How would you go about doing this.....

Keith Lane

Keith Lane

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Keith Lane
I'm stumped as to how to help get my friend home from Boston.
Last Saturday, a friend of mine, Roger Singletary, from my Sunday school class had a brain tumor (partially) removed by craniotomy in Boston. This is the second time in 5 years the doc's have gone in there to get this thing out. Every 90 days since the last time he goes in, gets an MRI and that's been it. On December 30th it was time, and it was different. I saw him New Year's Eve at a class get together, and he was perfectly fine. Then on Jan 3rd, he gets the news that the tumor has not only re-appeared in the past 90 days, it is a little over 2 centimenter in diameter.
The surgeon wanted to schedule him into get this removed ASAP, but then finds out that the Intra-Operative MRI machine they use to "see" the tumor during surgery is "down for repair". They promise to let him know as soon as they have a date of repair. The doc says to forward his records to all hospitals that have a machine like this for good measure. There are 5 other machines. 3 hospitals refuse to take him for some reason or another, one never responds at all, and UCLA medical center can do it, but not for another month. Meanwhile, back here at the ranch, Roger has lost all use of his left arm, and his left leg is nearly immobile. In fact, while at his house on Feb 3rd, he fell in the driveway and if several of us hadn't been there taking down his Christmas lights it might have been a while till he could've gotten up.
The hospital in Boston informed him last Tuesday that their machine will not be fixed... ever.
His neuro guy says, get up here and we'll go get it out the old fashioned way. So Saturday, while Roger stays awake and talking they go into his brain and got as much out as they dared. He is doing very well and now that he's cleared to go home they face the challenge of arranging the travel. Apparently he can walk for a short distance at a time, but speedy emergency egress is pretty much out for him right now. His wife is in Boston with him, but they have 5 children who are farmed out right now, and the need to get here grows daily.
Apparently Delta is not going to allow him on an airplane in his current "state", and the trip by car would be a bit much. Hiring an air ambulance is huge $$$, etc., etc.
Isn't there a way you can rent a seat on a corporate jet that happens to be going from BOS to ATL? Seems to me I've heard of that, and even seen print ads where there was a picture of a kid on a jet with his teddy bear while execs sat in the back having a meeting.
I'm pretty much out of ideas. I figured somebody here may know of a resource.
Roger is not a wealthy person, but is far from indigent either. He's not in need of a free ride, just a way home that's not as expensive as a hell.

Any ideas will be appreciated.
 
Keith Lane said:
I'm stumped as to how to help get my friend home from Boston.

Isn't there a way you can rent a seat on a corporate jet that happens to be going from BOS to ATL? Seems to me I've heard of that, and even seen print ads where there was a picture of a kid on a jet with his teddy bear while execs sat in the back having a meeting.
Click to expand...

You're thinking of the Corporate Angel Network.

What about Angel Flight? If nothing else, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

If all else fails, maybe a PoA caravan?
 
We are supposed to go to a Valentines Day potluck supper at the church tonight and I'll try to get some more info on what, if any travel restrictions Roger may be under, ie. pressurization or whatever. I sincerely hope Delta will relent and git 'er done. Roger lives here in Atlanta, but commutes to Boston each week (on Delta) for his job. He's a SAP software consultant (read: self employed No work = no pay.)
5 years ago, after his first surgery, when he and his wife had 3 kids, they felt called to adopt a little Korean girl with a mid case of Hydro Encaphalophathy (sp?) "water on the brain". In a Korean orphanage she stood ZERO chance of adoption. Roger and Laura took her in and she has developed wonderfully into a great kid. After that they also adopted a little Korean boy as well.
Needless to say, we are all praying for Roger's recovery. he has a wonderful family and they all deserve to have him as their Daddy for a long time to come.
Thanks for all your ideas, I'll keep you updated :yes:

Keith
 
Corporate Angel Network or Angel Flights (you can contact Angel Flight of Georgia at 770_452_7958). I may be able to do a leg through the Carolina's if we do the POA bit, but Compassion Flights do get some nice breaks from ATC sometimes.

