Wings Across Tennessee
September 26th & 27th, 2008
2007 Group at St. Jude's Children's Hospital
“WINGS ACROSS TENNESSEE 2008”
We want to thank each
of you for your outstanding support during the 2007 "Wings Across Tennessee" for St. Jude. It was a
wonderful year with your very generous donations for a grand total of
$88,867.30
Wow a Job Well Done by Each of You!!!
The St. Jude Patient that we have watched progress over the past few years, Katelyn, has a personal goal to raise Three Million Dollars for St. Jude. So she has been referred to as the "Million Dollar Baby." We raffled/ (donations) the Bragging Rights to ride the Million Dollar Baby into St. Jude on Saturday. This was just an additional fund raiser for our cause. We want to Congratulate Gary Taylor, from Chapter C, won the Bragging Rights. This raised $310. Our Grand Total reflects this amount. It was reported by Chapters C and M that sold the tickets.
Due to health reasons, Shelby and I have stepped down as your St. Jude Coordinators but want to say a special thanks to each of you for your support over the past few years. We ask that you continue to support St. Jude and your new coordinators as you have supported us.
Ken and Julie Zahn, the new District Directors, were informed of our resignation on Tuesday, September 11 and we're sure they will contact you soon.
Again the total contribution for 2007 is $88,867.30. We thank you and the Children of St. Jude thank you.
This brings the Grand
Total from 1996 to 2007-----to $828,693.77. You're the greatest!!!
You're on your way to 1 Million Dollars--don't stop now!!!
Lee & Shelby Lester
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WINGS ACROSS TENNESSEE
13th Annual
September 26-27, 2008
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500 MILE
BENEFIT RIDE FOR ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S Wings Across The Wings Across Tennessee ride grew out of a fund
raising event by TN Chapter C in Northeast Tennessee they called a
‘Cruise-In’ where everyone was invited to come show their cars/motorcycles
and have their picture made for a donation to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
They raised $5000 that first year in 1996 and five couples rode their Gold
Wings to More than $800,000 has been donated to the Hospital by
Gold Wing Chapters since then. Most of this money has been raised by GWRRA
Chapters having fund raisers throughout the year such as road blocks, mall
shows, concerts, golf tournaments, yard sales, auctions, benefit rides, etc. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital treats children who
have catastrophic diseases, mostly cancer, without regard to race, religion,
creed or ability to pay. Families with no insurance are never asked to pay. Plan now to ride this year; it will be one of the most
memorable ride of your life. Call Tom Jarrell for more info. 423-538-8827 or
423-383-0339. “You
have never given as great a gift as when you give to help a child.” |
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WINGS ACROSS TENNESSEE 2008
SEPTEMBER 26, 27, 2008
Itinerary
September 26 (Friday)
Leave
Arrive
Arrive Cove Shelter 1:00 for lunch with
TN-M, ($5.00 donation)
Leave Cove Shelter 1:30 for I-40, exit 373
for fuel (Police escort)
Leave Knoxville I-40, exit 373, 2:00 EDT
Fuel stop Cookeville exit 280, 2:30 CDT
Arrive Dickson, Ramada Inn, I-40, exit 172, 4:00
CDT (615-446-9081)
September 27 (Saturday)
Leave
Dickson Ramada Inn 8:30 a.m. CDT
Arrive
Leave
Arrive
ALL
MOTORCYCLISTS ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE RIDE AT ANY TIME.(No
fee)
Motels on the way
Comfort Inn
276-466-3881
Comfort
Inn
811
North,
I-40,
exit 373
865-675-7585
Ramada
Inn & Suites (Host motel, $43)
I-40,
exit 172
2420
Hwy 46 South
615-446-9081
Ride Coordinator - Tom Jarrell 423-383-0339
From: "Sharon Atwell" <ratwell1@indy.rr.com>
To: "Crystal Atwell"
<gatorgal1982@yahoo.com>
Subject: kate Update
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:01:00 +0000
Dear Family and
Friends,
So here is the
update on Kate. The MRI shows a cyst located at C5 and 6. That explains the
problem she is having with her walking.
