Kingwood woman getting first of it's kind double arm transplant.

After losing every one of her limbs from a flesh-eating infection, a 43-year-old Texas mother of three will have another person’s arms and hands transplanted onto her in the first ever procedure of its kind in the U.S., the Houston Chronicle reported.

Katy Hayes, from Kingwood, TX, contracted the disease that took her arms and legs shortly after giving birth to her last child just two years ago.  Doctors were forced to amputate her limbs above her knees and elbows, leaving behind small stubs.

“I want my life back,” Hayes told a medical team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Mass., about why she wanted the transplant.  “I want to hold my last child before she’s grown – and she’s already 2.  If anybody tells me ‘no,’ I’ll just go to the next hospital.  ‘No’ is not an option.”

According to the Chronicle, Hayes has been defying expectations for the past two years, after doctors thought the flesh-eating disease would ultimately claim her life.  She had slipped into a coma for a month after giving birth, when she suddenly awoke to discover her arms and legs were missing.

Since then, Hayes has undergone numerous physical exams to establish she is in the best physical shape possible for the transplant.

The surgical procedure is expected to take at least 15 hours and will require about 40 medical personnel, the Chronicle said.  According to Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, chairman of the plastic and reconstructive surgery department at Johns Hopkins University, the transplantation process will be extremely tricky because new nerves must attach to the arms old nerves and grow a very long distance to reach the new hands.

“The nerve in the arm will grow only about an inch a month,” Lee told the Houston Chronicle.  “It can take a year or two to reach the hand.  Functional recovery is less predictable.”

Hayes understands that even if the procedure is a success, she still won’t have fine motor skills like the ability to button a shirt. However, she is looking forward to possibly performing tasks she could never do currently – such as grabbing cups, brushing her teeth or giving hugs.

She also hopes to pave the way for more complex transplants in the future.

"I'll be their guinea pig," Hayes said. "But I'll also be that pioneer in a new world who can one day talk to others about having transplants."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/05/29/texas-mother-to-receive-first-ever-double-arm-hand-transplant-in-us/#ixzz1wGuLStD2

Real story behind The Sugarland Express

This Week in Texas Historyby BARTEE HAILE

As the sun came up on May 2, 1969, a young couple got the drop on the highway patrolman who answered their phony plea for help at an isolated ranch in southeast Texas.

Robert “Bobby” Dent, 22, was passing through Port Arthur at 2 a.m. with his wife of one year, Ila Fae Dent, 21, when flashing red lights suddenly appeared in his rearview mirror. The ex-convict, out of the joint just two weeks, did not know what the lawmen wanted, but he was not about to hang around and find out.

Roaring out of town on state highway 73, the Dents’ car broke down near Anahuac. With the police only seconds behind them, the two eluded capture by dashing into the woods that bordered the blacktop.

Bobby and Ila Fae made their way north in the darkness to a ranch house between the tiny Jefferson County communities of Fannett and Nome. In dire need of a four-wheel getaway, Bobby hit upon the ironic idea of calling the cops for a ride.

The dispatcher gave directions to Kenneth Krone, 27, and told the DPS trooper two hitchhikers that claimed to have been beaten and robbed would be waiting for him. It was six o’clock in the morning, when Krone walked into the kitchen of the ranch house and found Bobby and Ila Fae holding handguns pointed right at him.

Bobby disarmed the stunned state trooper, making his better half a present of Krone’s .357 Magnum, and forced him to try on his own handcuffs for size. Marched at gunpoint to his patrol car, Krone did as he was told and slipped behind the wheel. Bobby sat next him in the front seat with the cocked Magnum in his ribs, while Ila Fae stuck the trooper’s shotgun in his ear from the back seat.

Obeying Bobby’s terse instructions to “drive,” it did not take Krone long to realize his captors had no plan nor even a destination. To make matters worse, they clearly had not counted on the attention a state trooper under such obvious duress would attract on the heavily traveled highway to Houston.

When the commandeered cruiser reached Texas’ largest city, a lengthening line of law enforcement was in close but restrained pursuit. The caravan, which eventually numbered more than a hundred vehicles, included additional highway patrol, local police, deputy sheriffs from several counties, news media vans and an ambulance.

By the time the “chase” turned north toward Conroe, DPS captain Jerry Miller was in charge and in constant two-way radio communication with the fleeing fugitives. As Miller saw it, his job was to calm Bobby Dent down and keep him from flying off the handle.

