Travis County Commissioners Court
September 29, 2009,
Item 38
Now let's call back to order the voting session of the Travis County Commissioners court.
item 38 is consider and take appropriate action on request by the pulmonary hypertension association and liza roberts to waive or reduce the rental fees for the exposition center arena on November 7, 2009, for the Travis County phun walk for a cure.
>> judge, it's my pleasure to introduce you all to those of you that haven't met liza roberts.
she became our front office manager June of 1997.
and she went over to be the executive secretary over at the criminal justice planning in 1999.
as you may or may not know, liza was due to deliver her son that's now 7 years old, caden here.
we're also joined by liza's husband steve.
unfortunately, shortly after the delivery of her son, she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension.
and one of the things that liza has undergone is a triple bypass.
she had a heart and two lungs transplanted and I am happy to say that she has beat all the odds and she is passionate about spreading the word and increasing the research to find a cure for pulmonary hypertension.
and it is that -- with that cause in mind that she has requested that the court consider a waiver of fees for the chair king facility so that she can stage with the help of a lot of us the first annual phun run to bring more public awareness to this crippling disease.
so with no more to-do, I would like to introduce you to liza roberts.
>> welcome.
>> welcome.
>> how are you doing?
>> I'm doing okay.
today is a good day.
this is a real moment here for me, especially since I was never supposed to be here at all.
but I am, and I'm so happy to see you, my friend, in the same place that I left you.
appropriately.
>> some say I've been here too long, ms.
roberts.
>> no, I don't think so.
you are doing a fine job, just as I thought you were.
and the thing is, as leroy said, I'm a very passionate person, but just like I was in my work, I take care of everybody in my department.
i did -- I don't think that leroy remembers, but I started my career here at the county at the age of about 24, 23, and that was at the sheriff's office.
and I worked there for many years before I couldn't deal with it.
there was just -- I don't know what the right word is to say, they are just a special group of people.
and working -- I worked in the personnel department.
so we're kind of one step away from the i.a.
department.
and so it was a very stressful job.
and I just didn't -- my integrity, with my integrity and I just thought I needed to move on.
and, you know, god kind of led me to leroy and christian and my friends and we were a very close-knitted family after a while.
but then if you remember, your executive manager donna dinwiddie, aka julie london, so she was a little bit wild too so I kind of ended up taming her down a little bit.
>> ms.
dinwiddie and mr.
nellis.
>> yes.
>> [laughter]
>> I was going to say there were a couple there that I just had to crack the whip on.
but it was not leroy.
it was a mr.
c-r-s.
and it worked.
it worked.
these guys, I love them both, but, yeah, you know, I just had to crack the whip and they went into place.
so that's how we get our jobs done for you guys.
and, you know, I -- somehow, you know, we were definitely unexpecting having a baby at our age.
but it happened.
everything was fine in my life.
i finished my working.
i worked through the whole entire pregnancy.
we -- dina and lynn even had a huge baby shower.
but shortly after I gave birth to my child, something was very, very wrong and I couldn't breathe anymore.
and no one understood why, but I was -- you know how the cliche goes, it's mind over matter.
i don't have time to be sick, you know.
i have to get back to my jobs, you know, I have a newborn from the womb to now, 3:00 a.m.
feedings, I don't get to take a bath for four day, that's the way it is with a newborn.
then I had my three boys at home, my working husband, there's no way.
so I just ignored it and ignored it until finally it just -- this devastating disease just stopped me in my tracks.
and, you know, I had walked in, I was running -- running an errand and I put the baby in the truck and then I had gone into get my phone and then suddenly by the time I got from the parking lot to inside, I became like very die diaphoretic in a state, vomiting and sweating profusely and I just -- I'm not used to being in a position of not having control.
i do the controlling.
whether it's my bosses or my husband or whoever, you know, I do the controlling.
and something grabbed ahold of me and took control of me and I passed out.