Since her surgery
she has fell once at school and has been caught from falling once. She is much
more unstable. So we are going back to two crutches for now. She will be
monitored very closely we will be back at St. Jude in January for more MRI’s and follow up. Because of the location of the cyst it
is very risky to operate. Both Dr. Einhaus and Dr. Mulbauher agree. It is in the same place where she has had
her last two surgeries. Her chance for a positive outcome is extremely high
risk.
Her other
challenge has been a change in medication. Endocrine took her off a medication
and unfortunately one of the benefits of this medication is mental clarity and
it helps with fatigue. Dr. Einhaus said that she has
a chemical dementia. She has trouble remembering and concentrating, her energy
level has dropped and she is becoming somewhat withdrawn. Unfortunately her
senior year is not the time to be having trouble with mental concentration and
memory. Both the neurologist and neurosurgeon agree is it from a chemical
change in the brain. So we are on the road to find a drug that will help.
Endocrine will not put her back on the drug that she was on as her body is
producing the chemical on its own now and one of the side effects of this drug
is loss of bone density. Which we all know is a problem for Kate. So each week
I will be talking with St. Jude to give an update so that they can decide if we
need to up the dose. It could take 6 to 8 weeks to get her to the dosage that
they think she will need.
The MRI of the
brain looked great and the cyst at the brain stem is stable not changing a bit.
That was great news. Now we just need this new cyst to go away or not get any
bigger. If it does we will see her walking and arms become weaker, shake, and
loose their ability to work properly. If we get to that point we will then have
to decide if the risk of surgery is worth it. This cyst was not there in the
scans following her last surgery so it has developed since surgery in May.
This was a tough
visit for Kate. We had several new doctors and with all the changes in her we
had a lot of talk about what she can’t do, problems she is having and all their
examinations concentrated on areas that she was weak in. There was a lot of
negative energy surrounding her. We try to keep everything very positive. Well
she just broke down one day in physical therapy. She had listened to nothing
but what she was not able to do and it was just too much. I got her calmed down
and they were able to finish the evaluation. Then God being the God of grace
had Donna Garrett walk through the doors of PT and just hug on Kate and tell
her how much she means to her. How she is reminded how great God is every time
she thinks of Kate. Talk about perfect timing. It was just what she
needed. She was also able to go to the
Men’s Prayer Breakfas t at Germantown Baptist on
Friday morning. 6AM in the morning but we made it and
she just loved seeing her guys. This group has been so supportive to Kate and
it was a great time. We even made it to her 8:30 appointment on time.
The best moment
was when we went to the new neurologist. Kate had stepped out of the room to go
to the bathroom. The doctor came in and was telling me how she has been reading
her history and that she knew we had really been through a lot. She was so very
serious. Then Kate opens the door and says hello. The doctor’s face literally
had a shocked look. She then recovered and said, “Well you are certainly not
what I was expecting to walk through that door.” I guess she does not exactly
fit her patient history. It was pretty funny.
We also got to see
Crystal, Ben and Jackie Ray. That baby is just growing up so much. I have to
say that he is absolutely the cutest thing. Spoken like a true Grammy.
I guess that is
all for now. I am tired but I wanted to get everyone updated and have you say a
prayer for our girl. Thanks again for all your support and prayers.
Love to all
Recent Pictures of Kate…
From: "Sharon Atwell" <ratwell1@indy.rr.com>
To: <lesterls7584@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Kate UPdate
Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2007 03:22:26 +0000
We will be there September 15 she is looking forward to seeing everyone.
I am so glad that her voice is doing better and everyone will be able to
hear her. The voice is getting stronger and stronger. We had a great
visit with everyone and now we are getting ready for school to start.
I will try and get another update out soon.
Ray has an idea for a fund raiser. He said that you could sell raffle tickets
and who ever won would get to ride Kate into St. Jude. He said that they
could have bragging rights of having the Three Million Dollar Baby riding on
their bike.
Talk to you soon
-------------- Original message --------------
August 6, 2007
From: "Sharon Atwell"
<ratwell1@indy.rr.com>
Dear
Family and Friends,
Well
I know it has been a while since you have heard from us so I will try and get
you up to date.