“I told him what you are doing is foolish,” Capt. Miller later recounted. He advised Bobby to “pull over and stop” only to be told “I’m not going back to the penitentiary.”

On another occasion, Miller suggested that Bobby at least let his wife out of the car, but the former inmate could not bear the thought of being separated again from Ila Fae. “She doesn’t want to come back there with you!” was his heated response.

In attempt to earn the Dents’ trust, Miller allowed them on two occasions to stop for gas. True to his word, he kept the army of pursuers at a distance while the three stars of the real-life drama filled their tank, went to the restroom and bought snacks and drinks.

Not long after the second time-out, Bobby offered to release his hostage if Miller would let him visit his two stepchildren, Ila Fae’s from a previous marriage, at their grandparents’ place near Bryan. Miller agreed to the deal and sealed it with a promise to give the couple a 15-minute head-start after the reunion.

Bobby Dent was not only a third-rate petty criminal, who had done hard time for vandalizing vending machines, he also was incredibly gullible.

It was nearly noon, when the Dents pulled up to the white frame house in Wheelock. As per Miller’s orders, the caravan parked a mile down the dirt road.

The three climbed the front steps with Patrolman Krone in the lead, Bobby behind him with the shotgun and Ila Fae bringing up the rear with the .357 Magnum.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Krone could make out his rescuers. He stepped to the side and dropped to the floor just as Sheriff Sonny Elliott of Robertson County and FBI agent Bob Wiatt opened fire.

The shotgun blast and pistol rounds propelled Bobby Dent right back out the door and onto the steps. “Oh, my God, you’ve killed him!” screamed Ila Fae dropping her pistol to the ground, and she was right.

For her part, Ila Fae Dent was given five years but served only five months. She died of natural causes in 1992 while working at a motel in Livingston.

“The Sugarland Express” hit movie theaters in 1974. Despite a cast with two Academy Award winners (Goldie Hawn as Ila Fae and Ben Johnson as Capt. Miller), the first feature film by 30-year-old Steven Spielberg laid an egg at the box office.

It might have helped ticket sales if the script had stayed true to the real story. Case in point: Ila Fae did not bust Bobby out of prison. But to his credit Spielberg did show a lot of recognizable Texas countryside during the marathon chase scenes.

Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or haile@pdq.net.

Read more at the Hays Free Presshttp://haysfreepress.com/2012/05/09/the-real-story-behind-the-sugarland-express/#ixzz1uTfXEMIj

Houston pig wins right to not be classified as bacon!

This little piggy can stay at home.

Wilbur, a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig that a Spring homeowner's association wanted to kick out of a family's home, doesn't have to move, a Harris County district court judge ruled Monday.

The Sardo family's one-and-a-half-year-old pig has been the subject of a lawsuit filed by his family to declare him a "household pet" so he can continue living in their subdivision. The Thicket at Cypresswood Community Improvement Association argued the pig violates its rules which forbids pets that are not "common" and "traditional."

District court Judge Mike Engelhart ruled evidence is clear that this pig breed is considered a household pet and that they are not used for commercial purposes. He also said the dispute puts a spotlight on homeowner's associations' restrictions and residents' property rights.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE AT THE CHRON

Texas firm gets refinery lease for Virtual Engineering of Kingwood

OBERLIN — The Allen Parish Police Jury has approved a lease for the development and operation of a proposed $100 million refinery at a former chemical plant site just west of Oakdale.

Police jurors agreed Monday to lease 67 acres of commercial property at the old Arizona Chemical plant site to Virtual Engineering Operations of Kingwood, Texas, for a 20,000- to 40,000-barrels-a-day refinery.

The American Press reports (http://bit.ly/qjfACs ) the lease is for 49 years at a cost of $100 per acre for five years, then $1,000 per acre for the remainder of the lease.

Under the agreement, the company must maintain 35 permanent jobs.

"This will be a boost to the economy of Allen Parish immensely," District Attorney Todd Nesom. "People are already looking for jobs."

There will be about 200 construction jobs available for the initial phase of the project, according to VEOPS President J. Craig Harrington. An additional 140 jobs could be created from spinoff businesses and future construction, he said.

The company has half of its finances in place and is working to ensure the second half, Nesom said.

The refinery will process 20,000 barrels a day of crude to produce diesel fuel for farmers, jet fuel and heating oil.

