rain and 80 years

the las conchas fire is 100% contained as of yesterday (36 days later). lots of damage done. now the summer monsoons are roaring in. thanks to God!
and...

my gramma bama turned 80 last week on July 28! see my cousin nick's wonderful tribute to her on youtube and be on the lookout for younger, dorky and some naked-with-fat-rolls pictures from days gone by:

Watch Gramma's Tribute Parte Uno

Watch Gramma's Tribute Parte Dos

and here is gramma's concha belt she commissioned an indian guy to make back in the 1940s. she wore it every day with her red navajo shirt, 501s, and mocassin booties when she was only 17. way to swing it, ba! wish i had that outfit!

i hear franco stole a concha for a barrette back in the 70s......go figure!

sorry, i missed you party, bama. i got tired. they make me do wierd things.

love,

your dog

fires in NM

the las conchas fire near los alamos, NM is the largest in our state's history. it's still burning, but has not damaged the nuclear lab. radiation levels are not elevated, meaning, i assume, no worse than normal? smoke lingering in canyon near bandelier national monument... one of our favorite places in NM.

above, burning near cochiti pueblo/mesa. below, burning near valle caldera national preserve... another wonderful place.

thank you for your thoughts and prayers toward our state. the las conchas fire and over 20 others are still burning and have done lots of damage, mostly to public and pueblo lands and structures. just praying we can make it through the summer without more flare ups, but that is probably wishful thinking. up until a few days ago it has been bone dry. the lab will re-open wednesday and residents of los alamos return starting today. i assume we'll hear more on the extent of the catastophe soon. many places in NM are still selling fireworks. hopefully, the monsoons will keep coming to combat some of the foolhardy behavior that is so rampant in this life.

thanks for reading!

pray for new mexico

on sunday afternoon i stepped outside to check on the smoke that had been billowing up each afternoon at the pacheco canyon fire a few miles north of santa fe. i noticed that the smoke was worse than ever filling up the entire horizon and looked west to the jemez mountains and saw a HUGE mountain of smoke pouring off the mountains. my first thoughts were bandalier national monument, valle caldera preserve, the white rock goat farm, and worst of all Los Alamos Nuclear Lab (LANL).

the video below is pretty much what we were all horrified to see. we had to close up the house immediately, but we were suffocating by nightfall in the heat so i stepped onto the porch again to smell for smoke and see about opening windows. i was shocked to see bright red flames burning for miles 60 freaking miles away over miles of mountain range. never seen a thing like it and this video has it all in timelapse. 6,000 to 43,000 acres burned overnight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mju9oYwI36c

the entire town of Los Alamos evacuated safely yesterday:


and here is an article on what we've all been worried about. comforting? hmm... not to me!

Los Alamos nuclear lab tamping down nuclear fire fears

national guard is on board, but it seems we need more help!!! any advocacy/pressure on powers that be (i.e., senators, president-- this is the national nuke lab folks so you may want to pay attention) you can do on behalf of this critical area 35 miles from santa fe will be appreciated. let's not let them continue to downplay it! help!

gramma's fabulous garage sale fundraiser!

my grandma, grampa marty, aunt denise, neighbor cory, mom franco, corgi cousins, stellaluna and friends of lake elsinore had a garage sale last friday and saturday at my gramma's house. they earned $760 towards nathanael's fundraiser!!!!

as gramma's neighbor, cory (pictured), said: "Our Fabulous Garage Sale is this Friday. All the money goes to Nathanael and you."

cory was amazing stopping cars on the corner to come and shop for nathanael! she had put signs all over town and even set up coin collections at all the farmer's markets she works at.the corgi cousins, buster and peaches, helped draw in the crowds!a happy customer! my mom was delighted to see kids buying books for themselves! my beloved gramma whom i love truck fulls and beautiful aunt deni!gramma and her favorite grandog, stella, on the porch.franco counts the sales! gramma is exhausted!grampa marty cleans up. he built a special area for hanging clothes and about 5,000 other tasks. he is italian so he has better genes than the rest of us. he is collecting bottles and cans every week and cashing them in for nathanael. the man never stops! they donated left overs to another garage sale fundraiser in town.thank you so much everyone-- especially gramma, marty, cory, aunt deni, joyce, dottie, mom and patrons of lake elsinore for making this happen! it was a ton of work and we are SO blessed by your help!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

Note from N.D. on Stem Cell Treatment 6

Dear Friends,

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for this latest stem cell injection. Per usual I experienced increased nausea and flu-like symptoms for the first few days. But I'm still experiencing fatigue and am not feeling the usual boost that I did in the past. There are lots of fires around our area so it's smokey and that doesn't help.