Kate
finished summer school but did not finish the Algebra. She got stuck in chapter
nine and
they made the decision to just keep working until she got what was
being taught in chapter nine.
That
was good as she did get a breakthrough the last week of school. So the plan now
is to let her
pick up in chapter nine and continue until she finishes the course
when school starts. This way she
won't have to start all over and possibly loose everything she has
gotten so far.
She
had a check up with the neurosurgeon and she has to wear the neck brace until
she sees her
in October. Then she will make the decision as to whether she
can take the brace off. She has
been given permission to remove it when she sleeps and showers.
That was a victory.
Right
as she started summer school she got a great boost from her friend Tom in
possible for her to fly to
the filming of the movie and so he thought she should come out
for the premier. If you have not seen the
movie go and see it. It is great. She got to go to the after party
and enjoyed it so much. She had a blast and
it was a great boost as she was not too happy about having to go
to summer school. I am reading a book
about God Winks I believe Tom's offer for her to come
Kate
I believe God just continues to BLINK in her direction. Some day I will have to
give you a list of God
Winks
for Kate it is pretty amazing.
She
has also started back with speech and physical therapy. The speech is using
vital stem, where they
place electrodes on the throat to stimulate the vocal nerve. Her
voice is soooooo much better. She will
have another swallow study done August 21 and that will give us a
better idea how she is doing. She is definitely
louder with her voice and she does not seem to be aspirating liquids
as much now. So I think she has made
great progress.
Physical
therapy is working on her core muscles and her hip and thigh muscles. She is
still very weak in
these areas. She is also started back on her workouts to get ready
for the Memphis Marathon 5K. She
hopes to raise lots of money for St. Jude. I will be getting
information out on that pretty soon.
We
have been blessed with company since she finished school. My older brother came
for a visit and then
Ben and the Grand baby. I have enclosed a picture of Jackie Ray at
one. Then my girlfriend
just left today. Now Kate and I will leave tomorrow for
and cousins and then head on down to Coats, NC to see my friend
Lyn and Bill. We then come home and Kate starts
school August 14.
I
have also included a picture of Kate and Jimmy Wayne. He is a country music
artist that she met several years
ago at St. Jude. This past week for the Brickyard 400 there were
several concerts and we took
about. After the concert she wanted to speak to him and he
remembered her. He told Kate that he talks about
her all the time. He told her that he tells his friends about
her, talks about her on the radio, to reporters, he
told his band all about her. He apologized to all the other people
waiting in line and told them "Please excuse us
I
am having a moment here with my girl." She got a big kick out of it.
I
hope you all enjoy the pictures and I promise to do better about updating. Not
much to tell on Ray and I as
we are both doing fine, working in the yard and Ray at work. Ray
has been able to get some golf in as several
of our neighbors like to play and so he has many more
opportunities. Love to you all and will check back in when
we get back from NC. I do have a prayer request as Aunt Vi has been diagnosed with lung cancer. She will have
surgery in a couple of weeks. She has some test to get done next week
and then surgery the following week.
I
know how powerful Kate's prayer warriors are.
