Corey Chambers SoCal Home Real Estate Newsletter June 2018

Los Angeles and Southern California Real Estate News

SoCal HOME Impactful Real Estate News #coreychambers #chla #news

Happy Birthday… Johnny?

No, June is not the month for celebrating Johnny Rocket’s birthday. But there is one Johnny in the news that does have a birthday in June. Happy Birthday Johnny Depp…. BUT why would I mention this to YOU? Well, since you have been kind enough to be a part of our business, I wanted to take the opportunity to give YOU a gift on Johnny Depp’s birthday. I am sure Mr. Depp doesn’t mind. He seems to have plenty of stuff so I’d like to celebrate his birthday by giving you (and those you know). My unconditional lifetime real estate guarantee: That You and Any One You Refer to Me to Sell The Place they Call
Home, Will Be Utterly Overjoyed with the Experience and Outcome – If Not, I Will Re-Sell Their Home for FREE (or buy it back myself)! My team and I are committed to your satisfaction as well as your friends, neighbors, family and associates. So this life time pledge to do a better than good job for you and those you care about is a gift we are happy and eager to give. | PDF

In This Issue Vol 4, Issue 6 June 2018

Speaking of gifts…

In my recent letter, I updated you on our goal of raising $25,000 for Children’s Hosptial Los Angeles Helping Hands Fund. Since that letter, we have received more referrals and repeat customers. This means we
have been able to contribute more toward this very worthy cause. Consider this a shout out to those who referred us someone they are enough about to ensure they get our award winning service when selling their home. My team and I are so grateful!

Your referrals help the Kids…

Raising money for Children's Hospital Los Angeles — Raising money for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Any one you know considering making a move, wanting to buy or sell their home, please refer them to me. They will receive the SATISFACTION GUARANTEE I detailed above and you can rest assured your referrals will help the kids at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. To reiterate, we donate a substantial portion of our income on home sales to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The reason is because they do very good work on helping kids fight and win battles against all kinds of nasty cancers. In fact, kids under their care are 300% more likely to enter into remission IF they can get into the recovery center. BUT, the Recovery Center survives on Sponsorships and Donations. So,
YOUR REFERRALS REALLY DO HELP THE KIDS…

Who do you know considering buying or selling a home you could refer to my real estate sales team? Not only will they benefit from our award winning service, but we donate a portion of our income on every home sale to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

I want to make it easy for you to refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members who are considering making a move, so here are your options:

1. You can go to www.ReferralsHelpKids.com and enter their contact info online or forward the link to those who you know are considering a move.

2. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 888-240-2500.

You and your referrals mean more than ever to me and my team. As we move forward in this new season, please know that we are extremely thankful for you and your being a special part of our business.

With all my appreciation.

P.S. The story of this young person enclosed may cause you to look at your loved ones differently. It did me. Check it out.

It’s easy to refer those you know considering buying or selling a home. Here are the 3 Options Again:

Supporting_CHLA_logo 1. You can go to www.ReferralsHelpKids.com and enter their contact info on line or forward the link to those who you know are considering a move.

2. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 888-240-2500.

Why I support Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

I grew up right here in the Greater Los Angeles Area, born in Los Angeles County at St. Francis Hospital. I remember when I first heard about a young person close to our family suffering from a nasty disease and getting treated for that at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It was then that I began to pay closer attention to the work they do at that hospital. Since then, I have learned that it is a collection of hard-working heathcare professionals, most making their home right here in the Los Angeles area, all coming together for a common cause. That cause is to help young people overcome unfortunate health issues that life sometimes throws our way. Being a Los Angeles Area California native, I take pride in supporting in a way that I can the good work these people do at Children’s. My team rallys around our annual goal or raising money and donating portions of our income to help Childrens in thier quest to heal young people when they need healing. My team and I are committed to providing outstanding results for buyers and sellers referred to us by our past clients. I have discovered that Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shares similar commitment to their patients. And since their services survive on sponsorships and donations, we are happy tocontribute and proud to support them. | READ NEWSLETTER (PDF)

Sincerely,

*seller and Corey must agree on price and time of possession. Realty Source Inc BRE#01889449

How Justin Got His Voice Back

Twelve-year-old Justin Ybarra likes to joke around, and he likes to have fun. Very rarely does he take life too seriously—even though there have been plenty of things in his life that have been plenty serious. So when you ask him why he got along so well with Ashley Hall—his speech therapist while he was an inpatient at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles —his answer is not surprising. “She’s not boring,” the sixth-grader explains. “She’s fun!” She’s also effective. In fact, Hall helped Justin utter his first word—after three months of being unable to speak. That word was cause for a lot of celebration. After all, no one had really known if Justin would ever talk again.

