The Issaquah Press Section
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COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
Learn about Northwest noir at the library
A new parents’ nightmare
Mother remains in the hospital while father cares for the baby
BY GREG FARRAR
Nate Bower looks down at his daughter, Sage, in their home near May Valley, as they wait for wife and mother Sarah Bower to return home from the hospital.
By Laura Geggel Issaquah Press reporter By the time Sage Bower was born in the early hours of Aug. 24, her mother, Sarah Bower, was already in a coma after experiencing a hemorrhagic stroke. “It was the scariest thing I had ever been through,” said Sarah’s husband, Nate Bower. “I thought I was losing her right there. I was yelling at her to try to get her to talk. Words can’t explain it.” Sarah and Nate Bower were ecstatic about being new parents. The two had met through friends at church and married in 2001, living in Issaquah before they moved to Maple Valley and then next to May Valley. Nate worked in construction, but recently lost his job because of the Great Recession. Sarah worked as a hairstylist at Issaquah’s Salon Jade, which she owned with her mother for four years, participating in ArtWalk and Salmon Days, until she sold it in June. Sage was due Aug. 19, and the family’s physician was planning to induce labor. But Sage was HELP THE born an entirely difBOWER FAMILY ferent way. Sarah, 34, awoke at 3 a.m. Donate to The Sarah Aug. 24, complainBower Donation Fund ing of stomach at any Wells Fargo. Call pains and a poundthe Issaquah branch ing headache. Nate drove her to at 557-0551 for the the emergency account number. room at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle and watched as they plugged his wife into an IV dripping with painkillers. Her blood pressure had skyrocketed. He held her hand and held a rag over her throbbing head. Then, her left side went limp. Doctors realized she had just had a stroke. Doctors delivered Sage via C-section so that Sarah’s blood pressure would drop. Neurosurgeon Gregory Foltz happened to be on site and he managed her case. Shortly after her stroke, Sarah’s physicians learned she had HELLP — hemolysis, elevated liver enzyme levels and a low platelet count. HELLP is rare, and more likely to affect white, pregnant women older than 25. HELLP patients often feel tired and experience pain in the upper part of their abdomen, as well as headaches or nausea. Because many healthy pregnant women experience such symptoms, HELLP is hard to catch, but women with high blood pressure can ask their doctors to test them, according to FamilyDoctor.org. The high blood pressure caused by HELLP likely led to her stroke, her husband said.
By Laura Geggel Issaquah Press reporter
After the delivery, Sage was safe, but Sarah was sedated and not responding with normal reflexes. Doctors rushed her to a CAT scan. Sarah’s medical diagnosis was going from bad to worse; the CAT scan showed she had bleeding in her brain. When blood enters the brain, it causes swelling. As a Jehovah’s Witnesses, Sarah would not accept a blood transfusion. Foltz inserted a ventricular drain into her brain to help drain the blood from the hemorrhage, but Sarah’s blood started clotting. Nate had called some close family friends, and Foltz explained Sarah’s options to them. Foltz said could use a drug, called tissue plasminogen activator, that would help unclot the blood in her brain, but the FDA had not yet approved the drug for the procedure. With Nate’s permission, Foltz used the drug. It worked perfectly. “Really, within a few minutes of inserting this tube, her brain was under tremendous pressure and the drain stopped working,” Foltz said. “She would have died had we not
The wild Pacific Northwest can pull at any artist’s imagination, whether that artist is a painter, writer, photographer or unsuspecting hiker. The region’s gloomy winters, dense forests, rugged mountains and deep Puget Sound act as an ideal backdrop for Susan Olds mysteries, thrillers, UFO sightings and legends. Ask any “Twin Peaks” fan who has visited the Snoqualmie Valley, or any “Twilight” reader who has journeyed to Forks to see the setting of the novels detailing the lives of vampires and werewolves. North Bend art historian Susan Olds will present “Northwest Noir: Mysteries, Legends and Landscapes” at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at Issaquah Library, 10 W. Sunset Way. Her talk will delve into American Indian legends and art, Sasquatch sightings and stories, and unexplained mysteries, as well as contemporary art and novels set in the Northwest. Sasquatch, in particular, intrigued Olds. “What I found interesting is how many sightings have been recorded,” she said. “Loggers and Caucasians have their myths, but it actually goes back to the Native Americans.” Skamania County, in Southwest Washington, has an ordinance banning Bigfoot hunting.
