This ordeal began with a routine procedure, or at least that’s what the specialist called it.  An endoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure used to evaluate the interior surfaces of an organ by inserting a small scope in the body.  Through the scope, one is able to see lesions.  Most are relatively painless and only associated with mild discomfort, though patients are sedated for most procedures.  Complications are rare but may include perforation of the organ being inspected by the instrument.  In this case the complication happened, Oda just didn’t know it at the time, nor apparently did the specialist.

June 10, 2005 is a day not soon to be forgotten by Oda Lomax or her daughters Carla and Carmen.  That afternoon following the endoscopy, she went home to recuperate over the weekend.  She was uncomfortable and the pain far more severe than she had been led to anticipate.  A call to the specialist to report it later that afternoon was met with “that’s normal” and a prescription for pain medication.  By Sunday, she knew something was desperately wrong.  The pain was unbearable and Oda decided to check herself into the hospital emergency room.  That’s the last thing she remembers.

Oda Lomax went into a coma and has no recollection of anything beyond going to the emergency room.  Her intestine had been perforated and bacteria, normal inside of the intestine, was leaking into her body.  She was being severely poisoned from the inside and her body’s natural defenses were unable to keep up with the spread of the infection.  She had pancreatitis, which itself can be deadly without the spread of the bacteria, which was attacking her from within.  Oda’s organs began to shut down and her daughters, Carla and Carmen, found themselves in a position no daughter wants, that of making life or death decisions for their comatose mother who will die shortly if dangerous surgery isn’t performed.  The attending emergency room physician told Carla and Carmen if their mother had waited an additional hour, she would be dead. 

Their mother still might die and it was a certainty if the bacteria poisoning her body was not removed immediately.

On the danger scale of one to ten, a quadruple bypass is a five; Oda’s surgery was a ten.  With tubes attached to her sides and an incision from sternum to pelvis, pumps began removing the huge volume of waste that had accumulated inside of her.  Portions of her pancreas had dissolved, simply gone, and she faced several surgeries to repair damage done internally following this one, which was just to save her life.  Her small body was swollen unrecognizably far out of proportion and she was on life support.  Carla and Carmen did not know if their mother would survive, but they knew that they had to make the best critical decisions that they could for their mother to help her to do just that.

She remained in a coma and on life support for nine weeks.  Carla and Carmen had been told that their mother’s brain had shut down and was functioning at the level of a premature baby’s.  Doctors could not speculate if she would or would not wake up again.    

Oda, a diminutive, attractive, active, health conscious woman always adhered to a strictly vegetarian diet.   She was in the best possible physical condition that she could be prior to the endoscopy and now, knowing that their mother would not be back to work in the near term, if ever, Carla called her mother’s employer, Howard Lein, owner of RE/MAX Excalibur.  To her surprise, fully expecting Howard to tell her to move her mother’s things out of her office, she heard just the opposite.  That was Oda’s office and it would be waiting for her when she returned.  There were no fees in her absence either. 

Oda Lomax finally awoke and not realizing she had been in a hospital and in a coma for nine weeks, had no idea what had happened.  She also couldn’t speak, sit up, stand up or walk.  She had been still for so long that muscles shrank, forgot how to move,or tissues were so severely injured that they had not yet healed.  Now she faced a wheelchair, speech and physical therapy as well as more surgeries to repair injuries to her body from the bacterial poisoning and fever as well as the numerous complications that followed.  Oda remained hospitalized for three and a half months, but gratefully she was alive.

In December 2005 her fellow agents at RE/MAX Excalibur heard about Oda’s survival and at the Company Holiday Party both Bourdeau and Lein gave a tribute to Oda, which brought tears to the eyes of her peers.  Fellow RE/MAX  agents, knowing that one of their own had endured such pain and horrendous suffering, knowing that her family had heard the brutal odds talk from the doctor and that Oda had overcome those odds, were deeply moved.

Kris Anderson, one of those RE/MAX agents, was present at that December meeting and she was on the STAAR Night Committee.  STAAR Night 2006 was the initial vehicle put in place to raise money for the Hutch Fund, a fund established by the Association to assist Realtor and Affiliate members of the Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors in times of catastrophic crisis. 

After hearing of Oda’s survival, Kris knew that she had to do something and at the next meeting of the STAAR Night Committee she began her crusade because as Kris said,  “Everyone needs allies, especially when the odds are against you, people who will do something that perhaps you never thought of before.”   There began a name and a face to a cause. Oda Lomax became the first recipient of the Hutch Fund.  Oda and her daughters, Carla and Carmen want to thank the Hutch Fund Committee, the STAAR Night Committee 2006 and the talented performers who shared their talent to make a successful fundraiser out of the first time event.  

The STAAR Night Committee 2008 is already in place.  Their goal is to raise $100,000 to benefit the fund.  If you, or someone you know who is a member of our Association, has encountered an unforeseen catastrophic event or health crisis, go to the top of this page , click on the "Application" button, Print out that page and submit an application form.  All inquiries are kept completely confidential.