Hope this turn out for the best, sounds like a great guy.
 
Keith, First my prayers to your classmate and his family, Second. Absolutly go the Angel Flight route. I will take the liberty if you don't mind of calling my friend at Angel Flight East. They are based at my home filed KLOM ( Wings field) If we can get him in and I don't see why we couldn't my Angel flight Partner and I will fly him from KBOS to KLOM wings field just outside Philadelphia. I am sure AFE can get a pilot to take him to at least to Virginia and there hook up with an Angel flight of Georgia to get him back to Atlanta, We have often hooked up with a guy who flys a Queen Air out of the Atlanta Area in Lynchburg VA and he then flies the patient home to GA. PM me and I'll see what I can get arranged. I'd bet that there are some POAers in the MidAtlantic Area who are Angel Flight Pilots who would be happy to jump on and help out.

FYI Angel flight or one of the lifeline type flights are best because:

1) The special treatment you get from ATC
2) It cuts the financial hit on the pilot as they can deduct part or all of the cost.
 
I can't speak for my partner who is an angel flight volunteer but I think he will do a flight from KLOM to VA (if he is available). If he can't I can take him from KLOM to VA but it would not be under the Angelflight unbrella. Weekend would be better.

Bob
 
Thanks to all!
I spoke to our pastor tonight who has been in touch with Roger and his family several times today. Right now, it seems that Roger is not allowed to walk on his own for healing reasons. He had permission to go to the Shepard Spinal Center in ATL for rehab, but only if he can do it while remaining in a wheelchair at all times he's not in the car/plane. I will pass along the offers and will keep in touch with you either via the forum or PM's. If Angel Flight turns out to be the most viable way, considering his present condition I'll try to get the ball rolling along. Adam, I appreciate your offer and I'll let Roger and his wife know of it.

I've attached some text of the CarePages.com message that Laura and Roger keep us up to date with. It's kinda long, but also very indicitave of who these two special people are..
From his wife who we call Laura C. I don't know why there is a "C" but I think there are two Lauras in their family....

I'd better hurry and write this before things change again. It was a back and forth kind of day all day long. Roger is doing & feeling great. (This is probably because I made sure no one came in the room & messed with him during a three hour nap this afternoon -- the nurse, the IV lady, the menu collector, and the lunch lady were all sent away. I must have been mean sounding, because I later learned that the nurse wouldn't even let the physical therapist knock on the door.) Our ups and downs were caused by trying to figure out where Roger goes from here. There isn't room for him at Shepherd, and he isn't eligible for their spinal program. There was a whole lot of raised voices, on both our parts, the Shepherd rep and I finally realized we were talking about two different things. I later realized what she was saying was the day-program was full as well as the in-patient. Today, would have been a whole lot easier if Boston or I had understood this. Instead, Boston & I spent all day trying to convince her that Roger was ready for the program, and she kept trying to convince us that he wasn't. After exhausting the Shepherd possibilities, the patient care coordinator turned over a google search of 15 rehab places within 30 miles of Conyers and asked where we wanted to go. Thanks to Deon, we hear Emory is great. So, tomorrow the whole process starts again with Emory to see if they will take him. Roger says God will get him where he needs to be. So if trouble develops tomorrow, I'm turning it over to Roger. I know these kind of transfers happen all the time, and it can't be this difficult. Or, maybe I am naively optimistic.


We aren't naive enough to think there aren't some hard days around. We realize that wherever Roger goes it is going to be hard work for quite a while, but waiting to start will not make that any easier. Roger is eager to start, and he had a great physical therapy session today where she showed us both exactly what we should be doing while he is here. And, she is going to talk to Roger's first therapist about keeping Roger as her patient since we work well together. God has been so good to keep us in the moment and not worrying about tomorrow. When I started to lose that focus when things started getting complicated today, I pulled out the Bible study book that Roger and I have been working on together since he came home from North Carolina. Before I started, I told God that I knew He was still here, but I had lost sight of Him. The next chapter just happened to be called Doubtstorms. I had just finished reading "Every so often a storm will come, and I'll look up into the blackening sky and say, "God, a little light, please?" when Deon e-mailed me with our light.The Bible study is "In the Eye of the Storm" by Max Lucado. We recommend it highly. Anyway, I guess nothing changed today except Roger won't be going to Shepherd at this time.