See NIGHTMARE, Page B2
See NOIR, Page B3
CONTRIBUTED
Sarah (left) and Nate Bower pose for a photograph Aug. 22.
“It was the scariest thing I had ever been through. I thought I was losing her right there. I was yelling at her to try to get her to talk. Words can’t explain it.” — Nate Bower Sarah Bower’s husband
Congregation marks 9/11 anniversary with service project By Kirsten Johnson Issaquah Press intern
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BY MATT MOLEN
Andrew Larsen (standing, right) works with other members of Boy Scout Troop 697 and members of his Issaquah LDS church Sept. 11 on the Tradition Lake Reclamation Project toward his Eagle Scout award.
n the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, members of a local church were hard at work in the community to help give the somber day a new image. More than 80 volunteers from the Issaquah congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints ventured up to Tradition Plateau on a sunny morning to take part in the Tradition Lake Reclamation Project. Andrew Larsen, a local teen working toward his Eagle Scout award, created the event for his Eagle Scout service project. As a member of the Issaquah LDS congregation, Larsen received many willing hands from his Scout Troop 697 and church. The project asked for help to remove scotch broom, a plant growing invasively on the plateau. The weeds could then decompose and allow for new, natural plants to grow in, essentially restoring areas of the plateau. By 10 a.m., volunteers of all ages had arrived ready to help. Krispy Kreme doughnuts were stacked nearby as a snack break for the hard workers. The LDS church designated Sept. 11 as the Northwest Day of Service — 11,000 volunteers in Western Washington alone took part in 157 service projects similar to Larsen’s. As bishop of the Issaquah congregation, Steve Balkman explained that the church wanted to selflessly give back to the community on the tragic day in history. Along with Larsen’s Eagle Scout project, the church offered three other local opportunities for members to help, including a care package project for military per-
sonnel, a back-to-school drive for underprivileged kids and a House of Hope Amphitheater repainting project. “We wanted to find projects that could impact the community,” Balkman said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for young people.” Larsen is a 16-year-old sophomore at Issaquah High School. As a requirement for earning his Eagle Scout, he organized the project entirely himself to demonstrate his leadership skills and commitment to service. For any teen attempting
to earn an Eagle Scout, all requirements must be completed before his 18th birthday. “This is an Eagle Scout requirement, but the service is a lot of fun,” Larsen said. One of Larsen’s Scout leaders, Matthew Balkman, explained how rare it is for a Scout to earn the Eagle Scout rank. He said that less than 2 percent of Scouts ever do. “A big part of Boy Scouts is See PROJECT, Page B3
BY MATT MOLEN
Deanna Bartholomew, with daughter Alaina, members of the Issaquah Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, join other members and Boy Scouts at Tradition Lake.
SERVICE COMMEMORATES FALLEN AMERICANS By Sarah Gerdes When President Obama asked for Americans to spend a day of service in commemoration fallen countrymen, Issaquah residents responded to the call. On Sept. 11, hundreds of men and woman from three congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered almost 6,000 pounds of food from local grocery stores. Many went door to door, picking up cans that had been left out for pickup. “We printed 32,000 flyers that were hung on doorknobs by our young men and women,” said President Robert Johnson, who oversees 10 LDS congregations on the Eastside, stretching from Mercer Island to North Bend. “Every community responded in an incredibly gracious way.” Officially named the Day of Service Northwest, 8,000 LDS members participated in the region, conducting approximately 150 service projects for nonprofit organizations, individuals or community programs. The food drive raised 22,000 pounds of food given to local food banks and another 5,000 pounds for Northwest Harvest. Cash donations are nearing $9,000. “Members of the congregation provide service already,” Johnson said. “The goal with this effort was to reach beyond our own, people we don’t know or don’t see. We wanted to take this to a larger scale.” He said he expects the day may become an annual event. “Serving one another brings us together as neighbors and as a community,” he said. “We’ll no doubt be providing service to the community next year.”