I hope in time, these cells will ignite my metabolic processes and that I'll be able to continue progressing. I know that God knows, cares and has already ordained my life; my future and my hope lie in Him and His unchanging love.

Thank you all for your encouragement.

Love, N

tacoma visit

getting the fundraiser going has taken ALL of my free time (hmm... not sure if sleep deprivation counts), so i forgot to tell you i was blessed to go on a short get away in march.my dear friends, meag, abby and kathy flew me to tacoma for a weekend. i hadn't been away from n for over a year and his care is still intense so my mom and abby's husband, tim (n's best pal) came in to help. it was major coordination, but worth it. i got to meet kathy's daughter, nora, and abby's baby, avery, for the first time. i am so thankful for that, for they are cute peanuts!i got to enjoy a cloudy seattle day and eat lots of good food!i spent an emotional morning at our old church reuniting with special friends. it was sad to be there without n. i can't express how much it meant for my friends to do this and i'm so thankful it worked out. more details and photos at right:). thank you everyone for making it happen!

fundraising for nathanael

nathanael in january 2010

nathanael in march 2011 after 5 umbilical stem cell treatments

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to you on behalf of my husband, Nathanael Daggett. Nathanael is thirty-three-years-old and has a contagious smile, great sense of humor and something cheerful to say even on his worst days. And he has had a lot of them. Nathanael has been struggling with chronic health issues since he was eighteen. After receiving years of incomplete diagnoses ranging from lack of stomach enzymes, to parasites, to mercury toxicity, my husband was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2004, Aplastic Anemia in 2006 (a life-threatening blood cell production disorder), and as a result, advanced Osteoporosis in 2007. He has been on a painful path of slow starvation, and in recent years has become progressively disabled due to bone fractures from such simple movements as getting off the toilet or sitting in his wheelchair for too long.

Nathanael has tried a range of conventional and non-conventional treatments to slow the pace of his deterioration. He has been hospitalized several times and suffered a major seizure in 2007 which left his spine broken in four places. In January 2010, Nathanael’s weight dropped to eighty-five pounds and a catheter was placed in his chest over his heart so that he could receive IV nutrition. In June 2010 he suffered a spinal compression fracture which has left him bed-ridden ever since. When this injury occurred, it was a very heartbreaking time for our whole family. Nathanael began to discuss with us his end-of-life wishes.

In August 2010, Nathanael was given the opportunity to try something he hadn’t yet tried: umbilical stem cell therapy. Miraculously, we received an unsolicited grant which allotted him six stem cell treatments. He has done five so far and the results have been astounding. He has gained nearly 25 pounds, is relearning to walk, and his red and white cell counts have been up for the entire year of 2011. This is the FIRST and ONLY treatment that has helped significantly as evidenced in the pictures above.

Nathanael and I would like the chance for his progress to continue --- for his quality of life to change. We cannot afford to keep up these treatments as the out-of-pocket cost is $4,100 per injection. The recommended dosage is regular injections every six-eight weeks for at least one more year. Our first year goal --- to raise $38,000 to cover the cost of at least seven injections over the next year and additional IV medications.

A fundraising campaign in Nathanael‘s honor has been established with NTAF. NTAF is a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for more than 28 years. All donations are tax-deductible and are administered by NTAF for transplant-related expenses only. Any donation would be appreciated more than words can say. To help:

Make checks payable to: NTAF Southwest Stem Cell Transplant Fund
Note in memo section: In Honor of Nathanael Daggett
Mail to:
NTAF
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19087

If you would prefer to make a credit card contribution, please call 800-642-8399 or visit http://www.ntafund.org/ and enter Nathanael Daggett in the “Find a Patient” box on the homepage or click this link: transplant fundraiser for nathanael. You may also find updates there.

Thank you for taking the time to read my husband’s story and consider his needs. We understand it’s a lot to ask for a donation, so we would also be grateful for your fundraising ideas, thoughts and prayers on this journey.

With deep appreciation,

Roxie Daggett
roxiedaggett@gmail.com

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law. This campaign is administered by the National Transplant Assistance Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing fundraising assistance to transplant and catastrophic injury patients. Information: 800-642-8399.