This is an IMPORTANT update on Anna (aka Yuma ) and for the Stargatefan Website and Pyramids Press.
As many of you know by now Anna has had a serious medical emergency and we wanted to make certain that all of Anna's friends, and online associates, were informed. Please read the following letters for details.
Dear Everyone,
I'm sorry it's taken me a while to update you on what's been happening with Anna—(a.k.a. Yuma of Stargatefan - www.stargatefan.com). I know some of you have been receiving reports from Anna's sister, Angela, and/or getting forwarded information from various people that I've been touch with via phone. However, I wanted to make certain to update as many of you as possible in one go, therefore, please forgive the group letter.
To recap, several weeks ago now, Anna began to experience progressive numbness in her left arm and leg and blinding headaches. This led to paralysis on the left side of her body, then she essentially stopped breathing and had to be entubated and placed on a respirator.
It turns out she has a very rare brain disorder called cavernoma. This has resulted in an abnormal growth of a set of veins in a very bad location in her brain, these veins then developed little grape sized blood clots that proceeded to burst one after another into her brain causing the left side numbness in her arm and leg, then the loss of hearing and blindness, and then the cessation of swallowing and breathing.
We were very fortunate in that we found one of the top two surgeon's in the country out at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and I accompanied Anna during her transfer by ambulance. At Long Island her family and I were able to meet the neurosurgeon and to arrange time for almost immediate neurosurgery.
Initially after the surgery, Anna was kept in the ICU intubated and sedated. Her repeat CT Scan and MRI showed no further hemorrhaging. Therefore, she has since been weaned off the ventilation and the medication. She was given a tracheostomy and a feeding tube in order to maintain her airway and to help protect her calorie level, but we are hopeful that these will come out eventually.
Just yesterday, she was finally released from the ICU and has now been transferred to rehab at Mt. Sinai where she is starting an acute rehabilitation therapy for traumatic brain injury. She still has numbness in her left arm, leg, and double vision which causes her to get dizzy and, as you would expect, she fatigues very easily. In particular, because she has also been fighting some post-operative pneumonia and fever... but her spirits are returning.
Good news is that she is alert enough to ask questions and be fully cognitive and she can hear. She cannot talk as yet though. But she is able to mouth or write her words and has been known to use sign language.
Please feel free to write her as many cards and cheer up notes as you like (see address below—her sister is picking up her mail and taking it to her). Even funny jokes or lists of fun quotes might be nice if you can't think of something to say.
If you'd like to send her a little something more than a card, anything that is heartfelt I'm certain she would enjoy. (If you want suggestions, feel free to e-mail me and I'll be glad to help you brainstorm. Or, one of our friends is putting a Box of Sunshine together which is box filled with little wrapped surprises for each day—maybe you'd like to send something to add to the box.) However, no food, flowers, or any heavy reading material at the moment, please, as she's not able to enjoy those yet and we're still learning about the rehab center's restrictions.
Also, if you are in the area and plan to visit Anna. (Which you are more than welcome to do.) Please check with her sister as we're trying to stagger out the visits (and too many people tires her out very quickly).
It's my goal to try to update everyone more regularly from this point forward. Feel free to pass on this information to anyone I might have missed who knows Anna.
If you want to get a message to her, you are welcome to write me. Also, I am compiling an e-mail list for people to be updated on, if I've forgotten someone, feel free to send me their e-mail address to add.
Otherwise, address all cards and items to:
Anna Man
PO BOX 1145
New York , NY 10002
ATTN-Angela, please give to Anna at Sinai.
Also, two notes of business ---
Stargatefan (www.stargatefan.com) will continue to be maintained while Anna/Yuma (who is the webmaster) is away. This is something Anna and I arranged a long time ago in the event of an emergency. However, updates will be slow in coming for at least the next several months, I expect, as I try to juggle things.
Pyramids Press – (specifically with regards to Foundations 7 and The Brotherhood) (www.pyramidspress.com) where Anna is senior publisher and editor. Her sister will be catching up on orders and I will be asking our partners for help with any that can't wait. Please be patient.
Sincerely,
Cathy (aka Katya) – (best friend of Anna and frequent partner in crime)
Additionally, I thought that something simple and easy that everyone can do is send Anna postcard from their own town. This way, Anna has tangible proof of how many friends she has rooting for her from all the corners of the Earth.
My debate now is whether to get her a postcard from Elizabethtown or Fort Knox...
