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Times Record, June 2003:
Simply Barb's cookbook for sale locally
By Robert Blackford/The Times Record Editor
"Simply Barb's, An AAT Woman with Courage" is what the cover on Mercer County's newest cookbook reads but it is something more than a cookbook. For former Times Record assistant editor Barb Mayhew it's an ingredient in the recipe for a new life. Mayhew went to the doctor two years ago and came home on oxygen after being diagnosed with Alpha1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Now she waits, for a bilateral lung transplant, her lungs at 15 percent of what should be their normal capacity. Her bottle of oxygen close at hand, inhibiting her but enabling her to move around.
The cookbook opens with the simple recipes of a child, Mayhew's four year old granddaughter Madison gives her take on good eating with "Grapes": 'I like 'em cold. Get in Great Grandma's refrigerator and steal the grapes. Wash them and put some in a bowl, eat them when she isn't looking.' "You don't really want to try all of her recipes," warns Mayhew. The first one calls for baby powder. I think she meant baking powder." Most people using a cookbook to help fund a bilateral lung transplant might be a little skittish about the first recipe calling for white baby powder, but for the people who know her that's what makes "Simply Barb" unique. Madison's entries into the cookbook were not planned but when the little girl came up to her grandmother and asked, "You want my 'cipes' don't you grandma?' who could leave them out. A photo of Madison appears with the recipes for cookies, grapes, pizza and Spaghetti O's with meatballs. The cookbook is lined with 290 recipes (only one with baby powder) collected by Mayhew from friends and family from at least eight different states. Also included are many recipes Mayhew used herself during her many years as a caterer. Mayhew operated a catering business; Barb's Catering, in Mercer County for several years and traveled as far away as Kewanee to work. Mayhew remembers: "It was homecoming dinner in Kewanee at Wethersfield High School five or six years ago. Autumn Kuster, my sister-in-law's daughter, my niece-in-law' was in charge of it and her brother volunteered me. I got him back. I made him help. He said, 'This is not fun.' We served 140 people."
Mayhew has the odd number of 341 cookbooks to sell. "I ordered 300, they added 10 percent and threw in additional 11 copies." She is selling them for $10 piece at The Times Record office and Farmers State Bank. The bank sold out of their first batch the day they were delivered and had to call back and ask for more. Mayhew said Laura McGinnis sold 60 during Rhubarb Fest at the United Methodist Church and Mercer County Hospital. Barb also takes orders by phone at 582-2168. They are $12 if she has to ship them. Besides Madison's Delights, the cookbook lists Appetizers and Beverages, Soups and Salads, Vegetables and Side Dishes, Main Dishes, Meat and Poultry, Breads and Rolls, Desserts, Cookies and Candy and This and That as other headings in the table of contents. While most of the categories are self-explaining 'This and That' gives readers helpful hints to homeowners and cooks. Such as: For a clogged shower head, boil it for 15 minutes in a mixture of 1/2 cup vinegar and one quart water. Also noted is a treatment for skunk odor.
Mayhew joked that she was thinking about starting to rate hospital emergency rooms she has been in. "I've become a connoisseur." I've been to Mercer County, Ottawa, Loyola and Peoria." About her favorite Mayhew said, "I like them all as long as they let me out." The trips to different doctors all have one thing in common according to Mayhew. "They always have to take two x-rays of my lungs. My lung is so long it folds over on itself and it appears as a mass. That's why I scare all the doctors in Illinois. They have to redo the x-rays every time I go in." Mayhew is fifth on the waiting list for her blood type and body size. She is in the process of moving her listing from a hospital in St. Louis to one in Chicago. In the next few weeks she will be moving in with her sister, Nancy Rumler, near Chicago. When the appropriate donor comes she will receive the transplant at Loyola of Chicago Hospital. "She was willing to sell her house, quit her job and move to St. Louis for me," said Mayhew. "What a sister." For the past 16 months Mayhew has been staying with her mother. While the bilateral lung transplant won't cure Mayhew, the disease took 45 years to get as bad as it is now. The new lungs will allow her to live a productive life. She hasn't been able to work since leaving The Times Record in 2002. When she does something the oxygen level in her blood drops to the low 80's. Just sitting still it is about 96. When the oxygen count drops it adds to the stress on the other organs of her body, including her heart.
Since Mayhew was diagnosed her mother, sister Judy, brother Darryl and niece Diane have tested positive for the gene which causes the disease but it hasn't progressed to a dangerous level in them yet. It is something they will have to watch the rest of their lives. Alpha1 can affect the lungs, liver or skin and in some cases multiple organs.
Times Record, April 2003: Recipes needed for Barb Mayhew fundraiser
Area cooks are encouraged to submit their favorite recipes for the BarbMayhew benefit cookbook. Proceeds from the sale of the cookbook will go to Mayhew, of Aledo, who is on a two-year waiting list for a lung transplant. Recipes of all kinds are needed for the cookbook, according to benefit organizers. Low fat, low calorie recipes will be included in the cookbook as well as hints and do's and don'ts for people, like Mayhew, who have Alpha1-Antitrypsin (AAT) Deficiency. AAT is a hereditary disorder that results in low or no levels of a substance in the blood called alpha1-antitrypsyn, a protein made in the liver. In individuals with AAT, the protein can't pass out of the liver as it should. Among the protein's many functions is protecting delicate body tissue from being destroyed by tissue destroying enzyme called neutrophil elastase. Some people with AAT develop liver problems, others like Mayhew develop severe lung problems. Fund raisers are ongoing and proceeds from the recipe book will help pay for the lung transplant.