Construction is expected to begin by July and should be completed within 18 months, Harrington said.

VEOPS plans to seek tax incentives from the state, including industrial tax exemptions and enterprise zone funding for the project.

It will also demolish existing structures onsite, including offices, labs, warehouses, foundations and rail lines to develop the refinery.

Arizona Chemical, a wood chemical manufacturing facility, closed in 2001. The property was later given to the Police Jury for economic development.

Tornadoes ravage Arlington/Dallas Ft Worth

Tornado-wrecked Dallas begins assessing damage
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press –


ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The tornado hurtled toward the nursing home. Physical therapist Patti Gilroy said she saw the swirling mass barreling down through the back door, after she herded patients into the hallway in the order trained: walkers, wheelchairs, then beds.
"It wasn't like a freight train like everybody says it is," said Gilroy, who rounded up dozens to safety at Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. "It sounded like a bomb hit. And we hit the floor, and everybody was praying. It was shocking."

The National Weather Service said as many as a dozen twisters touched down in a wrecking-ball swath of violent weather that stretched across Dallas and Fort Worth. The destructive reminder of a young tornado season Tuesday left thousands without power and hundreds of homes pummeled or worse.

As the sun rose Wednesday over the southern Dallas suburb of Lancaster, one of the hardest hit areas, it was clear that twisters had bounced in and out of neighborhoods, destroying homes at random. Vehicles were tossed like toys, coming to rest in living rooms and bedrooms.

At one house, a tornado had seemingly dipped into the building like an immersion blender, spinning directly down through an upstairs bedroom and wreaking havoc in the family room below before lifting straight back up and away. A grandfather clock leaned slightly but otherwise stood pristine against a wall at the back of the downstairs room that was filled with smashed furniture and fallen support beams.

Despite the intensity of the slow-moving storms, only a handful of people were hurt, a couple of them seriously, and no fatalities were reported as of late Tuesday.
The Red Cross estimated that 650 homes were damaged. Around 150 Lancaster residents stayed in a shelter Tuesday night.

"I guess 'shock' is probably a good word," Lancaster Mayor Marcus Knight said.
The exact number of tornadoes won't be known until surveyors have fanned across North Texas, looking for clues among the debris that blanketed yards and rooftops peeled off slats.
April is typically the worst month in a tornado season that stretches from March to June, but Tuesday's outburst suggests that "we're on pace to be above normal," said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bishop.

An entire wing at the Green Oaks nursing home in Arlington crumbled. Stunning video from Dallas showed big-rig trailers tossed into the air and spiraling like footballs. At the Cedar Valley Christian Center church in Lancaster, Pastor Glenn Young said he cowered in a windowless room with 30 children from a daycare program, some of them newborns.

Ten people in Lancaster were injured, two of them severely, said Lancaster police officer Paul Beck. Three people were injured in Arlington, including two Green Oaks residents taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Arlington Assistant Fire Chief Jim Self said.

Gilroy said the blast of wind through Green Oaks lasted about 10 seconds. She described one of her co-workers being nearly "sucked out" while trying to get a patient out of the room at the moment the facility was hit.

Joy Johnston was also there, visiting her 79-year-old sister.
"Of course the windows were flying out, and my sister is paralyzed, so I had to get someone to help me get her in a wheelchair to get her out of the room," she said.
In one industrial section of Dallas, rows of empty tractor-trailers crumpled like soda cans littered a parking lot.

"The officers were watching the tornadoes form and drop," Kennedale police Chief Tommy Williams said. "It was pretty active for a while."

Most of Dallas was spared the full wrath of the storm. Yet in Lancaster, television helicopters panned over exposed homes without roofs and flattened buildings. Residents could be seen walking down the street with firefighters and peering into homes, looking at the damage after the storm passed.

Hundreds of flights into and out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field were canceled or diverted elsewhere Tuesday. About 500 flights remained grounded Wednesday, airport officials said.

The storms knocked out power for thousands. Utility Oncor said nearly 14,000 homes and businesses, mainly in the Arlington area, still had no electricity early Wednesday.
Meteorologists said the storms were the result of a slow-moving storm system centered over northern New Mexico.

Dixon reported from Lancaster. Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Terry Wallace and David Koenig in Dallas, Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Angela K. Brown in Fort Worth and Robert Ray in Lancaster contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.