Lea De Mae - Prague, 09/2003
News | Bio | Lea's Sculpture | GBM | Condolences | Forum | Chatroom | Contact
Lea De Mae - Prague, 09/2003 |
Lea De MaeHer tragic illness, |
|
Dear fans and friends of Lea De Mae, hello everybody! This spot of webspace is planned to be the first official personal website of Lea De Mae. Negotiations regarding this issue were made in July 2004. Shortly before the first shoots for this site were supposed to start, Lea De Mae had to go to the hospital unexpectedly because of headaches and problems with her left eye and movements on the left side of her body. After Lea's friends urged the doctors to make a CT and MRI, they indeed found a tumour close to her basal ganglias. Immediately, brain surgery was carried out. According to many German specialists who saw the results on MRI, this operation was performed amazingly well. All this happened in the middle of August. 4 weeks later, a course of radio therapy started and another 2 weeks after that, a course of chemotherapy (Temodal) followed. Both have been finished a few days ago. Another MRI will be made on the 4th November 2004. Thanks to Lea De Mae's former manager Oldrich Widman from Dream Entertainment, a "Lea De Mae Medical Fund" was founded with the kind support of famous Silvia Saint. Ever since then, many people around the world have kindly sent money to support lovely Lea De Mae. One week ago, when Lea was at home for the weekend, she was in a relatively good mood and constitution. Lea spent two days at home together with her closest friends, among them her sister, Lucie who mainly takes care of her, and moviestar Monica Sweetheart, with whom she often worked together and with whom she liked to party. After that weekend, Lea went back to hospital for another round of radiation therapy. Since last Wednesday Lea's at home. But Lea doesn't feel well right now; she suffers from heavy pains in her back and in her head. Last night, the emergency doctor had to be called. We're currently looking for a proper pain therapy, but according to Lucie, the Czech doctors do not seem to be able to deal with that. In the meantime Lea De Mae also suffers from the fatigue syndrome, she stays in bed all day and doesn't want to see anybody, not even her closest friends. As Pics-and-Models is located both in Czech Republic and in Germany, we were able to contact many clinics and specialists mainly in Germany but also in Switzerland, Great Britain, USA and Australia. The problem is the unfavourable location of the tumour. Because it lays close to very important parts of her brain, it could not be cut out completely. What's even worse: this kind of cancer is able to keep growing. Another MRI in 4 weeks will reveal the current situation and also whether Lea might need a second therapy or not. If yes, Lea maybe can participate in a clinical trial, which would be free in Germany. However, if Lea doesn't meet the criteria, we have to look for a solution which could be very expensive. Since we don't know what the future has in store for us, we think that it was a good idea of Olda Widman & Silvie Saint to raise a medical fund for Lea De Mae. Soon we want to publish a list of all donors as well as the current amount of money that has come in so far. A "thank you" note from Lea De Mae to all of her fans, friends and helpers all over the world is in the process of being translated and will be published here, too. We'll keep you updated on everything what happens regarding the situation of adorable Lea De Mae. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 2nd November 2004 As I'm writing these lines, my eyes are filled with tears. It's one of the most depressing moments when something very sad happens that you cannot influence. Yesterday night the emergency doctor had to be called again. Lea's pains were so extreme that the first two doses of medicine showed no effect. Lea didn't sleep at all, but went from one room to the other, not knowing how to get rid of her headaches. Today, her sister Lucie brought her back into hospital where Lea didn't want to go, because it's old and ugly and the elderly patients around her are dying. Lea De Mae and her sister arrived at 2 pm, but they had to wait 2 hours(!) until a doctor finally came to take care of her. Because of this dramatic situation a new CT will be made already tomorrow. I will go there too, take the results as soon as they are available and send it to all the specialists I've contacted so far. I know I'm not alone; I know that many fans and friends, colleagues, producers and photographers would like to take and spread Lea's pain and illness all over ourselves. Thus, a little pain for all of us would be an excellent relief for Lea De Mae. But Lea, who brought so much joy into the lives of so many people, carries her heavy weight solely. We are standing beside her, helplessly and not being able to ease her pain - with tears in our eyes. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 2nd/3rd November 2004 Yesterday I visited Lea in the hospital. When I came into the room and stepped up to her bed. As if she had to excuse herself, Lea said: "I thought I would be better now", and with a shrug of her shoulders she added: "But I'm not." The way she uttered these words revealed to me kind of a of stoic resignation - bowed of course, but not broken. Maybe Lea draws strength from the fact, that she was a top perfomance athlete (Olympic high diver) before. Earlier I've mentioned the "old and ugly" hospital Lea De Mae has to stay in. So I took my camera with me yesterday, just to give you an impression of it. Lucie and her friend Iva have been visiting Lea like each day. They brought her something to eat: bread with bacon and eggs and mayonnaise, as well as some curd pastry. After about 5 weeks she's fed up with the hospital meals as we'd be too in her place, since it's always the same: spaghetti or potatoes with always the same sausage. And one can easily imagine that the food tastes like the hospital looks like:
At least the doctors finally found the right mixture of medicaments against her pain. "Well, they are doing something", Lea says, "but it always takes so long". The CT which the doctors wanted to do today couldn't be done. They didn't know that an MRI is planned for tomorrow. The reason behind the lack of information is the fact that Lea's brain cancer is treated in a special hospital in Prague, but that she has to lay in another because there are not enough beds. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 4th November 2004 Thursday was a day full of suspense. Lea De Mae had to go into another hospital where they have the facilities of making MRIs. Lucie and Iva accompanied her all day long. Finally in the evening they were handed out the results. Immediately after that Lucie called me and we all met at my place near to the old and famous Charles Bridge. We are not familiar with these kind of photos, so we can't say whether they show something good or something bad. But her right hemisphere really looks very much like a messy children's room. I stayed up all night to convert the files, to enhance their quality and to send them to all the specialists I'm in contact with via a very slow internet connection. Lucie on her part does the same. Now we have to sit and wait to see what the doctors will tell us. Also today Lea's doctors will let us know what they've found out on the basis of the MRI. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 5th November 2004 Last Friday the German doctors and specialists of different clinics and universities told me what they see on the MRI pictures: a ventricle in the right hemisphere grows wider and wider, because the spinal water cannot flow out as it should. The ventricle now presses on important structures of the brain. Therefore a ventricle drainage should be created or the brainwater should be led into her stomach via a little hose. While this information was delivered from German specialists already on Friday, we have still no information about Lea's current health situation from the doctors in Prague, nor do we have any informations about what the doctors are planning to do. By the way: it's Monday evening now!  Sunday, 11-7-2004 - Lea's hospital lays on the hill (behind the trees). When I saw Lea De Mae in the hospital yesterday, she still suffered from pain. I asked her: "What did the doctors tell you about the MRI?" - "Nothing. The doctors don't talk to me." I noticed that Lea's left eye rolled up from time to time without intention, her left leg and the little finger of her left hand shivered without intention, her left arm and face were slightly paralysed. She couldn't walk to the toilet without help anymore. "I'm afraid", Lea said, "I'm afraid." I'm not a specialist, but my impression is, that we see the results of the growing ventricle! I'm wondering whether it's normal to do nothing in similar cases or what happens. When Lucie asked the doctors about Lea's situation, they only told her, that they already do what they can do. Without further explanations. Unfortunately I don't speak Czech and I'm not in the position to influence anything. I can only get informations from Germany, about what the doctors here COULD do. But I cannot force the Czech doctors to become active. As far as Lucie told me, there are two doctors, who are responsible for Lea's treatment. One of them is the specialist who obviously did the amazingly good surgery. The other was treating her with radio and chemo therapy afterwards. But both of them are on holidays now. They have no substitution, and they are not reachable. Neither per eMail, nor per telephone. One of them comes back on Wednesday. In the meantime nothing happens in regard of helping Lea! But a light of hope appeared at the horizon as well. Due to never ending activities of some true Lea De Mae fans, Larry Flint's company HUSTLER finally got in touch with Lucie. They got her number from Monica Sweetheart*. It seems that they really want to help. Lucie thinks that it would be the best to let Lea be treated in some very good hospital in Germany. The money of the donors would be needed for this. To receive money from other people who want to help her almost seems embarrassing to Lea De Mae. She mentioned, that if she doesn't need the money for her own treatment anymore, she wants to give the rest to a foundation which cares for people with the same illness. This again reveals Lea De Mae's modest and kind character to me! *Just to be prepared for similar cases in the future, Lucie asked me to declare, that each person who wants to personally get in touch with her on the phone, can get her number from me, as soon as he can prove that he's serious. Therefore please make sure that you send me your full name, address and telephone number. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 8th November 2004 A British specialist in Liverpool told me today that on the pictures of Lea De Mae's MRI he discerns a large tumour cyst in Lea's right hemisphere, which should be deflated soon. In the meantime, what Lucie tells me gets more and more grotesque and is simply unbelievable: the doctors in her hospital say that they cannot do more than giving Lea medicaments against her pain, until the doctor who is responsible for Lea's treatment is back from holiday. This will not be on Wednesday (see above) but only in two weeks! According to doctors in Germany whom I'm in contact with, this is completely unacceptable. Either he has to come back from holidays or he has to designate a substitution! Lea's health situation is getting worse and worse and can be limiting if she will not be treated soon. Therefore at present we're communicating with German clinics in regard to bringing Lea abroad very quickly. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 9th November 2004 "Still in Czech hospital - severe pains" I'm writing these lines impressed by the experience of seeing a former lovely young sportive and brave lady going through toils and tortures. While a couple of days ago her comment was "I'm like a child" with a slight smile in her face, when I spoon-fed her, she seemed like a baby today. Her mother was with her yesterday and today from early morning to late evening. When Lea squirms in her bed with endless headaches, it's driving me into helpless rage and sadness. Why is she not in Germany in the meantime? I don't know. I had the phone in my hand and I was talking to German clinics on Wednesday afternoon. There are 4 clinics which I was told are belonging to the best in regard to treating brain cancer and not too far away from Prague: Dresden, Tübingen, Munich and Regensburg. They e.g. carry out cyst punctuations without any problems. Staying there for one day would cost about 400 to 500 Euros. As Lea is not a German citizen she would have to pay for 20 days in advance. Additionally it would be necessary to transport Lea by medical helicopter because she's too weak for other alternatives. But at the same time when I was doing these calls, Lucie sent me an sms and told me that Lea finally would be transferred to another hospital in Prague where they decide what they're gonna do. I was satisfied with this information, since it would be the best solution: Lea would not have to suffer from a long distance transportation. Also, I was told that they have a "gamma knife" there, which is a revolutionary instrument. Czech citizens paid for it. At last, after waiting for so many endless days and sleepless nights, there will be some relief for Lea De Mae! However, when I was in the hospital yesterday, Lea still was there. Her mother told me that her transfer will take place only tomorrow. So I went there today (which was tomorrow yesterday) and Lea STILL was there. This time her mother has been told that Lea will not be transferred herself, but at first only her medical papers (MRI). Transfer of Lea is planned for Friday, which is tomorrow. I don't want to impeach anyone, I'm just telling everybody what I see and I'm trying to be as close to reality as possible. I am not a doctor and I can't decide whether this is international medical treatment standard (which I guess Lea has a right for!) or not: Lea's mother asked the doctors why they haven't done anything for so long while Lea showed neurological symptoms and was suffering from severe pains. Their answer was: within 10 days after radiation and chemo therapy nothing could be done in any case. If this is true, I don't know why the MRI was made already one week ago? It doesn't seem logical to me why the doctors put their decision about what they're gonna do on the basis of MRI results which are 7 days old? This is what I try to ask the doctors tomorrow. Which scares me a little bit is that still everybody seems to wait for this well-known specialist with highest reputation, who did Lea's first operation, but who is on holidays right now. This will be my second question: where is he, when does he come back or is he willing to interrupt his holidays - for the sake of Lea De Mae's life?! By the way: yesterday evening Olda Widman (Dream Entertainment) and I were talking with each other until deep into he night. He also seems to be very affected by Lea's illness and he promised further help especially when it comes to questions like how could Lea be transferred into a German hospital or how more donors could be motivated to help Lea on the financial part. He also knows many important people in Czech Republic which could be of some help on informal levels. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 11th November 2004 "New MRI today - medical equipment not usable over weekends" Here are the latest news, in short, because my notebook battery is running out of power. Lea's mother and I are at the hospital where Lea De Mae is going to be transferred today. However, because the MRI equipment in this "target hospital" is broken, she had to be transported to a third hospital where a new MRI can be made. Lucie accompanied her. Now Lea De Mae is here. She doesn't want to see anybody and is in a very bad condition. I had a longer talk with one of the responsible doctors. I wanted to know, why for about one full week the doctors didn't react. He explained, that a circle of about 6 specialists are coming together twice a month to discuss the most complicated medical cases. Lea's case is one of them. But when Lea went to hospital because of her severe headaches almost two weeks ago, the last meeting had just taken place. Therefore she had to wait until yesterday, when these doctors came together again. They decided to make another MRI (which was done a couple of minutes ago) and then quickly make a ventricle drainage. In Germany this would happen today or tomorrow. But we're in Czech Republic. The friendly doctor couldn't expain why, but said it's simply like that: they CANNOT use the stereotactic equipment which they need for the important ventricle drainage on weekends. It's only available from Monday to Friday!!!! Lucie is crying and completely desperated and so is her mother. Furthermore, the doctors have to perform the operation on Monday without this highly respected specialist, who comes back from holidays only on thursday. The only positive information I could get was, that finally Lea De Mae can be treated more effectively against her pains. This weekend Lea De Mae needs a guardian angel and a lot of positive thoughts from all her fans and friends around the globe! Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 12th November 2004 "Health condition slighly better - dangerous shunt insertion yesterday" Dear friends and fans of Lea De Mae, I didn't feel like writing an update yesterday at all. In the late morning I've got a phone call from Lucie, Lea would gonna have her operation already today (yesterday). This was surprising because I was told that the stereotactic equipment is not available over weekends. I quickly went into the hospital. This one lays only a few minutes away from where I live. Her parents were there, Lucie and later a couple of her closest friends arrived quickly. We didn't know exactly what happened, but we knew it would be extremely dangerous. (One of the doctors revealed to me later, that he didn't want to do it, because the risk was 50/50). While Lea De Mae was transported into the operating room, we were allowed to accompany her only for a little while. But our minds stayed with her all the time until she was brought back. After two hours which seemed to us to be much longer, our main questions were: would she awake from narcosis? Yes, she did! Would she be able to speak? Yes, she was! Would she be able to move? Yes, she was! We shed tears of enjoyment because of three times "YES"! But our water of joy dried very soon, when we were told from the doctors, that this WAS NOT the surgery they still plan for Monday. They "only" inserted a shunt in order to let the dammed up spinal water flow out, thus releasing pressure and headaches. They still need to make a ventricle drainage and at the same time try to find out the reason for the accumulation of the spinal water. Problem number 1 is still the large eudema. Therefore Lea gets the highest doses (I think Fortecortin) which is possible. If its effect is too low, the doctors have to wait again 2 more days for installing the drainage. Yesterday Lea De Mae was very weak and STILL suffered from most severe pains - close to what a human being can stand. Almost none of us will have ever experienced such tortures! Today (Sunday) she's in a slightly better condition. "Don't be afraid, we all take care of you", I told her. "I know", she answered, "thanks. I must sleep." Sleep is what she wasn't able to do for a couple of days/nights now, because of her aches. Again there appears a little light at the horizon: this distinguished doctor, whom some people consider "the best in Europe" in his field, cuts off 4 days of is holidays in Sidney and will lead the operation tomorrow morning! Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 14th November 2004 "Lea De Mae survived two dangerous operations last weekend" Lea De Mae's guardian angel had a busy weekend. But Lea herself also did a good job and proved to be a hard fighter. With brain damages like her's, her doctors say, most people would be in a much worse condition than Lea is today. Yesterday, only a short time after her surgery, Lea started to make jokes about the fact that she halluzinates from time to time. Lea: "I see fishes, dogs and all kind of animals hanging around there!" Monica Sweetheart, who was in Spain for "The Private Life of ...", is now back in Czech Republic and I saw her for the first time after two weeks. She was shocked when she learned from Lucie that Lea was undergoing surgeries in hospital again. Suddenly I remembered that I incidentally got acquainted with Lea De Mae in June 2003 right after her interview for "The Private Life Of Lea De Mae". Let me mention therefore that several people (fans, fans, managers, actresses and also producers) start thinking bad about PRIVATE, as they haven't shown any reaction in regard to Lea's illness so far. But we're not through the valley yet. This surgery today was NOT the ventricle drainage the doctors had in mind. According to the doctors this would have been much too dangerous (also because of a large oedeme, which couldn't be influenced by medicaments). They've just inserted a catheter with a special reservoir hidden under her skin, which ingests jammed up spinal water and which can be deflatet by simple punctuation. This (relatively simple) surgery by the way was not carried out by the famous doctor (see above). The most relieving information of today to me (and I guess to all of us) is that finally Lea De Mae don't suffers from her headaches anymore. "Only my back still hurts", she told me, "but it's ok". Maybe at this point I should explain: about eight years ago Lea De Mae was a member (high diver) of the Olympic Team of Czech Republic. During her training for Atlanta, USA, she had a tragical accident. While performing a risky jump from a 10 meter board, she infelicitously crashedon the water surface and nearly broke her back. She had to spend three months in a special clinic in Baden-Baden, Germany. She recovered, but since that time every now and then she has extreme pains in her back, e.g. also while performing artistic sex positions in her movies. But she's proud. She would never show it! What's next? We don't know. Another MRI will be made within this week. Lea should feel better soon and then be able to go home. But if she needs to go back into hospital (a catheter cannot be an all time solution), it will be Bulovka again. You're right, the "old and ugly" one. The head physician in Lea's current hospital apologized to me: "You have to understand. Our capacities are limited, and there are many other patients on our waiting list." Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 16th November 2004 "Still weak - doesn't want to go into another hospital again" Very soon I have to leave Prague for reasons of my job in Germany. As her current hospital lays close to my current apartement, I see Lea each day. In relation to the brain damage (tumor, 3 surgeries, radio and chemotherapy, negative side effects) she's in a better condition than most of us would be. However, Lea is not able to be involved in communication. She utters one or two sentences, but always is too tired to keep her attention alive for more than a couple of minutes (fatigue syndrome). From time to time Lea tries to stand up and (with some support) then she walks around a little bit. She needs all of her energy (and she has a lot!) to fight against the weakness in her legs and the pains in her back, which still are there. Her headaches are reduced, but still are there either. Lea's current hospital is nice and is highest international standard. During day and night qualified and friendly nurses and doctors are around and take care of the patients. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, the capacities of this hospital are limited. Therefore she has to leave the hospital. After the very bad experiences in other locations, yesterday evening Lea told me: "They want to send me into another hospital." - "Yes, they told me about it. It's because the capacities are so limited." - "I know. But I don't want to go in another hospital, I wanna stay here!" I promised her not to leave Prague before I know who exactly will be responsible for Lea's following treatment, what exactly they plan to do and to keep an eye on it as good as I can. And I want to come back as soon as possible. Probably I will have no opportunity to update this page over the weekend. But I'll keep you informed. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 19th November 2004 "The "old and ugly" caught her again" Already during my update of Lea's page on Friday, something unpleasant was going on behind the scenes. I had to learn about it Friday evening. I went to visit Lea like each day this week. But while entering the room I got aware of a black haired man lying in "Lea's bed" instead of her. I asked one of the doctors for the reason of that. He explained that because of lack of capacities, they decided in the morning to transfer Lea De Mae back to the previous "old and ugly" hospital for further treatment. Of course there are other hospitals in Prague, but Lucie says that they all are about same with only slight differences. In the hopital in Motol, e.g., where Lea had to go for the MRI shortly before her first surgery last weekend, they let her wait on a hard surface and without a blanket, although Lea had severe pains. Lucie therefore was kind of fighting with the head physician and with the chief of the hospital in order to let Lea stay in the high standard clinic. She was even offering money. But all her attempts to keep Lea De Mae where she wanted to stay were in vain. As right now we're not talking about a rezidive treatment but about a regular long term follow up treatment (chemotherapy), a German hospital would not be the solution. Furthermore Lea De Mae of course wants to stay in Prague and close to her family and friends which we all have to respect. A high class private clinic with oncology dept. in Czech Republic would be fine for Lea De Mae. But according to Lea's current doctor there isn't any. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 20th November 2004 "Fighting two fires" Already on Sunday I had the opportunity of talking to Lea's current (oncology) doctor who is responsible for her treatment after surgery. His intention to finish Lea's Temodal therapy and to proceed with CCNU has it's reason in the refusal of the insurance office to pay for Temodal again. Thanks to Lea's donors (list will be updated tomorrow) I was in the position to tell him that he should not consider money a problem! In this case, he answered, Lea's can be treated with Temodal again as soon as her constitution allows it. This tumor treatment is fire No.1 Fire No.2 is her back. As I mentioned earlier Lea broke her back 8 years ago when practising as high diver for Atlanta. These past pains came back after the end of her radio and chemotherapy more than two weeks ago - together with terrible headaches. While due to the surgeries last weekend the latter are now reduced to a "normal" level, the pains in her back still merely paralyse her completely. Therefore today a CT of Lea's back will finally be made. I'll take the results with me to Germany (Tuesday) and search for specialists for pain treatment and orthopedists. This is one of the problems of our medical structure of today: there are specialists for this and for that. But they rarely talk to each other and they are far away from working closely together. Thus, when a patient like Lea De Mae comes up with two different problems, one of it has to wait too long for being solved. As of yesterday Lea De Mae's mother stays in the hospital all day and night. Latest news: a guy known as 'Mikey', the producer of internet websites mikesapartment.com and many more, successfully asked the owner of Leademae.com for permission to use it. Thanks to him Lea's page now appears on your browser when you use URL www.leademae.com. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 21st November 2004 "Wrong highway - no exit?" From insiders I heard that in former times the famous Military Hospital (where Lea's surgeries were done) had a death rate of about 80%. Under new management and with star operateurs like Dr. Benes it is now as low as 20%-30%. There are rumours that this success is NOT ONLY due to best equipment and treatments, but also to attempts to get rid of cases which doctors consider hopeless. If this is true, I hope that Lea gets healthy soon and gives the doctors some lessons. I was told that the flow of information between the hospitals is very bad. Especially between the Military Hospital (which is different to the other clinics in many ways) and the "normal" clinics in Prague, there is almost no communication between the doctors. By now I should be back in Germany, my job in the radio station waits for me. Thanks to my boss and my colleagues I could stay three days longer than the original maximum. I urged them to permit it because the situation in Prague gets more and more unpleasant to all of us. In the old hospital which Lea De Mae had to return to, she could get what was not possible for her in the highly respectet Military Hospital. A small private room which costs 800 Kc per day. Her family members rotate in regard of staying with her in the night. That's the good information. Last monday the doctors wanted to make a CT of her back in order to find out if her back pains stem from the back or from the tumor. Lea De Mae, who didn't get morphin for the first time after many days reacted like crazy: she was beating the nurses and screaming and crying. In these moments you can see how young and strong she is and how full of energy still. So the doctors decided to make the CT on Tuesday. Therefore I stayed in Prague one more day. Right before I went to the hospital in order to get the results, Lucie sent me an SMS: "Chris they are not going to do ct, they are seying that this is not problem with her beck but the tumor cells going thru her moving sistem. That is why she cannot speak and having menthal problem. They sad they have to start with chemotherapy right the way." Again I can't understand what's going on there!!! She has these back pains for about three weeks now. How come that all of a sudden the doctors know that the pains stem from tumor cells and not from her back? Why in the hell did they plan to make a CT of her back yesterday? And why do they want to start chemotherapy right away, since two days before the chief doctor told me this would kill her, because her condition is too bad? We don't know what to do. Here are some more confusing details: (1) According to Lucie there are about 5 different doctors who are responsible for Lea's treatment. Because of the move from her bed on the second floor down into her private room on the first floor she's now under control of the doctor of the first floor and no longer under control of the doctor of the second floor!!! (2) Lucie asked, if Lea still gets morphin. One of the doctors said "yes", another doctor said "no". I talked to a third doctor: she didn't know anything! Unfortunately the chief doctor was not there when I arrived in the hospital. Before I leave to Germany today I want to speak to him again. I fear we're driving on the wrong highway as of the beginning and I don't know where to leave it - I see no exit! Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 24th November 2004 "Between panic and hope" It's hard to keep up with all what happens. On the 24th finally I was able to speak to several of the responsible doctors. I felt relieved, when I heard that they finally decided NOT to do a chemotherapy right now, because German specialists told me that would kill her right away because of her weak constitution. The blood examination shows positive results. Regarding the type of treatment (when her constitution is better) the doctors uttered different opinions. One of them preferred BCNU, the other Temozolimid. Additionally they were now convinced that the pains in her back indeed stem from her former injuries and also from a congenital defect with incomplete closure of the vertebral column. They suspect the other symptoms (she can hardly speak, nor drink or eat anymore) being a result from new pressure in her brain. The chief of the departement told me that maybe Lea's shunt doesn't work properly. However, they wanted to wait with another CT until the symptoms would get worse. I urged him to do a new CT as early as possible and I was asking him for the current list of medication, in order to discuss them with German clinics. These talks and waiting for the doctors took so much time that I decided to stay in Prague again for one more day. According to Lucie who spent the night with Lea De May in the private room "She was not moveing at all and she didn't react on anything. Today it is a same." Now, what happened on the 25th? I was already sitting in my car in order to drive home, when I got aware of an SMS from Lucie: "Chris call me it is important!" So I called her back. She said that they indeed made a new CT in the old hospital and wanted to compare them with the latest CT results from the Military Hospital. But the Military Hospital didn't have these anymore! Fortunately I had a copy of those, went to the office of a friend of mine and sent her the pictures via eMail. Later the doctors in the old hospital were told by the doctors in the Military Hospital that the "problem with the shunt" was not really a problem, but that they simply must puncture Lea's Ommaya reservoir. In the old hospital they had never done it before. Lea's case was the first! However, it amazed all doctors (in the old hospital and in the Military Hospital) that Lea's production of spinal fluid was so fast that the pressure came back so quickly. Now we hope that Lea's health situation stabilizes, while we are discussing about the proper future chemotherapy. Finally I received Lucie's "thank you note". Unlike mentioned earlier it is not the words of Lea but of Lucie, her sister. It is now about one month old, but Lea herself was already to weak to concentrate for a longer period of time, so she asked her sister to find the right words in her place. It's in Czech language, but I'm sure somebody will translate it for us. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 27th November 2004 "Anxiously waiting" Thanks to Andy in Prague we have now an English version of Lucie's "thank you note" of October 2004. How is Lea De Mae today? Lucie describes it like this: "I don't know what to think about my sister condition. She is out of her mind, she calls people diferent names, she sees something that we don't. I hope that it is just temperaly. She is eating and drinking again that is good. But she is also again in a big pain." We anxiously wait for Lea's constitution to become better, so that she can benefit from a further therapy. There are 3 possible up-to-date standard chemo treatments: ACNU/VM26, Temozolomid and BCNU (CCNU). Thanks to Victor we know that the Samantha Dickson Research Trust in England offers clinical trials, in which the effect of Clomipramine is examined. But for the first official results we still have to wait 2-3 years. Chris - Constance, Germany, 1st December 2004 "Still in bad condition" I wish I'd have better informations to give you about Lea De Mae's current health status. I've been talking to her doctors today. They said that Lea is still only lying in her bed. Communicating with her is almost impossible. She still is in big pain (her back and her neck aches) although she again gets morphin in combination with other "pain killers". Within the past few days nothing has changed, but I'm extremely worried because the doctors also told me that Lea has fever now (38°C)! Under these circumstances the doctors can't do anything at all but wait. A British specialist in Liverpool has let me know that clomipramine (see "Anxiously waiting") shows good effects in cell cultures. But up to now there's no evidence for a good effect in patients with an aggressive brain tumor. Chris - Constance, Germany, 6th December 2004 "Goodbye to Lea" Although Lea was doing a little better the last two days and although Lea wanted so much to live, she suddenly passed away today. Lucie's message was a shock to me: "Chris andrea died at 15;.15". I still can't believe it. I'm going to Prague tomorrow. I'm so sad and I know all of you are. Tears are falling down at many places around the world these days. Chris - Constance, Germany, 9th December 2004 "Let's have a party - for Lea!" If Lea knew how many people around the world are deeply affected by her sudden death, she wouldn't believe it or she would cry tears of joy without end. She was longing for love, but didn't believe she's worth it and unfortunately rarely found it. Lea liked to party. She told me she can't dance very good but likes to dance very much. Lucie and Lea's closest friends are sure that Lea, if she had known she would die, would like us to arrange a party for her. And so we do. Whoever wants to come to Prague for Lea's funeral is invited. After the celebration we want to have a party for Lea. I can't give you more details right now, since we still are organizing it. Of course, those of you who will not be able to join us physically, may hopefully join us via the internet. If possible, we want to create a chatroom for you, maybe with webcams. The time is short, so please help spread these news around the world to all the fans of Lea. She would appreciate, I'm sure, if you don't forget to have a bottle of white wine with you and/or some Vodka. This is what she liked to drink. Stay tuned - we keep you in informed. By the way: if you think you can help us somehow with the chatroom and the integration of webcams, let us know. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 13th December 2004 "Let's have a party - for Lea! pt. 2" The funeral starts at 14h. The party for Lea will take place in the evening on a little island on the Vltava River in the centre of Prague (Strelecky Ostrov). Unfortunately we don't have internet connection there. We try a solution with mobile phone. If somebody in Prague reads this and thinks he can help us out with (1) Notebook (2) Mobile with internet support (3) Webcam (4) technical Know How - let me know. My mobile number is 737-704407. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 14th December 2004 "Let's have a party - for Lea! pt. 3" The funeral is at the cemetery in Strasnice at 14h. Meeting point is the Krematoria. If you come, please wear dark clothes. Casual is fine. We couldn't organize webcams, but we have a chatroom for you. I hope it works. I don't know, if we have the technical basis for meeting you on the chat, but I'll try to go somewhere else where I can find internet connection to post current photos here during the party. P.S. White wine and Vodka was my proposal to all of you who stay at home, of course! Some people misunderstood this message. I'm sorry for that. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 15th December 2004 "Funeral & Goodbye Party" I have to apologize to you. I wanted to let you participate much closer at the goodbye celebration, but my sadness paralyzed me. It was the first time that I've seen somebody who is dead. Behind a window Lea was lying in her coffin like an angel. Holy. Unreal. Not from this world. Later, her closed white coffin was placed on the stage of the big hallof the cemetery, where many people joined and listened to some pieces of music that Lea liked to listen to in her lifetime. One of them was "C'est la vie" by Karel Gott. To the tunes of "The show must go on" from the soundtrack of Mouling Rouge (one of Lea's favorite) her coffin slowly vanished into the dark in the back of the stage and the big red curtain was closed. Lea will not be buried, she will be burnt. Ashes to ashes. Stardust to stardust. Wasn't her short life like a falling star at the night sky? In the evening, nobody was in the mood for a dancing party - her closest family members and relatives as well as a couple of personal friends were sharing their grieve together, while adoring the amazing beauty of that lovely lady who had to die when she was just about to start into a new life. Lucie had decorated the room with large photos of her sister, which were taken shortly before her tragic illness. They were surrounded by an ocean of flowers. These shrines were the only things I took pictures of when the party was over. I simply was not able to take my camera and shoot as I had in mind before. These few pictures of the shrines I will post here a little later. A short slideshow with about 50 photos from Lea's childhood to present took us all a little nearer to the real person behind Lea De Mae, letting us feel the loss of her even deeper. At two a clock in the morning the remaining people left the little island on Vltava River and went home. It was cold. Minus 7°C. The event yesterday evening seemed to me like a surprise party for Lea's birthday, with many people waiting for her - but Lea De Mae, the main important person didn't appear. And she will never ever do. WE MISS YOU SO MUCH! Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 17th December 2004 "Keep the memory alive!" After the days are over when Lucie could focus her attention on organizing her sister's funeral and good bye party, she now herself lies in bed with high temperature. At least today is the shortest day of this circle of year. May the sun come back and shine - although we all know, that one star will never come back to caress us with its shimmering light. Lucie told me, that in LEA'S FORUM somebody came up with the idea of a sculpture as a monument for Lea De Mae (see thread "Just an idea"). Lucie likes the idea as well as me. Since Lea not only was a first class pornstar, but also Czech High Diver No.1 for many years, and since she was a woman with exceptional capacities, but still unbelievable modest and good hearted, I also agree that a simple name lable on a grave is not what she deserves. Creating a foundation for people with the same disease (Glioblastoma) was another proposal. Let's share our ideas of how to keep the memory of Lea alive and discuss it. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 21st December 2004 "Lonely Christmas" On Christmas Eve I visited Lea's mother (Anny). She was all alone. The table which saw a crowd of happy people sitting together under a christmas tree with Lea De Mae in the middle one year ago, was now nicely decorated with candles and some photos of Lea. There were three dishes. One was for me, another one for Anny. The third one stayed untouched all evening. Lea's mother began to cry: "Maybe she will come tomorrow?!" We were looking at some old photographs showing Lea and Lucie and their parents when they were a happy family - not without realizing how time flies away in seconds. These contemplative hours were interrupted by a sympatico visitor, a friend of the family, who stayed with us for about one hour. Originally, he only wanted to wish Anny a Merry Christmas. But the issue we were talking about incidentally became a serious one. His frappening informations made my eyes wet, filled my heart with sorrows and made my mind angry like never. As right now these news are only rumours to me, I don't want to tell you more. If, however, they turn out to reflect reality, and if they are not only an internal family problem, I owe Lea De Mae that I let all of you know about it. Maybe it sounded a little bit pathetic when I told Lea while she already was seriously ill "You're my Queen and I'm you're soldier." But I still feel like that. I hope I do my job as good as possible. 20 minutes before midnight, Lea's mother took me to the center of Prague where we attended a christmas celebration in an old church. It was the church where Lea, Lucie, their mother and their father went each year at this time. She also showed me the old elementary school of Lea and the apartment, where Lea spent her childhood ever since she was one month old. (I will go there again within the next days, take a couple of pictures and post it here on Lea's Page.) Later we came to see some members of Lea's family - night birds like we. The issue mentioned above came up again. None of us was able to sleep. As you all remember, the funeral celebration took place on the 16th of December. According to Lucie the final burial of the casket was supposed to be on Lea's 28th birthday: 26th December. My current information which I have from Lea's mother (who has the information from Lucie) is that the final funeral will happen only next year - due to problems of burocracy. I can hardly bear to imagine that one of the most beautiful women I know and whom I was working with only a few months ago, shall be a handfull of ashes now. At Lea's birthday I lit a candle, put a photo of her close to it, listened to one of Lea's favorites (Karel Gott's "C'est la vie") and drank a Czech Beer. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 28th December 2004 "A place for Lea" The nightmare already lies one month behind us. In the meantime the terrible South Asian Tsunami caught our attention. Like many of the models on www.pics-and-models.com also Lea De Mae was supposed to shoot in Thailand this year. Her illness was faster. Sometimes it all seems like a bad dream to me, not like something that really happened. After I interrupted my job in the radio station for almost 3 months, I'm very busy now and there's not much time left for updates. But as I promised you, I have some photos of the street where Lea De Mae spent her childhood. You see the church, where she and her family went each Christmas (the last time in 2003) and you see her grammar school. A German guy who worked with Lea 5 years ago and who also attended the funeral proposed to create a nice looking commemorative plaque made of brazen e.g. A suitable place for it could be the house where Lea was born, the house where she and her sister lived in former times or maybe her former school or something else. This would not be too expensive and could be done quite easily. Some burocracy problems may occur in the beginning, but Lea De Mae was a well known sportswoman whom Czech Republic can be proud of, not only a pornstar. So we think that we can talk with the people. Any opinion about this issue is welcome. Yesterday I have also received a message from Lucie: "I already have a