Then from a little later in the evening

Since there is no news I thought you might like this funny story of how Roger got internet access. It is particularly appropriate today, since I spent a good portion of the day trying to convince Shepherd that Roger doesn't have any cognitive issues, and she was explaining to me that there are "executive brain functions" that I can't see. Roger spent Sunday trying to get his laptop to connect to all the wireless internet signals in the hospital, but there was something about them being too busy. The nurses have laptops on stands that they roll with them to the patients' rooms. On Saturday
evening, I had found a couple of regular computers on another floor to check e-mail & stuff from. On Sunday, those computers were disabled, but a man had just plugged his laptop into one of those computer's Ethernet cables. I did the same and was able to download Roger's e-mail for him.

This gave Roger an idea. The reason they have a few private rooms in the neuro "pods" is for epilepsy observation. There is a computer bolted up on the wall, and Roger decided that it probably had an Ethernet cable/connection. So, I climbed in the chair and found this behind the computer, which is up above my head even with me standing in the chair. The Ethernet cable is short, so I had to connect it to the laptop while standing in the chair. Roger was very encouraging with his yelling, "Don't drop my laptop." I told him it was all over if anyone opened the door. It worked; no one opened the door and we were connected. We also discovered that his bed tray/table would go high enough that we could sit the connected laptop on it if I took it over by the wall/computer. Later, I bought a 15 foot long Ethernet cable to get the computer to his bed. (My computer geek husband wants you to know that he did have an Ethernet cable with him, but it also was the standard short one.)

I used this as an example of the executive brain function that Roger was displaying a day after surgery to the lady today. I didn't tell her that I on the other hand put a bottle of water in the laptop bag before I bought it in the cafeteria, because my hands were full of other things. I did realize before I walked out without paying for it.

Thanks again for your payers and support.

Laura C., who survived the snow.
 
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Many times insurance will pay for an air ambulance if he's going for therapy or transferring between facilities. Maybe he or his wife can look into that.
 
AdamZ said:
Keith any news on your buddy?
Click to expand...

Not yet Adam, except that he is not mobile enough to get in and out of a small plane. He is completely dependent on a wheelchair at the moment. They are waitlisted on several Delta flights for the weekend as of now. I spoke with Angleflight of Georgia and they do not have a suitable plane for this mission. Also Blue Cross/Blue Shield will not pay for an air ambulance. As an alternative I have found a seat available on a corporate deadhead flight the 23rd from Bedford, MA (KBED) to Peachtree-DeKalb (KPDK) here in Atlanta. If they can't wait a week, I checked on Amtrak. They can catch Amtrak in downtown Boston, arrive in Washington 7.5 hours later and transfer to a train to ATL. The overnight train would include a wheelchair accessible bedroom and a dining car all for $502.35, total for the two of them (his wife is with him). Thanks for the continuing thoughts and prayers. As info, you can see a family picture of the kids and see the Christmas light show Roger put up on his house at: http://www.rsingletary.com Just click on a song title. Also his Carepages.com room site is rsingletary should anyone like to leave a word of encouragement. Free registration is required, I did it and have gotten no spam at all. Here's hoping we can get him back to his own house soon. Keith
 
Re: How would you go about doing this.....Updated

I just got an update from Roger's wife in Boston. They got approval for air ambulance transport today, wheels up at 4:00PM.:yes:

From the carepages.com site:
February 16, 2007 at 02:00 PM EST

I guess you never say never. Roger and Laura C. will be taking the air ambulance home today. It is supposed to leave Boston at 4pm. Please pray for safe travel. Also, Laura C. has been fighting a bad cold so pray for her healing.




