This is The Humbling and Amazing Story Of Jeff Lamana, creator of www.flyersphans.com
I will get back to the trade rumors in a bit, but please take a moment and read this important story of a Flyers fan that transcends sports.
Every now and then a story comes along that just shows you all that is right with people. A person that touches you so deeply that is makes you look at your own life, your wife, your kids....and you realize that most of what we worry about is just ridiculous. Most of our life is fixing mundane problems and playing little games.
This is an amazing story. A story about an amazing man. A story about the fans of the hockey team from the city of brotherly love. A story about how despite all that we have become, deep down we are still just flesh and blood, and we are all in this together. This story is about courage and resilience. This story is about a man who has uses what little energy he has each day to help others more than himself. He gives perfectly healthy people a place to escape. He gives them a community that gets them through the mundane every day. This story is about Jeff Lamana, who as you read this is in pain and in the midst of an emotional and difficult battle with cancer. Jeff's Flyersphans.com message board is where I first posted a trade rumor as Eklund a few years ago.
This past Tuesday I was in the midst of the craziness that exists with any business. I was driving home from another meeting when I called Jeff up and decided it was time to meet the man who had done so much for me. Instead of taking 476 North, I jumped on 202 South and 30 west and drove the hour and a half trip to a hotel in Lancaster PA to visit Jeff who had just finished another radiation treatment for the enormous tumor that is in his pelvis. I felt compelled to bring Jeff something to help him out, so I first stopped and picked up some toys for Jeff at Best Buy in King of Prussia. Jeff is stuck in this hotel for more than five weeks. He is a computer guy and I figured he had to be bored off his rocker. If I was stuck, I'd want toys and gadgets to occupy my time.
As I drove down Route 30 I passed Paradise, PA. Paradise is the center of the Amish in Pennsylvania. I drove past buggies, a mom carrying apples in a wagon with here kids, all dressed in black and blue...the girls in bonnets..It was a good metaphor for me leaving the things I thought were important and getting back to what is real and important...
I was greeted by Jeff's mom, Rose, at the door. She is keeping an eye on Jeff and making sure he is OK and can get help quickly if needed while he is in the hotel. Jeff's health has turned on a dime over the last few years. "Countless trips to the hospital in the middle of the night," Rose says. (By the way Rose is in a wheelchair herself following a very serious injury a while ago.) I talked to Jeff about his journey. Because of the size and location of the tumor Jeff has to sit leaning to his left and is uncomfortable all the time. Sleeping is often impossible.
So how do I know Jeff?
Many of you probably belong to some sort of online community and know how much that community can become a part of you. I started my Eklund persona on such a community, www.flyersphans.com, a few years back. That message board is probably like many throughout the Internet...a group of strangers killing time at work, and sharing a common interest. In this case they are all die-hard fans of the Philadelphia Flyers, and yes they do talk about Forsberg, the Lindros trade, and Hitchcock. But they also tell stories of bad dates they went on, good DVDs to rent, what places to visit in foreign cities, and even whether or not they should relocate or take a new job. I go to the message board as a place to get away from the intensity of chasing down rumors...when the days feel long and the energy level dips. It tends to bring me up There are some interesting people on this message board, including Jeff's wife Adina. Adina sounds like an angel on the phone and when you see Jeff talk about her you realize that she probably is one. Once you have finished reading this story you'll fully understand that many angels exist at flyersphans.com.
So I implore you to keep reading...
Jeff 32, originally from Hazelton, PA, started the Philaphans.com website in June of 2002. The site is dedicated to all Phillysports. Jeff's first love growing up was baseball and football, and there are message boards for all the teams and articles written by a small staff of volunteer writers that Jeff has assembled.
It is the Flyersphans message board that I read everyday. Despite creating the board, Jeff isn't the king of posting by any stretch. Jeff has posted 140 times to his board, while some folks are over 10,000. Jeff is a quiet guy who admits, "I don't love being the center of attention at all." Jeff gets more out of the fact that he has created such an incredible community of people with over 160,000 visitors a month.
In 2003, on a blind date set up by friends, Jeff met his soul mate and "rock" Adina. The two fell very hard in love and Jeff's world was complete. There is a warmth when he talks of her so genuine that I got chills listening to him.
However in June 2004 Jeff's life would change forever. He started getting some back pain and went to get it checked out. Very long story short....Jeff was diagnosed with Stage 4 large B Cell Lymphoma. Jeff went in for chemotherapy and to all of our delights (the message board community) the cancer went into remission. All looked pretty OK until the end of this past April when Jeff got some more back pains and when Chiropractic failed to show any results a Neurosurgeon suggested Jeff get a CT-Scan. A very large mass was discovered in his right pelvis. The cancer Jeff had thought he had beaten made a powerful and brutal return. Jeff immediately started a stronger chemotherapy regimen in August and September. He was in a ton of pain, but was insistent that he and Adina get married as planned in October. The scheduled honeymoon to the Caribbean was changed to Niagara Falls, and Jeff went despite often-unbearable pain. He said to me, "I wanted her to have a real wedding and honeymoon. I wasn't going to allow the Cancer to take that."
