Relay for Life Luminary for Laurie

I wanted to pass along to all the local people the following letter I received today from the Cancer Center at El Camino Hospital.  Although I don't think I could manage to participate in the relay I do intend to try and make it up there around dusk  for the Luminaria Ceremony.

The Interment of Laurie's Ashes is now complete

Today Laurie's ashes were finally interred at Los Gatos Memorial Park.  It's been a long wait as the dock workers strike delayed the arrival of the stone for the Reflections Park area for many weeks. We took a few pictures to share.

I also want to take this opportunity to share a picture that a very good friend gave me a couple of days ago.  It's a beautiful picture and will honor Laurie in our house.

San Jose Memorial Video

I realized yesterday evening that I had yet to post the video that we had taken of the San Jose Memorial for Laurie.  The video was produced by Zoom Video, the same company that did our wedding 9 1/2 years ago.

Please enjoy and remember Laurie as you watch the nearly 50 minutes of remembrance..

http://youtu.be/UiFC7KNIpIE

On the Wings of a Bald Eagle

Some of you have been anxiously awaiting this posting.  Now that the memorial for Laurie in Wichita Falls, Texas has completed I can share with you a special dedication from REGI.

On the afternoon of January 31st a bald eagle was released in Laurie's memory in Sauk Citiy, WI by Marge Gibson, the Executive Director of REGI.

I have taken the liberty of editing some of what Marge had to say about this amazing bird and Laurie.

"Laurie's eagle" is the most remarkable bird.  Her recovery from lead poisoning was ground breaking and an arduous process.  

The eagle soon after arriving

Eagles are intelligent and sensitive beings.  Laurie's eagle was a full adult and yet she maintained a gentle presence throughout her treatment and recovery. 

She was admitted in early November on the 4th or 5th having been found on the Menominee Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin.

She was found in convulsions in the forest near a road. by the residents of a nearby home. The Tribal wardens captured and transported her to REGI.

She was of good weight but had eaten a great deal of venison (deer) contaminated by lead shot. The soft metal lead dissipates into the tissue of the deer when it is shot.  The meat or "trimmings" as they are called are often dumped into the woods by the hunter and therefore are accessible to wildlife including eagles.  She had a full crop of the meat when found, therefore was poisoned acutely and in a matter of minutes.   She was very lucky to have been found and transported to REGI within an hour of her ingestion of the poisoned meal.

REGI has their own blood lead analyzer so treatment could begin treatment very quickly. The level of lead in her blood was so high the REGI analyzer showed it as "too high to read".

Tube feeding

Each day they saw parallels in these two strong females...one Laurie and one a stunning Bald Eagle. They thought of Laurie daily as they gave the eagle treatments and at some point knew that if the eagle recovered and Laurie did not they would release her in Laurie's memory.

Giving the CA EDTA injection

The eagle had to undergo 3 rounds or treatments of CA EDTA injections...that is twice daily injections for 4 days...then 2 days off treatment to allow the blood to filter back through the bone (where lead is stored). [This pattern is eerily similar to the treatment pattern for cancer.] Once the lead is in the blood again they can begin chelation again. After 3 rounds they allowed her to exercise and then retested her blood in two weeks. She had some residual levels and was given 6 more injections...again twice a day.   The day before release she had another blood test and while her blood level at that point was only 12, they did give her 2 more injections before release ...one the night before and one the morning she was released.  The injections are painful and destroy tissue unless they are diluted, which REGI does.

The recovered eagle

This eagle was in perfect shape for release and a very distinctive and special bird for so many reasons. When Marge thought of an eagle to be released in Laurie's memory, she was the one that was a perfect fit.  She will honor Laurie's memory well and for many years to come living and thriving in the wild.  Throughout her time with us she was a perfect patient. She weighed 10 lbs exactly when she was released.




The eagle had a "brood patch" from last year...so she was a parent last year or at least had a nest and eggs.  We all hope she gets to do that all over again this year.

In the Eye of the Eagle

Eagle Tallon

The Rehabilitation Team

The following video of the release was provided:

A higher WMV version of the video can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cOSVuQTL6E&feature=youtu.be

Memorial Montage

As always, the blog is a little behind Facebook.   There are a number of people that aren't on FB, so it's important that I cross post here.

I commissioned a montage of Laurie's life from photographs.  This was done by the same person who did a growing up montage for the two of us for our wedding.  If you've seen that montage you'll notice that her growing up contains the same pictures (memory check from 9 1/2 years ago if you're that good).  Naturally, this one includes pictures of Laurie over the last 10 years also.

The memorial was also video taped, but I'm not sure how/if that will make it to the blog as it's fairly long.  At some point I know that there is another video with a special dedication in her honor that I will post.

California Memorial Plans

The California memorial for Laurie will be held in the Chapel at the Los Gatos Memorial Park Chapel at 11am on January 17th.  Los Gatos Memorial Park is located at 2255 Los Gatos Almaden Road, San Jose, CA 95124.

Laurie's final resting spot is next to the chapel and we will have an opportunity following to see the beautiful spot for this beautiful woman.

This Eagle has taken her last flight

It is with much sadness that I inform you that Laurie Dee (Wells) Coleman took her last flight.  Laurie, 44, of San Jose passed away on January 09, 2015 after an almost 7 year battle with Colon Cancer.  Laurie was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on November 29, 1970 to Margaret “Pegi” Kelly and Richard Dearl Wells.  She attended Wichita Falls High School and continued on to receive a BS in Biology and BS in Medical Technology from Midwestern State University.  Laurie was a Clinical Laboratory Scientist whose most recent jobs were at El Camino Hospital and Stanford University.

Laurie is the beloved wife of David Coleman and is survived by her two gentle and adoring Akitas.  Laurie’s hobbies included gardening, raising chickens and participating with people throughout the country in observing the restoration of the bald eagles and rehabilitation of other raptors.  Laurie is survived by Pegi Kelly (mother), Dearl Wells (father), Krystal Arthur (half-sister) and her husband.  She was predeceased by Darren Wells (brother).

The California memorial for Laurie will be held at the Los Gatos Memorial Park Chapel at 11am on January 17th.  Los Gatos Memorial Park is located at 2255 Los Gatos Almaden Road, San Jose, CA 95124.

Memorial services will also be held in Wichita Falls, Texas on February 7th.  The time and place will be announced later.

Instead of flowers, Laurie’s wishes are for donations to be made to either:   Raptor Education Group, Inc; P.O. Box 481; Antigo, WI 54409; (715) 623-2563 http://www.raptoreducationgroup.org/Donate.cfm  or Institute for Wildlife Studies; attn. Dr Peter Sharp; P.O. Box 2500; Avalon, CA  90704; (310) 510-2728

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Laurie and her husband greatly appreciate all those who traveled both locally and from across the country to see her over the last 6 weeks of her life.  Words cannot express how much it meant to her to see you, even if the visits were brief.  Those of you that have seen her over the last few months saw a strong woman who showed very little indication of the battle she was fighting.  Over the course of the last few months her cancer became exceedingly aggressive, causing her liver to become hard and grow to multiple times its normal size.  She managed to disguise her pain and discomfort very well, only showing signs of being tired.  Laurie was a true warrior and she will be sorely missed by those around her.