and I -- to be honest, all I could think of was my lord, my baby's in the truck by himself.
and it must not have been that long that I passed out and I got up, it took all the energy out of me, but I got to the truck and I was terrified, obviously.
and, you know, my husband and i, I just went to my -- our family doctor, you know, because, you know, I got a clean bill of health from my ob-gyn.
i was fine.
i was ticking and nursing and everything.
but the -- they got worried because of a pulmonary embolism.
you know, these things are just I guess routine after childbirth.
but the last time I had a child was when I was 21, and then I'm 32 now.
but, you know, they said there's nothing wrong.
i said okay, if you are sure.
but he said I think I'm going to take you to seton across the street just to be sure.
because if you have a embolism up there we need to treat it right now.
and there wasn't any, but slowly but surely I was getting very, very sick.
he let me out and I told my guys in my office get my
>> [indiscernible] ready and I'm coming back on the following Monday I was coming back to work.
and steve was going to take off and everything was ready to go and all of a sudden I -- they found a sick gallbladder.
and you don't have to live with a gallbladder.
i thought it was a very -- you know, just a very regular type of operation, very easy, from what I was told, and it's no big deal.
so I kept my p.a.f.
for the day, you know, and they just said get up and start walking around and you are fine, you know.
the thing was is that they said the most you'll need to be in here is three days, but for me, it turned out to be seven days and eight days and it was just horrible.
then my body, they let me go home one weekend and my body swelled up like to 200 pounds in like three days.
and no one could explain it to me.
and my shortness of breath was getting worse and worse so like panting.
so I went back to the hospital.
my surgeon sent me back to the hospital and my family doctor decided to ask cardiologists and all these people because no one could imagine what a young woman with a natural childbirth, a beautiful child, natural birth and is going back to work, why is this woman dying right here in front of us, you know.
and it was the most terrifying thing, you know.
and so there were g.i.
doctors, teams of doctors coming in my room.
they moved me, my bed to the -- you know, to the telemetry floor, the cardiology, and they started running batteries and batteries of tests, and, you know, my doctor, my regular doctor said I think I need to step back, you know, the big boys are going to do -- this is something that is really bad.
and it turned out that over several days, like about four days had passed and there was the next day there was just going to be two more tests that they can run, and one of them was going to have to be the worst possible news.
and so they said, you know, you might want to start calling your family and friends and things like that.
and the tests ran was to see if there was a hole in my heart.
and you know how people are saying, you know, be careful what you wish for, but my mother and I that morning prayed so hard that I -- they would find a hole in my heart.
but my destiny as changed and they diagnosed me with severe pulmonary hypertension.
and that disease is very, very rare, and I wanted to ask you do you know what pulmonary hypertension is?
no.
i didn't think so.
and in a very short form for the sake of your time, if you adopt this, I want you to know what an extraordinary amazing thing you would be doing.
when you have pulmonary hypertension, it's just the same like when you -- you know, we get older and, you know, we have high blood pressure or hypertension in the body, and we take pills to control it, right?
or you change your diet, you know, to control your hypertension or high blood pressure.
well, pulmonary hypertension is in my lungs, it attacked my lungs.
and that's an odd place to have high hypertension, okay?
and so they -- that survival of pulmonary hypertension without treatment is five years, okay?
it is such a rare disease.
and the staff said I got -- the steps that I got when I was actually, you know, diagnosed were one per one millionth person.
to get that disease.
and I was that one person that year.
so that was -- and I just had a newborn, you know.
and just I went over the edge really fast, you know.
normally it didn't happen that fast, but I was the exception to the rule because they took out a person with pulmonary hypertension and they opened me up and took out an organ, and that is not something you do.
now, granted I want you to realize that my situation is very different.
mine took me over the edge very fast with the operation, okay?
most people don't -- don't progress that quickly, you know, over months and years, as long as you were given -- you catch the disease quick enough.
and that's my message to catch the disease quick enough the longer you can live.