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TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2007 09:00 AM, CDT |
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Good Morning Everyone, First Kate wanted me to tell you Thank You so much for praying for her and that she loves you all so much. She was able to get rid of all the IV's yesterday. She still has the needles just in case but the tubes and machines are gone. That being said, she was up more last night because they changed all of her meds to pill form so now they have to wake her up to take the medications at midnight, 4am and 6am. But that is just the way things go in the hospital. I think she likes not having to be attached to an IV pole. She did 8 laps around the floor yesterday and has a goal to do 10 today. Thanks for all the calls and visits. She gets a big kick out of visiting with everyone. She got a new neck brace and her dressing changed on the back of her neck yesterday. The new neck brace looks much more comfortable. That is a good thing since she will have to wear it for two months. The incision look pretty good also. It is a long one but there was no redness or infection. Everything seems to be going just great. Our love to all |
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SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2007 08:19 PM, CDT |
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Just to let you know the competitive spirit is still alive and well. She completed not four but six laps around the fifth floor. |
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SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2007 03:58 PM, CDT |
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Dear Kate Army Today has been a great Mothers Day for me. Kate was able to sit up in a chair yesterday for about 5 hours. Today she has already made two laps around the fifth floor Her goal is to do four. She is tired today but she slept well last night. Dr. Einhaus continues to be pleased with her progress. I can't wait to download some of the pictures we have taken of her so you can see for yourself just how wonderful she is doing. Continue to send her the great words of encouragement. She sat on the edge of her bed last night and read what you wrote to her. She really gets a kick out of doing that. Love to you all. |
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SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2007 11:32 AM, CDT |
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We are out of ICU. So let me get you up to date. She got out of surgery at 9:00 PM Friday night. A total of eleven hours in surgery. Dr. Einhaus was very pleased with how things went. She sent her to ICU just to be monitored thru the night since this was such a long and difficult surgery. I was able to stay with her. She kept the nursing staff entertained throughout the night. She did not go to sleep until 5:30 this morning and that was only about 45 minutes. She has had part of a Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuit so all is well with the world. She is now out of ICU and in a room #5606. She has a neck brace that she will have to wear for 2 to 3 months. Her face is looking better, not quite as swollen. She was very swollen and bruised. They did have to use bone from the hip. They removed the bones and C 4-5-6 and replaced it with screws and a plate. From the front they used rods and screws from C 4-5-6-7-and T1. She is in great spirits and even just walked to the bathroom. Her voice is very raspy but she has one. She has been talking alot and it seems weaker. I have her taking a nap now and hope that the voice will sound stronger when she wakes up. She has been talking ever since she came out of surgery. She never did have to have blood so that was a great praise. I have no idea about going home too early to tell. Dr. Einhaus was very pleased to see her sitting up in bed eating he chicken biscuit. The front tooth made it with absolutely no further trauma to it. Kate told me to tell the Might Kate Praying Army that they have once again rallied her to victory. She knew God would listen to all the voices raised on her behalf. I am printing your guest book writings and reading them to her. No words can express how grateful Ray and I are that you continue to be such a force her life. We are humbled by your faithfulness. May God Bless You All |
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FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2007 03:55 PM, CDT |
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It is now 3:55 and the nurse called to say that Dr Einhaus is still using the Microscope and they are still working on the back of the neck. Everything is going well. She has had minimal blood loss and no need for any blood. They have blood hanging ready if needed but so far it is not an issue. Will keep on updating as I have things to report. |
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-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: "Sharon Atwell" <ratwell1@indy.rr.com>
To: "Janie Atwell"
<jmaw66@wmconnect.com>
Subject: Kate Update
Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 19:22:08 +0000
Dear Family and Friends,
Just a quick note before we head out to the airport.
I will be updating Katelyn's Caring bridge site so you
can keep up to date with us that way.
So that you all have it here is the web page
www.caringbridge.org/visit/amazingkate
We will let you know what is happening with
our girl through this web page.
Thanks in advance for all your prayers.
Love you all
As you know we are now in the count down for September 15 at St. Jude. Even if we have to use DUCK TAPE Katelyn will be there.
I still think of the
great time we had with you and your family at the Golf Tournament in
LEE AND SHELBY LESTER
District Coordinators
"Wings Across
St. Jude Childrens Hospital
Please check our WEB SITE: www.stjudeswingsacrosstn.com for our latest up dates.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Sharon Atwell" <ratwell1@indy.rr.com>
Dear Family and Friends,
I
just got off the phone with Dr. Einhaus. We went there last week as Kate was
having
some problems and I was concerned that she may have done something
to herself when
she fell. My suspicions were right. She will have to have
surgery.
