Holiday Special for Charity! Please help Jeremiah!

Hey Everyone! Molly here!

First off, I know this is a lot of information and a lot to read, but please read this and pray (HARD) if nothing else.

Cristina and I were not planning on doing any "Holiday Deals" this year because we have been so busy keeping up with weddings. However, something has come up that we hope everyone will help out with. Consider it a Christmas gift to help someone out!

We WILL be having a one day Holiday shoot, and all the proceeds are going to a special fund for Cristina's cousin, Jeremiah Means. One month ago, Jeremiah was a normally functioning 24 year old and today he is minimally responsive.



Below: Ashley, Jeremiah, and Gabe.


Jeremiah's Story:
Jeremiah David Means and his wife Ashley celebrated his 24th birthday in July and celebrated the first birthday of his son Gabriel in November. He was struck by a mysterious debilitating illness that has puzzled the doctors in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia.

His wife, Ashley, describes what happened.
"On Sunday, November 1, 2009, Jeremiah started feeling like he was getting a headache and his eyes were very sensitive to light. By the end of the day the headache was getting worse but he thought it would go away with rest and Tylenol. Jeremiah's headache continued for a week without giving him any relief. He was also seeing flashes of light, like a camera flash in your eyes. On Monday, November 9, 2009, Jeremiah went to the dr to see if maybe he had a sinus infection. The dr gave him some pain meds, migraine meds and set up a MRI for Monday night. For those of you who know Jeremiah it will come as no suprise that he went on to work at the ER after his MRI. When he came home on Tuesday morning, his head was hurting pretty bad and he was tired, but he was his normal self. I (Ashley) came home from work around 2 pm on Tuesday to find Jeremiah very much not himself. He was ultra sensitive to any sounds, very aggitated, restless and crying at times. While I knew something was wrong, I was not quite sure just how to help him. His parents came to our house around 6 pm and we decided that Jeremiah needed to go to the ER as soon as possible. He was taken by ambulance to St Francis where he was quickly treated by coworkes and friends. They started testing him for everything they could think of because they knew he was very sick. Later in the night, Jeremiah was moved to ICU were they continued to monitor him and run more tests. Around 3 am Wednesday morning he did a turn around and was much more like his normal self. He remained stable and normal until Saturday evening when an episode of aggitation, confusion and obvious pain returned. He did not show any improvement by Sunday so the doctors all seemed to agree and recomend sending Jeremiah to another hospital for more specialized treatment. We all made the trip to UAB in Birmingham, Al. on Sunday night, November 15, 2009 and it is here we wait patiently for an answer."

His illness has the UAB doctors and nurses searching for a cause.
A tentative diagnosis has been suggested but they are still testing. The tentative diagnosis is A.D.E.M. Acute Disseminated EncephaloMyelitis (ADEM) is an immune mediated disease of the brain. ADEM produces multiple inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord.

It usually occurs following a viral infection, but may appear following vaccination, bacterial or parasitic infection, or even appear spontaneously. As it involves autoimmune demyelination, it is similar to multiple sclerosis, and is considered part of the multiple sclerosis borderline diseases.

While he was doing better last week, he became worse over the Thanksgiving holidays. "Jeremiah is about the same as yesterday - sleepy, unresponsive,
not moving around, and not talking. The results from the MRI last
night showed that things have gotten a little bit worse. He has
developed a few more lesions in new areas and some of the old ones
have gotten bigger. The doctors are not really sure what is going
on with him and plan on doing several more tests in the next few
days. "

The doctors have been giving him steroids and his condition is slowly improving. If you would like to find out more about Jeremiah and get updates or send messages to his family, please see his carepages webpage.

Jeremiah's wife, Ashley is a stay-at-home mom to Gabe, so this young family has no source of income as long as Jeremiah is ill and debilitated. He is not out of the woods yet and when his recovery begins, it is expected to be a long one. Until health is restored, his young family has to survive.

We are doing our part to help this family. We would love it if you would too. We are also taking up WalMart gift cards to help them with necessities at home.

DETAILS for the shoot.
What?
One Day Holiday Mini-Sessions.
-45 minute session with Cristina Means Bearden.
-20 images on DVD, WITH printing rights edited and ready for pickup that SAME day.

Cost?
$175 . Checks should be written to "Special Fund for Jeremiah Means".
We will deliver them to CB&T of Columbus, where his co-workers have set up a special account for his family.
Cost is for up to four family members. Any additional family members add $10. Additional DVDs can be made for $50.

What are you saving?
50% ! Our regular price for a family session with one photographer is $150, and our regular price for a dvd with print release of the session is $200. Also, our turn-around time for portraits is usually a month. You will be getting them the SAME day!

When?
-Shoots: Sunday, December 6th. (Available appointments are for 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm, 5 pm.)
-Available for pickup: Sunday, December 6th @ 5 pm. (4pm and 5pm appointments will be ready at 7pm.)
-Be there promptly or you may miss your appointment!

Where?
- Shoots will be at MacIntyre Park in Thomasville.
- Available for pickup same day at the studio (Upstairs, 207 E. Monroe)

How?
-Cristina will photograph your family, and Molly will be an editing fiend. We will trade off card (memory) between shoots. The 12pm appointment will get Molly as a shooter while Cristina grabs some lunch. Molly will burn your images to a disk, create a print release, and voila..Christmas, done.

Who? Us..silly. (229)221-2293=Cristina or email info@theredflystudio.
First come, first serve.

Why? Because we are all about our families. We love them.


A thank-you note from Cristina:
"Hey All,
With holidays here, we have so much to be thankful for. We should be so thankful for our health. Sometimes, with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, good health is the one thing I forget that I have, that many others don't have. I take my good health for granted and it's sad that things have to happen to someone else that reminds me that anything can happen to anyone. Right now, my sweet cousin Jeremiah is in the hospital. Jeremiah is really is the one of the sweetest, kindest, faithful, funny, hard working guys that I know."