place for Andrea's grave,it is in Prag 8 Dablice there is nice cemetery and she will have a big place between two trees with a lot off lights." She also told me that a friend of her is an artist who is very good in making sculptures. He's willing to create a sculpture for Andrea and he's already working on some designs. He takes only half of the usual price. But the amount of money Lucie will have to pay still will be about 150 000 CZK to 200 000 CZK (US $6500 to US $8700). She says she still has some money left, but not that much. If I will be allowed to present you the design here on Lea's website, I'll do so as soon as it's possible. Gallery - here is where Lea spent her childhood. Chris - Constance, Germany, 16th January 2005 "Sculpture for Lea - Appeal for donations" I've received an eMail from Lucie yesterday. She says that she's slowly doing better while her mother still suffers terribly from the loss of her lovely daughter Andrea. Currently she works to get money that she needs for Andrea's sculpture. She writes: "My mam left the hospitel last week, doesn't seem to be any better. I am trying to be with her in contact and help her as much I can but I don't see any result. Hopefuly will be better soon." Lucie also says that she needs some help with the money. According to her plan the sculpture shall be finished in about 3 weeks and shall be placed on Andrea's grave on the 1st of May. Therefore she asked me to publish her Appeal for Donations on Lea's website. I plan to go to Prague next week. If the sculpture is ready on time to be placed in the cemetery on the 1st of May, I'll be there and inform you. Chris - Constance, Germany, 8th April 2005 "Sculpture for Lea - Appeal for donations Pt.2" The cemetery where Lea's sculpture will find its place is in Prague 8, Dablice. The placement of the sculpture will happen as soon as it is ready, but this depends on how quickly Lucie can rise the money for it. I've met Lucie at my last day of my last visit in Prague abot two weeks ago. According to Lucie the money which came in for medical care of Lea had either been spent for medicine and medical equipment. These things were given to the hospital after Lea had died. Or it was already used to cover part of the sculpture's costs. Most of the money that Lea owned (she had sold her house in order to have money for her treatment) seems to be not anymore in the hands of the family. It is likely that in the situation of dispair and crises Lea and her family trusted a person who was not reliable. Lucie showed me a draft of the sculpture and of the place in the cemetery which I took photos of for you. You can take a look at them on the sculpture page where you will also find a list of costs. In the future we will publish all sculpture donors there, too. Lucie had been looking for a nice place on many cemeteries in Prague. Most of them are not very pleasant. Usually there's not much space and so the graves are very close to each other. Lucie, however, wanted to have a larger place, which looks nice in winter as well as in summer and which invites visitors to stay there for more than just a minute. If prices for renting were not so high, she would have rented the other two or three parcels around Lea's future grave as well. Later in the evening, when we were sitting and talking and drinking in the small garden of her aunt (together with Lea's mother), I asked her for permission to take a portrait of her. Lucie doesn't like cameras at all and she hates being photographed. But I think many of you, the visitors of LeaDeMae.com, will appreciate it to at least get an idea of how Lucie looks like:   Thanks to all of you for many nice words and support during sad times. As soon as I have more news, I'll let you all know. Chris - Constance, Germany, 19th May 2005 "Lucie concerned about money" Two days ago I've received an eMail from Lucie. She says that at the end of July there will be a highjump competition 20 km from Prague. It will be outside, they dive from 16 meters and it takes place each year. Lea (Andrea) used to be a judge there. It lasts three days and it's a big party for young people who like extreme sports. This year it will be in memoriam of Lea De Mae. You can get further informations on www.highjump.cz The other part of her eMail is less positive. She writes: "I am getting kind of scared about the money there is still only 1200 EUR in the bank and it is not even half what we need and the sculpture is getting in to the final. Is it something else you think I should do?" We know that not so many people are visiting this page anymore. Therefore I want to make it more attractive by creating an official biography of Lea De Mae, with photos of her childhood and her youth and with a complete list of all her movies. If you have known Lea De Mae in private because you worked with her and if you think you cannot help Lucie with money, maybe you can help making this site more attractive by sending us stories about your personal experience with Lea and/or photos that have never been published before? If so, please don't hesitate to send us an eMail. In about 2 or 3 weeks I will go to Prague again. I will let you know on time before Lea's ashes will be buried and before her sculpture will be put on the cemetery. Chris - Constance, Germany, 2nd June 2005 "Pictures of Lea's childhood" Yesterday I've met Lucie, Monica Seetheart and two friends of Lea in a 50's style café in Manesová street (near the main station) in Prague. We were sitting and talking and none of us would have been surprised if Lea had come around the corner to join us. She's still as present in our thoughts and in our minds as she always was. We still can't believe she's gone forever, we don't want to believe it and I think it's not even possible to believe it. Death is something which you never can grab. I mean, when somebody's there in front of you, you can touch him, feel him, smell him and talk to him - you can experience him. If somebody's not there you obviously can't. But does the fact that you can't see him necessarily mean that this person does not exist anymore? He might have gone away for just a few minutes. Our perception has no chance to make a difference between "gone for a few minutes" and "gone forever". Anyway, we awfully miss her.      Monica Sweetheart, the closest friend of Lea De Mae as of the beginning of their carreer, has been in L.A., California, this year for 4 months. She wanted to leave Czech Republic for a while and forget. But since she knows all the places over there from former happy times together with Lea, she got reminded of the loss of her best friend over and over again. And as many times as she has been asked by her fans to tell them about Lea's tragic story, as many times she felt the pain again.   Of course only a small part of all the people who visited Lea's site 6 months ago, still come here from time to time. But to those who feel Lea De Mae still close to their heart, to those who consider Lea not just one of many pornstars and to those who are interested in the person and the life of lovely sportswoman Andrea in order to complete their view of magic pornstar Lea, we want to keep this website alive forever. Therefore Lucie gave me a bunch of old private photos that show Andrea as a child. I copied them and put them in a gallery for you as the first step in creating a biography of Lea De Mae. I have to admit that when I had a closer look at them, all the questions regarding life and death and the sense behind it (if there is any) came up. Especially the photo which shows her as a sleeping child reminded me of my last view of her when she was lying dead in her coffin. Two different moments like similar spots in her short circle of life. Most painful to me is that I'll never be able to communicate with her again, because she's sleeping forever. Monica Sweetheart also wants to contribute many pictures of time when they were travelling and working and having party all together in the next future. We'll take her on to that, don't we? And once again: all you people out there who knew Lea De Mae (Andrea Absolonova) or who even met her only once are invited to write us your personal impression of Andrea's personality or share with us a little story that might reveal her character, thus bringing her closer to our hearts and into our lives! These last two pictures show the Prague Castle (Hradschin) at sunset. They were taken only a couple of streets away from where Lea spent her childhood near the Vltava River.   Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 11th July 2005 "Pictures from Monica Sweetheart" My days in Prague are almost over, so I want to give you a last update for now. First of all, there are still no concrete plans for the final funeral at the cemetery and it will probably have to wait until the financial problems with the sculpture and the lot on the cemetery are solved. The situation is somewhat difficult and complex and in order not to disturb the process of solving these problems, I don't want to give you detailled explanations. Last Thursday an appointment with Daniela Rush, a former friend and colleague of Lea De Mae, didn't take place, but she promised to meet me at a later date. Silvia Saint, who also should be able to give us some personal impressions of Lea, is probably very busy since I haven't got any answer from her so far. One thing that you will appreciate, however, is that Monica Sweetheart, the closest friend of Lea, gave me a collection of private pictures that I've just put on the bio page for you. She will contribute more as soon as she's back from La Réunion. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 25th July 2005 "First basic steps to Lea's biography" I'm in Prague probably for the last time this year. Lucie provided some first basic informations about her sister's life which I used as basic steps to Lea's biography. Regarding Lea's grave there are no news, I will inform you as soon as I get to know anything about it. Chris - Prague, Czech Republic, 4th October 2005 "John Lennon / Lea De Mae" Due to a server problem this website is completely down while I write these lines. I don't know when it is working again. I can't even upload this update at present. 25 years ago John Lennon was killed. I can still remember the shock I felt when I heard the news on the radio, and I still feel the loss - especially at this time of the season. As of last year my memory of him and my memory of Lea De Mae are melt together in a tragic way. Both died virtually at the same day. I have some news: three weeks ago when I was still in Prague, I've met Lea's mother, Lea's sister Lucie, and Monica Sweetheart. Lucie let me know that the marble socle of Lea's sculpture as well as her ashes will be put on the cemetery in two weeks. At present I don't know whether this already took place or not. The sculpture itself, however, will not be ready before summer 2006, because the sculptor is working outside but it's too cold during winter time. Lucie had a very busy year. She works as a stunt girl (high jumping into the water, sensationally falling down from somewhere etc.) for movies. If you're interested to know more about her, you can visit http://www.whdf.com/. During summer and fall she earned a big part of the amount of money for the sculpture, there is not too much left anymore. We were talking about the money issue which was discussed in some threads of different forums. One of the important points were: what happened to the money that Lea De Mae had earned? Earlier I had written that "... most of the money that Lea owned ... seems to be not anymore in the hands of the family. It is likely that ... Lea and her family trusted a person who was not reliable." (see 19th May 2005). Lucie told me that in the meantime this problem could be solved out-of-court. Lea's family has got back most of the money. It will mainly be used to support Lea's mother who has to live in a small cottage close to Prague which Lea had bought as a little weekend house. This leads us to a second point. Sometimes people ask why Lea's money is not used to pay her sculpture. Lucie: "The sculpture is my idea. Do you think my sister would ever have had a sculpture built for herself? Never! The sculpture is OUR present for her. Should we pay it with HER money?" Regarding Lea's biography, Monica Sweetheart promised me to contribute additional pictures and written informations to this website before the end of the year. The same, by the way, does Silvia Saint, whom I talked to at the Extasia '05 convention in Zurich, Switzerland, two weeks ago. As you can see I implemented last year's chatroom again, since there was demand for it. I have more information for you later. Chris - Constance, Germany, 8th December 2005 "One Year" I loved her as many of you did. We all miss her. Not only, but especially today. These days I work busily in the radio station, thus (I have to admit) trying to keep my sad feelings away from me. Today I've lit two candles for Andrea and look at some of her photos. I've put together a small gallery of 18 pics with mixed images from her own collection which I tought might be interesting for you. They show Andrea jumping from the 10 m platform. These photos are copies from a calender released in 2001 or so. They show you Andrea's cat, who lives with Andrea's aunt in Prague at present. They show you winner's certificates from the time when she was high diving. And they show you a mass of medals that she had won during her amazing carreer as a high diver. By the way: these strange sick minded creatures which try to spit on this lovely lady (see Lea's forum) ... try to imagine how they'd look like if they were forced to jump from a 10 meter platform ;-) When you surf on the net, you'll find several informations about Lea De Mae. Most of them are taken from this website, others from sources I don't know, but some seem to grow from fantasy. You can read the following: "... she was a member of the Czech high diving national team and injured her spine in an accident when training for the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996 ... After her injury, with no other source of income available, she turned to the adult film industry." This writer, with no other source of information, used a typical stereotype to explain Andrea's switch to porn business. Yet, it's far from reality. I have another interesting information for you: after Andrea had somewhat recovered from her serious accident in 1996 she was training so hard that she got nominated for the Olympic Games in Sidney 2000!!! Her health problems were still there and unfortunately they forced her to stop high diving completely before she was able to participate at the Olympic Games. Still she didn't give up. She switched from high diving to sky diving. (Let me say that again: Don't let me see the jeans of the four-letter-word-mockers, who try to revile the memory of Andrea, if they had to jump from a plane). I have the highest respect for Andrea / Lea De Mae. She was doing what she liked to do - and she was always giving her best! Chris - Constance, Germany, 9th December 2005 |
APPEAL for DONATIONS FAQs LEA'S FORUM THANK YOU NOTE CONTACT Also see comment at the bottom of the page LEA-DE-MAE-DONORs: (Frank Thring - film director and friend) (actress) GERMANY (performer) ITALY (performer) NETHERLANDS (film producer) ITALY (Paul O'Sullivan, Raymond, Kevin and Brian) LONDON, GB (fan) CANADA (fan) CT, USA (friend of Katka Blumenova) LUXEMBOURG BARCELONA, SPAIN RUSSIA FL, USA AUSTRALIA HELSINKI, FINLAND NY, USA | |||
