's dock and deck he built are not only standing but not even missing one board! There is part of someone else's dock leaning up against ours. Anything remaining in the house is pushed into a jumbled pile in the front of the house. There is clothing hanging from our tree branches and it's not ours. Most of what is in the yard is not ours. We have debris from neighbors to the north and debris from neighbors to the south. Seems like the wind must have been blowing in all directions. Some of our things are in the ditch across the street. Some is houses away. Some will never be found. There is an obvious gas leak from our neighbor. We take a bunch of pictures, check out our neighbors houses which are far worse and then leave. Later that night we're informed the west side of Seabrook is open but without power. Our side is still closed off. The schools announce closures for another week. 

Mon - There is still no power in Houston, just a a few grocery stores are open and even fewer gas stations. But weather is nice so no AC is not a problem and Karen is keeping us well fed. She has the camp stove gourmet technique mastered. But I'm starting to doubt power is going to come back anytime soon and after seeing the mess on Todville, I am doubting the city will open up our side of Seabrook anytime soon. Waiting for something to happen gets to be too much and there is definitely the feel that we are still in a war zone so I decide maybe we should leave - drive somewhere where life in more normal. After considering options I settle on Shreveport LA. The hotel will accept cats but the hens need to stay behind. It's almost noon so I go to tell Kev our plan only he is still sleeping. When I try to rouse him I notice he is warm - fever 38.3C. hmmm...i see the plans unraveling. I put in call to Kev's Dr at MDA and await the return call. In the mean time Nick & I head back to Seabrook again. This time with the hens which we are leaving in Dan & Melissa's yard. We swing past Lakewood Yacht Club for a look - serious damage to buildings and boats.  We're notified our area of Seabrook is open. Kev's Dr calls back and says he needs to come into the Emergency Center. I cancel the Shrevport plans and switch gears into staying in Houston.  I take Kev into the EC while Kelden & Nick stay and eat with the Karen & Sam & family. Nick plans on staying down in Seabrook with friends from the club so he can start cleaning out the house. I'm staying with Kevin (which explains my access to electricity & wi-fi). Kelden is staying in Houston at least for now. I know she wants to try to salvage some of her belongings also. 

I have pictures I can post tomorrow (Tuesday).

Ike - yikes!

We expect to loose power in a few hours, so I thought I’d make one last post BI (before Ike). 

Seems like people in the cancer world should get a free pass on things like natural disasters and parking tickets. Which presidential candidate can delivery on that? I’m voting for him. 

Denial has served me well for that last 8 years. Although the threat of a hurricane has always existed, we’ve never sustained serious damage from any of the strong storms we’ve had living on Galveston Bay. Usually they are just fascinating to watch. And then there’s the clean-up. The yard fills up with debris from the bay marking the high-tide line. Part of my confidence stems from the fact that our house is 107 years old (built in 1901) and survived both Carla (1961) and Alicia (1983). Of course Jim Cantori (The Weather Channel) just announced “this is the strongest storm to hit the area since 1900”. – OK so much for my proof test theory.  Nick & I went back home this morning (~11am) to grab a few more things and the tide was already rising. The dock was under water (but still holding up) and so were most of the neighbors’. (Kelden posted pictures in this morning’s post.). Nick just spoke to a neighbor that was trying to get back home and gather some more possessions, but the police were not letting anyone into Seabrook – it’s entirely blocked off. 

Kelden and Nick have been a HUGE help. Kev’s manned the TV/Radio while the kids & I boarded, packed and loaded the vehicles. We keep telling Kelden this can be her “interesting life experience” that all her college applications are asking for ;-) 

Karen Bernstein and family (husband, 2 children and 2 dogs) have graciously taken us (& cats & chickens & turtle) into their home in a “dry” area of Houston, conveniently located down the street from MD Anderson. We are forever grateful! 

Many of our friends and all of our neighbors have also evacuated. We do hope everyone escapes the wrath of Ike. (The predicted 20 ft surge will be devastating for our area including NASA-JSC.) If you’re interested in following the developing storm, The Weather Channel has the best coverage. 

See you on the other side…

Calm before the Storm

Hi again,
So we are at Karens house this morning with 2 chickens and 2 cats and a lot of bags. Mom and nick decided to run back to the house this morning to grab a few things we forgot and to move the little red car into the Boeing parking lot. The news showed the water in Galveston to already be at the top of the seawall and they are still forcasting it to hit southern Galveston which would mean Galveston bay will have a huge storm surge. It sounds like this storm still hasn't formed completly and probably won't before landfall which means the eyewall isn't formed perfectly and thus the storm won't get winds high enough to put it in a cat 3 or 4. But other then the winds it's still a very strong storm. The worst part of a hurricane is the storm surge, which only happens to the right of the eye. Thus if the storm swings north a bit, we should be fine. We still aren't expecting it to hit till tonight and it's supposed to move past us pretty fast once it hits, so hopefully Houston won't flood that badly.

Anyway, sorry no pictures this time- im posting this from my iPod :)

EDIT - Mom and Nick are back, so check out these pics they took down in Seabrook.