but for me, it turned out that I only had days to live when they realized what it was.
and they sent me home -- sent me -- once they found out, they sent me -- there's not very many pulmonary hypertension doctors because there are -- pulmonary hypertension is a very, very rare disease.
and so that one per one millionth person, I can guarantee that there's a lot more women that die that were never counted for or men.
and why I say women is because this evil, horrible, merciless disease catches women most of the time in our child bearing years.
but I can tell you that -- I know a lot of men that have it.
and what breaks my heart the most is that a lot of children have it.
and a child with pulmonary hypertension died just last week.
and so it kind of breaks my heart.
but when I have lost so many friends to pulmonary hypertension and I have always been the sickest person, you know, I have always been sickest.
i weighed toward the end like 96 pounds because mine went over the edge.
and I met my doctor in temple.
in Austin we do not have any doctors that do lung transplants at all.
just -- just do heart transplants.
and we do not have a pulmonary hypertension doctor here.
they are very few and far between.
so they sent me and they were frantically trying to get an ambulance and they finally got one and this doctor in temple decided to take my case.
and so they put me in there -- by that time I couldn't barely speak and here I go into temple at mach 5 with all of the lights on and everything and I ride there and that doctor was waiting for me.
and I asked him point blank because at seton, you know, to me the fear of the unknown is the worst fear of all, to me.
and people were looking at me at seton like my god, you've got one leg in the grave and the other one is almost there.
but this man -- I said you need to sit down and you need to tell me what's going on because I need you to tell me.
i deserve that.
and he said okay, you are extremely ill.
you have a fever and your pulmonary hypertension does not -- does not aggressive -- agress this fast, okay, so something has happened in between here.
and he said so I don't have time, I treat people with pills, but I don't have time to treat you with that.
and I said why, and he said because my time limit was that I was probably never going to leave that hospital alive.
and I said, well, how much time are you giving me?
what can I do to help?
and he said you need to give up your worries up to me because I have the worry for the both of us, I promise.
and the only thing that I can do is order this medicine, and it's like a battery-packed medicine pack that I will hook you up to.
and this medicine will shoot straight to your heart intravenously and I have to get that like now.
and this is a doctor that was just so -- he was so loving to his patients that he would even pay for it himself to keep me alive.
and so he did.
and this medicine at that point I was just all my organs had shut down, they were starting to shut down.
my liver -- my liver was just congested not just here but to all over my stomach, it's crowding everything.
and, you know, it was very clear.
and so he got that medicine as soon as he could and it started working.
one day -- because I went into a coma after that.
a comatose state.
and they told me they didn't know who or what or if I was going to wake up at all.
and that was one of the first miracles because I did wake up.
and he was shocked.
and most people have an adverse reaction to this medicine and it's called flolan.
and for me, thank heaven, it worked.
it worked because that was my only avenue.
redo you have to get organ transplants?
>> yes.
i actually opened my eyes on this November 21st, 2000 -- I don't remember, but anyway, it was most people, and I was told that I would get my life back.
but I had to survive on machines.
and I felt like a robot, you know.
because my health never got as good as everybody else in my central Texas support group.
we founded a group here in Texas and we have groups contact from all over the state.
when he realized that I was going to live, he told me I want you to forget our conversation.
you are going to live and you are going to work hard to live.
and we started our own group of support.
and -- but see, eventually most people -- I was always so jealous.
most people ended up that were on flolan, they ended up having the option of getting off.
and taking a pill.
and for me, I was so far gone that a pill would not work.
so it had to be the flolan and it was pumping every 70 seconds into my heart, so my life depended on a machine.
for me to stay alive.
and so, you know, with this machine, it was so complex.
i mean you think like cancer, taking cancer home with you to survive, this machine was so complex I had to keep it on ice.
my husband would have to mix the medicine every night.
and the more and more my heart got dependent on this machine, the more -- the easier it was.
if the battery ran out, if I forgot to change batteries, I would die.
and I let the machine get warm, I would die within minutes.
if I -- you know, forgot to exchange the patch, I would die.
the dynamics around it were so horrible, and believe me, you know, we're only human, so steve and I -- it happened sometimes.