Recipes can be emailed to bmayhew2002@yahoo.com or sent to Barb Mayhew at 1603 135th Ave., Aledo, Ill., 61231. Recipes also may be dropped off at the Times Record office in Aledo. The deadline for recipes is Nov. 21.
Times Record, June 2002: Fundraising campaigns are now underway for former Times Record assistant editor Barb Mayhew. "Friends of Barb'' will host a four-person best-ball golf tournament on June 29 at Hawthorn Ridge Golf Course in Aledo. Tee times start at noon. The cost is $50 a person which includes 18 holes of golf, a golf cart and hog roast at the West End Bar and Grill in Joy. Contact Brad Vipond at (309)584-4521 to reserve a position in the tournament. Prizes awarded in the tournament include a hole-in-one prize of a car, vacation, golf clubs and cash prizes. Donations will be accepted for the meal for those who don't golf. A 50/50 drawing will also be held. Mayhew has Alpha1-Antitrypsin (AAT) Deficiency, the most prevalent, potentially lethal hereditary disorder among Caucasians in the U. S. according to the Alpha One Foundation. The disorder results in low or no levels of a substance in the blood called alpha1-antitrypsin, a protein made in the liver. In individuals with AAT deficiency the protein can't pass out of the liver as it should. Among the protein's many functions is protecting delicate body tissue from being destroyed by a tissue destroying enzyme called neutrophil elastase. Some people with AAT Deficiency develop liver problems; some like Mayhew develop severe lung problems, while others are not affected at all.
"In my case the enzyme has eaten away at my lungs,'' Mayhew said. "Because of it, my lungs are enlarged and one has flipped over on itself.'' While Mayhew was born with the disorder, the 46-year-old Aledo woman wasn't diagnosed until last summer. Like many victims of AAT Deficiency, her breathing problems were attributed to asthma. In June 2001, Mayhew was having an exceptionally hard time breathing and went to the emergency room where doctors performed a variety of tests including x-rays and a CAT scan. Test results showed what appeared to be a collapsed lung and she was transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria. During a series of tests, which revealed the lung had actually folded onto itself, a medical student suggested the blood test that would confirm Mayhew had AAT Deficiency.
"I don't' know why he suggested it,'' she said. "But the test came back at very low levels, the lower it is the worse it is.'' Family members have been tested and her mother and sister are carriers, but do not have the disorder. More tests revealed that Mayhew's lungs had deteriorated to the point where she has only 15 percent capacity. Her condition qualifies her for a double lung transplant. She has been placed on a list, but it's a two-year wait. During that time, Mayhew must prepare, physically, emotionally and financially. Doctors at Barnes-Jewish Memorial Hospital in St. Louis, where the transplant will be performed, have said she should be able to work out for 30 minutes. Twice a week she works out at pulmonary rehabilitation department at Community Memorial Hospital in Monmouth and once a week she is given prolastin intravenously to help maintain what elasticity is left in her lungs. The three trips to Monmouth each week are only part of her regimen. Mayhew takes up to eight Albuterol Nebulizer treatments each day and is armed with several inhalers, along with an arsenal of other medications. Oxygen tanks have become constant companions; she can't go anywhere without them. It's a difficult transition for someone like Mayhew, who thrived on activity and had to be in the "middle of things.'' She left her job at the newspaper, closed her catering business and nights out with friends are over. A bout of flu or a common cold could kill her.
"This has been a big change for me,'' she said. "I started working when I was 14-years-old and have done so until now.'' About four months prior to the transplant she must be within two hours of the hospital. "Eventually I will be given a beeper...'' she said. "When the beeper goes off I have two hours to get to the hospital, a feat that is impossible from Aledo, even if I was flown to St. Louis. So I will have to relocate closer to the St. Louis area.'' After surgery she will remain in St. Louis for a lengthy recuperation period during which time she will be monitored daily. She will also have to have someone with her at all times. "After the transplant I will still need to stay close to the hospital, because I will be monitored even more closely and watched for rejection. Blood work and lung functions will have to be measured daily until the proper dose of anti-rejection medications is reached. It's a lot to ask someone to give up a year or two of their life for you,'' she said. "But they have said someone will have to be with me. '' Right now she is not sure if she will have insurance to help with the cost of the surgery. Even if it does, it's going to take more money than she has to pay living expenses.
Mayhew has been in contact with several organizations including a national transplant foundation, which will help set up funds. Meanwhile friends and relatives are planning fundraisers and an account has been set up in her name at the Farmers State Bank at 201 So. College Ave. in Aledo.
On-going fundraisers include a raffle for an afghan and a quarter of beef that have been donated by friends. "I can't believe the care and concern that has been given to me and my family,'' she said. "I have the best fund-raising committee that anybody could ever hope to have. They are so energetic and efficient and I am a very lucky girl to have them as my friends. There is no way I can ever repay everybody for all their help.'' Corespondent Becky Terrill contributed to this story.
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