Losing everything

For the first few years of his life, Justin was a healthy kid living a normal life. But at age 4, he came down with the flu. Virtually overnight, he lost the ability to talk, walk and control his hands and arms, particularly on his right side. He spent a week in a local hospital, then underwent years of therapy. While he didn’t get everything back —his speech was often unclear, and the fine motor skills in his right hand did not return—he was doing well. Then, on Jan. 29, 2016, when he was 9, he woke up with the flu again. “His speech was muffled,” his mom, Lily Ybarra, remembers. “I tried to help him out of bed, but he started to fall to the ground like spaghetti.” Once again, he was hospitalized. Like before, he wasn’t paralyzed, but he had dystonia—a movement disorder in which the muscles contract involuntarily. Dystonia can vary in severity, but in Justin’s case, he couldn’t talk, walk, or control his hands or arms. He even had trouble swallowing. “Everything we had worked so hard to get back,” Lily says, “he lost.” And this time, he wasn’t getting better. After two weeks, doctors told his parents, Lily and Joseph, that Justin needed more specialized care, and he was transferred to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

No easy task

At CHLA, Justin first was in an isolation unit. Once his flu was gone, he was admitted to the hospital’s acute rehab unit—the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation Rehabilitation Center honoring Bobby and Richie Petersen—to begin the long process of trying to walk and talk again. The Center provides coordinated care —through nursing, physical and occupational therapy, hearing and speech therapy, social work and Child Life —for children with some of the most complex diagnoses, including brain injuries and dystonia. “What Justin had was rare, but it’s not rare for us; we see very complicated cases like this all the time,” says Kevan Craig, DO, chief of the Division of Rehabilitation Medicine at CHLA. “We take an interdisciplinary team approach, collaborating with each other and the subspecialists throughout the hospital to provide the individualized care each patient needs.” Justin needed physical, occupational and speech therapies. And while all his therapists helped him, Hall, his main speech therapist, was special.

“Justin and Ashley had a great relationship,” Lily says. “When he wasn’t having a good day, Ashley would always make it better. She was really patient with him, and she somehow always knew what he wanted to communicate.” That communication was no easy task. Justin’s mind was perfectly OK. But to communicate, he had to spell out words using a letter board. Someone would point to a row of letters, and if the first letter of the word he wanted to say was in that row, Justin would raise his right leg— the only movement he could control—to indicate “yes.” If it wasn’t, he would not lift his leg. The process was painfully slow. “Justin had never been a good speller. It was really hard to figure out what he was telling us,” recalls his mom. “He would get frustrated really fast.” There was another big stress, too: the worry that Justin might never talk again. Although specialists at CHLA continued to run myriad tests, no precise cause of his dystonia had been identified. That meant there was no way of knowing if he would regain his abilities. “Honestly, I didn’t think he was going to get his speech back,” says Lily. “I was really scared.”

‘Guess what happened?’

Hall, a speech-language pathologist II at CHLA, says she was impressed with Justin’s drive and determination. “Being in a situation where you’re not able to communicate, it’s very frustrating, and it’s pretty easy to give up,” she notes. “But he worked really hard to let people know, ‘Hey, I’m still in this body!’” To help ease the frustration, Hall arranged for Justin to receive an “eye gaze” device, a special computer that he could control with his eye movements and that would then “talk” for him. And while the daily therapy was hard work, Hall kept it fun—something that was important for Justin’s fun-loving nature. “He’s a goofball!” she says, laughing. “He’s definitely the class clown, just a really smart little guy. He’s very opinionated, too!” Slowly but surely, Justin made tiny but important gains—first, making vowel sounds, and then making some consonant sounds, like “b” and “p.” When he learned a new sound, he’d say it over and over, trying to get more practice. One day, Hall and Justin returned from a session with particularly exciting news. “She said, ‘Guess what happened?’” Lily remembers. “And all of a sudden, Justin said, ‘Hey.’ I said, ‘Oh my God, Ashley, he said a word!’ It was really clear, too. I was so happy. You don’t know how relieved I was. It had been such depressing times, but once he started talking, it changed everything.”