The
surgery is scheduled for May 11. This is
going to be a very long and difficult one. She will have to go in through the
back of her neck and remove the bones at C 5-6. They will fuse everything from
C5 to T1. They will monitor the spinal cord function. She has a deformity at C
6-7 called a fulcrum bend in the spine at that area. They will turn her over to
go through the front of her neck to do the second half of the surgery. They
will use BMP or Bone Morphogenesis Protein to help with bone growth. The
concern due to her osteopenic condition of the spine has them wanting to
stabilize this area. There is a chance they will have to use some bone from the
hip for a graft but won't know that until they get in there. Where they did the surgery
before the bones have shifted and are pressing the spinal cord. That is why they are going to just remove the
bones and hope the spinal cord will spring back. When she fell and her chin hit the floor it
shoved her neck back and pushed the bones in that area into the spinal
cord. This surgery will take both Dr.
Einhaus and Dr. Mulbauer to do it. Please pray for their hands to be steady and
that they can do all they need to do. They want to try and do this so that she
will not have to have a Halo. We will be
at St Jude on the 9th and 10th. This will be her regular 6 months check up and
we hope to get a better grasp on why she is falling and walking different. I
hope that they can give us some answers. This also comes at a tough time as it
is the end of the school year. We know that she will be out at least a week and
a half hopefully not more but we don't know.
She
will have to take 2nd semester Algebra during Summer School. So that is one
class she won't have to worry about making up assignments for. Just pray for
the English and Health that she does not get too far behind. They are going to
try and get some assignments to get her ahead of the game before we leave on
May 8 for
Keep
her in your prayers along with the doctors.
Thanks
----- Original Message -----
From: Lee
& Shelby Lester
To: Sharon Atwell
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 10:21 PM
Subject: Re: kate
update
Katelyn-Gal you know that if you loose that
tooth you will not be able to eat as much then you might loose weight and that
I would not like as I LOVE EVERY POUND OF YOU AND SO DOES ALL THE GOLD WING
GROUP.
I WILL SEE YOU AT THE GOLD GAME IN
SEE YOU TWO SOON:
LEE AND SHELBY LESTER
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PS: THIS IS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND IN,
FL. THIS POOR DARLING HAS HAD HER PROBLEMS AND IS STILL TICKING.
LEE
----- Original Message -----
From: Sharon Atwell
To: Crystal Atwell
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 4:04 PM
Subject: kate update
Dear
Family and Friends,
Just a
quick update and prayer request for our Kate. Yesterday she took a bad fall
at school. She basically face planted onto the tile floor. She broke her nose,
knocked out her front tooth, and bruised her face and hands and wrists. She is
very sore today, but no broken bones. That is a praise!
We did get her tooth put back
in but it was out for two hours, that
is at the end of the timeline where they like it back in. So he got it back in
and has it stabilized with kinda a real heavy fishing line across her four
front teeth. We are heading to
for the Golf Tournament and Wedding. He
wanted to start working on it about Wednesday but we will not be here. So we
have an appointment for April 8. There again we are at the end of the timeline
in which he likes to
work. This is where the
prayer comes in. We need the tooth to stay put, not get infected and him to be
able to do a root canal. This will be a process that will take several visits
and weeks before we know if the tooth will take. Because she has such poor bone
density if this does not work she would not be able to have
just a tooth permanently
inserted. She also has issues with healing as she does not produce the stress
hormone that would usually help with healing. We have already started stress
dosing her in hopes that she will heal in a good way. As far
as the nose goes. It is broke but she herself straightened it out and
according to the doctor
she did a great job at getting it
aligned.
She looks
so much better this morning that she did yesterday. We kept ice on it all last
night and she is beginning to get the shape of her nose back it is not just
flattened across her face. She also has not gotten any more bruised.
So I am
hopeful she won't look so black and blue.
So keep
praying she passes Algebra and start praying for the tooth.
Thanks
again for all of your prayers. Just a note on the
prayer thing. I immediately called my prayer partner and had her start
praying as we were heading to the ER or Dentist. Didn't know which one we
should see first. Got a call that said to get the tooth done. Went to the dentist he could not fix it so he
called the Endodontist. When we got there he told us that we were lucky to
catch him there as his last appointment did not show and usually he would have
been gone. He decided to stick around and work with one of his new girls on x-ray
techniques otherwise he would have been long gone. I told him that luck had
nothing to do with it we had people praying and God was at work here.
Love to
all
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