Jeff returned home determined to attend and help with a charity event he had scheduled for a group he helped startt called "Phans for Hope." (www.phansforhope.org.) "Phans for Hope" is a non-profit 501© (3) charity that miraculously formed from a few people on the message boards who really wanted to give back to the American Cancer Society�and to help out their "Hope Lodges" that are the adult form of Ronald McDonald Houses.
The "Phans for Hope" team raised a good amount of money and donated it all to the ACS. This at a time when their President Jeff, and his wife Adina were becoming increasingly strapped by all the money his disease was costing them. Jeff never complained on the message board about money. His health grew much worse in November as he went on more intense Chemotherapy and daily Nulasta shots in an attempt to stimulate white blood cells with the hope of possibly doing a stem cell transplant. His body created an incredible amount, 6.5 million stem cell in just two days.
Meanwhile another CT-Scan revealed that the huge tumor had become Chemo-resistant. It was determined that a Stem Cell transplant was now Out of the question, and before they could proceed Jeff would need to start immediate Radiation Therapy to try and control the cancer. Two days before Christmas, Adina, basically at her wits end, reached out to the message board with the following message:
"THIS IS ADINA�JEFF'S WIFE... I am calling out to all of you to see if anyone has any connections that could help us out. Jeff will need to get radiation in Lancaster, The Problem�he needs to be there EVERYDAY for 4 weeks...Jeff and his mom�who right now due to the fact I have to work�is his primary caregiver�need a place to stay...A handicapped accessible place with a place for his mom to stay and for Jeff to stay. I need help! I need to find a place that he can merely drive short distance to the hospital�a hotel would be great�but to be honest we have NO money...and I can only imagine what a hotel would be�cost wise. I just need help to find a suitable place...
Please email me at <mailto:
[email protected]>
[email protected] if you have any connections/advice for me�and TIA...from the bottom of my heart...please know I would not ask if it was not crucial!"
Minutes later a poster who goes by the name of Gman from Flyersphans posted this:
"Let's do something special for Christmas... Jeff is in big trouble and I think we need to do what we can to help him out. This is life or death people and we need to dig into our wallets and give whatever we can."
And the Flyers fans went above and beyond hearing Gman's call to arms. In the few short days over Christmas, Flyers fans raised enough money to get him a handicapped hotel suite minutes from the Lancaster hospital. This would help make the daily treatments do-able. It was a Christmas Miracle if ever I saw one. The hotel room I sat in with Jeff on Tuesday was a result of this Miracle.
I talked to Gman and asked him if he had any idea his rallying cry would make such a huge difference..."No idea at all. I just thought this is life or death, and it's Christmas, and we need to act here. I was amazed when people started putting money in. One guy did his entire $200 Christmas bonus. It blew me away."
Jeff is completely humbled by the experience. "I honestly don't know how I would have kept going at times were it not for the people who helped. They not only sent money, but cards, inspirational books, bracelets. Knowing how many people are behind me helps like you can't imagine"
Sitting with Jeff I got the sense that he was a guy who had been through some serious battles, but was amazingly warm spirited and prepared to win the war. He gets excited at the possibility that the radiation could kill the tumor that he describes as "the size of a small nerf football." He says he has some rough nights where he is overcome with emotion...Yet he also feels lucky that he is surrounded by his mom, Adina, and friends who are constantly helping him through.
Jeff is going to have to spend more time than expected in Lancaster and his insurance is only covering some of the needed nurse visits to his room, and the co-pays are intense. He needs more help to make it through and fully recover. There is still much need for financial aid. I personally owe a lot to Jeff...without him there may never would have been an Eklund...I am doing all I can to help out, and part of that is me calling out to the hockey world as well. Our prayers are the most important thing we can give, so please keep Jeff and Adina and Rose in your prayers.
However, if you can give anything in terms of money please go to Paypal.com where you can make a safe and secure donation with a credit card to the email address
[email protected]. You have no idea how much a few bucks will do to help them through. I wouldn't ask if I didn't know or feel that we could all make a huge impact here in a the life of two people who deserve a better deal.
Anything at all will help this incredible man and his unbelievably strong wife know that not just Flyers fans are behind them, but I want him to know that hockey fansaround the world are thinking of him. We are all in this together. We will never know why one person gets dealt one hand and Jeff got dealt this hand. Jeff believes this is part of his greater purpose. I think only Jeff knows that answer so I believe him when he says this is why God put him here. I have to.
I really want to thank you for taking the time and reading this story. I also want thank you in advance for whatever the spirit moves you to do to help.
Jeff did a thank you video you can view here to all the Flyers and Philadelphia fans...
http://www.probaseballcentral.com/thank_you.wmv
You can send Jeff fun things to do and your well wishes.
Jeff Lamana
Lancaster at the Eden Resort Inn
suite 513
222 Eden Rd
Lancaster, PA 17601
USA
Thanks Again.
Sincerely ,
Ek