>> so the group is meeting here, ms.
roberts?
>> I'm sorry?
>> so your group is meeting here in Austin?
>> yes.
and I am -- yes.
and that's why I was -- I um reached out to be, judge, because my health is failing again.
i barely had a chance to live.
and -- when I talked to alicia, I said man, I bet I am probably the biggest spender of our retiree insurance, you know.
i mean it was very expensive because the -- the whole time I -- the medicine would get higher and higher and higher and more little vials to mix with medicine.
and those vials were like $400 apiece.
okay?
>> all right.
>> but we don't -- we don't put a price on why.
and so what we ended up doing was -- was doing that, but see, my invitations right now, I have always -- I survived, I'm the only one and I was always the sickest and my friends have died and I just told them they promised that if I did survive that I was going to do and live as best that I could to save them.
and so today -- and that's why I did come to you because three of you up there, you know my integrity.
i worked directly for you and I did --
>> we will try to have --
>> and so I recommended, you know, I thought, well, okay, I can -- I can take -- I'll take any building that you can, I don't know if it's thousands of people, but I'm asked all over this country and around the world, people from austria and canada and I have no way of knowing that they find out my tragedy has made people -- I don't know how to say it, this made people want to talk to me and put some type of meaning back into themselves and keep them going.
even as much pain as they are in.
i get cards, judge, every week.
even -- even two or three times a week.
and so I don't let them down.
so then these people all over Austin are asking me and they invite me to come and speak in their prayer group and then they find themselves saying, look, I don't have any reason to complain.
you know.
and so I thought, well, I get very tired and I -- I did have to get on that transplant list or I was going to die.
it did not work for me forever.
i wanted to request.
>> let me.
the importance of this is to establish an annual ongoing awareness and November is national pulmonary hypertension month and this would coincide with November, we'll have a proclamation drafted for you for the first Tuesday in November.
and liza's request is in her passion to get the word out about this disease and, you know, the national people say it's one to two per million.
and liza has been only one of five triple transplants in the united states of which only four are still living.
>> no, leroy.
all of them have died except for two of us.
in the country thankfully there are no more because now they have come up -- thank you jesus, they have come up with new medicine that I didn't have back then.
and I can't believe it, but, you know, when I was forced to retire I was, like, 32.
that's when I had the baby.
and now I'm going to be 40 and I flew all around the country, judge, just to find a hospital that would put me on their list.
and I flew over to missouri.
they were supposed to be the best in the country, and they plain out told me we're not putting you on our list.
you're too far gone.
i mean just so soulless like that to be, and my husband and I all thought we were just going to throw up.
and -- but we persevered.
all the time my health was failing.
so what I want to do is -- and a lot of times -- this might sound corny, but I've
>> [indiscernible] because I'm in a very good relationship with god because I met my death in the face twice.
and they saved me and brought me back.
but I -- they said if I could, and you -- if you do this for me, I will be able to instead of going to all these prayer groups and stuff, I will be able to bring these people together through a mass mailing.
and I'm not just talking here through Austin, the sick people.
i'm talking about all over this state to get to this group of people.
>> the 9th annual race is in palo alto, california.
there's a series all over the country in October and November.
>> I know.
yeah, they do their own all over the country they do them.
and that's wonderful because it gives these sick people a will, you know, to get to that finish line.
me personally, I was so sick that I could never make to it the finish line.
but that doesn't change the fact that these people, congestive heart failure.
what that means, and I have a very good friend and he happens to be our medical director.
his name is dr.
ed ross.
and he was a really good friend to me.
and after they found out that I was going to survive, one night I just ignored and forgot and was so tired that at times twice we had to call e.m.s., okay?
because my doctor was in temple.
and I'm here and I'm dying in congestive heart failure like that.
and I called ed -- no, we called 911.
and this is how uneducated these people are.