Certainly not the most flattering shot, but a happier camper nonetheless.
Thank You all for your support, prayers and efforts. Roger will be admitted to Emory Hospital's Shepard Spinal Center Brain Injury Center when he arrives and will begin the long road called rehab.
Who says prayers don't get answered? Today not only did he get transport, a spot opened up at a previously full Emory. I'm beginning to believe....
Thanks again.
Keith
 
I'm thrilled they found him a ride! Best wishes on his recovery. Again I'm impressed by the generosity shown by our community.
 
Re: How would you go about doing this.....Updated

Keith, I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Great news! Prayers go out to family and friends.

I have to agree with Tim, this is a unique and non-selfish community.
 
Good to hear Keith. I have to say though I'm kinda disappointed in Delta. May he have a speedy recover.
 
How would you go about doing this..Update

Well, it's with a mixture of sadness and of relief that I have to report that my friend Roger Singletary passed away quietly at home April 12 at 1714.
Roger had spent from Feb 16, at the time of my last posting on this until last Wednesday April 4th at the Emory University Rehab Center undergoing therapy in efforts to regain mobility to his left side after the partial removal of a recurring tumor in his brain. Roger never did regain any use or mobility of the affected portions, nor did he regain the ability to speak without extreme difficulty.
Last Wednesday, after returning home, he was made as comfortable as possible. On Thursday he was admittted to a local hospital because of a high fever and pain. As of Sunday, doctors had determined that Roger was in the final stages of incurable cancer of the brain, and that his time left was measured in days. He returned home with hospice care and after visits from his parents and other immediate family, quietly slipped into an unconsious state and then onward to his next journey.
He was an independent software contractor in support of a software application known as SAP. He was the person who you would always see at the church for childrens choir, chancel choir and contemporary service music practices because he ran the sound board then as well as for the services.
Roger had undergone this same type of surgery a little more than 5 years ago and had made a remarkable recovery in just a few days. At that time he had three small children of his own. When he and his wife, Laura heard of a little Korean girl, about two, in need of adoption as well as possibly needing brain surgery of her own due to Hydro Encephalopathy ("water on the brain") they felt called to adopt her. Having gone through brain surgery, they knew it wasn't necessarily a death sentence. However, they also knew thay the chances of this little girl ever being selected in a Korean orphanage with her mild disfigurement and condition were next to nil. She has blossomed into quite a little princess and has not needed any medical treatment to date. A year later they also adopted a Korean boy to complete the family. These kids have also been "adopted" by our entire congregation as they are as cute as can be and always seem to be there.
This Christmas Roger put up a light display at his home that was synchronized to Christmas music. It took hundreds of hours to compile the music and program the lights to flash with it. He then put up a small FM transmitter in the cul-de-sac, and each night there was always two to five cars sitting there watching. We went there with our kids several times and were just entranced to watch his works in action.
For those who couldn't come he recorded it and put it up on his website, http://www.rsingletary.com it's was an inspiring display of not only Roger's talent, but of his faith. I encourage you to visit it soon as I'm not sure what will become of it in the future.
Thanks for all your kind posts in the past. You all are kind of a family to me and just typing this all out makes me feel a little less sad.
Please keep Roger's family in your thoughts and prayers as they transition to life without him to be their father, husband and friend. Roger and Laura both know that the separation is only temporary and that they will meet again whenever the time has been decided.

Thanks Again
Keith Lane
 
Keith - Roger's family will be in our prayers for peace and comfort in their time of loss and grief, as well as you and your family.
 
After reading earlier posts I was going to PM or post that the fellow should get his affairs in order. With or without MRI such tumors are difficult to treat. I was not surprised to see the outcome, and offer sincere condolences on the loss of a good friend.
 
May memories of Roger continue to fill hearts with joy, and ease the sorrow of his passing.

My sincerest condolences Keith, to both you and his family.
 
Re: How would you go about doing this..Update

thoughts and prayers for his family, friends, and for you, Keith. It's hard to lose someone, expected or not.:(
 
Keith,

Very sorry to hear about your friend. What a great loss. Sounds like a truly outstanding person to have known.

We will be thinking and praying for his family and friends.
 
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