>> ms.
roberts, let us try to help you.
we don't know what size facility you need today, do we?
>> well --
>> well, if you adopt this, then we will know.
but, you know --
>> okay.
>> we believe that chair king would be more than sufficient for the first annual and we would recommend to you that -- that the Commissioners court waive the rental fee if possible on the chair king for November the 7th.
and to the extent that you can waive any or all of the utility costs, it would be appreciated.
i can tell you that any number of us around are going to be personally donating to the cause and making sure that we get off to a good start on this.
so there was a question about the chairs and the tables that roger el khoury sent you an e-mail about.
if there is any way he could work with us, if not real use outside rental of the chairs and table.
>> is that possible?
>> yeah, it is.
i do think we ought to generate enough money to cover -- looks like cud towed cl fee.
we pay city of Austin utilities.
but we have mr.
nellis's word he will work to try to generate that.
according to mr.
el khoury's e-mail here, the utility bill is 150.
if we could generate a little more to generate part of the custodial, leroy, that will help.
>> we will promise you that we will cover the direct cost of the utilities and as much of the 175 for custodial as possible.
>> I would like to move approval.
>> second.
>> and that is basically for us to waive the -- waive rent, try to cover the cost to the county.
>> try to cut direct costs as far as the cost of the utilities by the city of Austin.
>> I'm sorry, so -- waive it for the chair king, the venue.
>> yes.
>> and then we need to come up with the money for custodial and chairs and tables?
>> I will --
>> mr.
nellis is going to worry about that for you.
we've got him on record.
>> right.
we will assure you that we will be able to -- to cover the utility costs and make an effort to cover if not all a portion of the custodial, and we raise the money to either working with roger or to an outside vendor to take care of the table and chairs.
i will give you my word that that will happen.
>> the motion covers all of that.
>> to the extent that we can assist knew getting out the word to those who ought to know bit and need the information, we'll try to do that also.
>> well, yeah, and I have also applied, you know, to the national association.
>> okay.
>> I've applied to grants and so forth.
and, you know, unfortunately I -- I don't know, you might think it's -- I think it's bad, but it helps people.
i have -- I have become a medical phenomenon because I did have to end up getting a heart and two new lungs, and that is unheard of.
and then having to survive that is unheard of.
and they don't do that anymore, thank god, because even when I was dying in my death bed, I was selling bracelets.
i thought if lance armstrong can do this, I can too.
so ours -- our colors are lilac like this and it says p.h.
in big letters and I will do it again if I have to.
>> well, you certainly --
>> but I appreciate your help.
>> you look a lot healthier and energetic today than a few years ago when I last saw you.
>> I was dying at that time and I'm going to -- I'm going to be okay.
my health is failing again, I'm not going the lie to you, but I need to do this.
because there are very many sick people out there.
>> well, we're glad that you are shared part of your story with us and with our audience.
>> and I will have a manuscript at the fundraiser that I shared with the world conference in dallas.
these people come in from all over the world to hear presentations.
but they really wanted mine.
they think -- my psychiatrist thinks that my story is fascinating, which makes me feel uncomfortable, but if it helps people, that's fine, but it's not me.
it's something bigger through me that they see.
and they want me to tell them.
that's why I want to get them all here in one place so they feel better.
because something in their eyes changes when I talk to them.
>> and we'll try to help you.
>> I'm so appreciative.
thank you.
>> leroy and I are going to exercise a little more too and try to be healthy.
>> did you take a vote on that, judge?
>> not yet.
are you rushing us?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you.
thank you.
>> good to see you again.
>> thank you.
>> take care.
>> you got one of our major champions in your corner in mr.
nellis.
>> I know.
>> and we'll work with him.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, judge.
>> thank you, liza.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:22 PM