Home at last

After three months at CHLA, Justin went home. Although he could only say a few short words—like “hey” and “no”—he’d made huge strides. His physical strength had also improved, though he was still in a wheelchair. Since then, he’s continued speech, physical and occupational therapies. Today, he can walk and run, although he uses a walker at school for extra safety and stability. He’s also talking again— in full sentences, with clarity. He still goes to speech therapy, and he’s still improving. At CHLA, he sees neurologists Leigh Ramos-Platt, MD, and Quyen Luc, MD, and he recently started a new medication to help further with his dystonia. And yes, he’s still his same “goofball” self who loves to clown around and play with his many friends, his two dogs and his chinchilla. Like his favorite CHLA speech therapist, he is definitely not boring—he just has fun.

How you can help

To help kids just like Justin, referral a friend at www.ReferralsHelpKids.com

LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS DOWNTOWN LA [MAP]

Corey Chambers SoCal Home Newsletter July 2018 (Download PDF)

New Lofts Interest List !!

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Copyright © This free information provided courtesy L.A. Loft Blog and LAcondoInfo.com with information provided by Corey Chambers, Realty Source Inc, BRE#01889449 We are not associated with the homeowner’s association or developer. For more information, contact (213) 880-9910 or visit LAcondoInfo.com Licensed in California. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental. This is not a solicitation if buyer or seller is already under contract with another broker. | COMMENT

Corey Chambers SoCal Home Newsletter July 2018 (Download PDF)

April 14, 2018

Corey Chambers SoCal Home Real Estate Newsletter April 2018

Here Comes the Tax Man. And Here Comes a Tax Break: NEWSLETTER

TAX Day – Ugh!!I recently read where we were working Jan. 1 through June 30th of each year, just to pay all of our taxes. In Canada, add another month or two. After that, you keep all you make. Prior to that, 100% goes to the government in some form or fashion to pay for some kind of government worker, work program, social program, defense, project, health care, common good, common projects, etc. Whatever you want to call it, April 17th is TAX day; the deadline for filing your federal in-come taxes in the U.S.A. Canadians have to file by April 30th. Why April? #coreychambers #realestate #news

So, in celebration of this special time of year, let’s talk TAX relief. If you received last month’s letter from me, you will recall our goal of trying to raise $25,000.00 for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the areas #1 Not for Profit Hospital for Young People. But – we need your help and I believe you can benefit from the TAX relief as well. #chla #referralshelpkids

Just down the street from where I am typing this, CHLA has a full house of kids fighting for their lives. For them and their parents’ taxes are not “top of mind”, health is. Living is. Surviving is. As you may have heard, Children’s Hospital is front and center in the fight against nasty diseases that destroy or cut short the lives of Children. Things like Cancer, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Leukemia, as well as leading the way in early diagnosis of autism and miracle working around spinal cord injuries. We are thankful to have such a wonderful facility close by, doing such great work to help heal and save young people.

So even though we are trying to figure out how much we owe the tax man, many are simply hoping they can be here to actually pay taxes. This is why we here at the Corey Chambers Team have resolved to do what we can to help.

For every house we sell this year, we are donating a portion of our income to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Our goal, again, is to raise $25,000 to help them in their quest to Heal, Save, Cure and Comfort Children under their care.

This is where we need your help and how you can benefit at the same time…

Charitable contributions are tax deductible to a point. Rather than give your money to the government, you should consider making a donation to a charity. I believe it will somehow come back to you, well beyond a simple tax deduction. A core value at our company is “the size of the hole you give through is directly proportionate to the size of the hole you receive through.”

Either way, your referrals are in good hands and help us contribute to a good cause.

Life moves fast for some and we are eager to make the Home Selling and Buying experience a smooth rewarding one. Over the last two decades of helping thousands of families sell their home and/or buy another, we have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you! So, your referrals, those you know considering a move, that we help – you can rest assured that not only will they get the award-winning service we are known for, but that a solid portion of the income we receive from the transaction will go toward a very worthy cause.

It’s easy to refer those you know considering buying or selling a home. Here are the 3 Options Again:

1. You can pass along our business card to them, I have enclosed a couple here for that purpose.
2. You can go to www.ReferralsHelpKids.com and enter their contact info on line or forward the link to who you know considering a move.
3. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 213-880-9910.

Why I support Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

I grew up right here in the Greater Los Angeles Area, born in Los Angeles County at St. Francis Hospital. I remember when I first heard about a young person close to our family suffering from a nasty disease and getting treated for that at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It was then that I began to pay closer attention to the work they do at that hospital. Since then, I have learned that it is a collection of hard-working healthcare professionals, most making their home right here in the Los Angeles area, all coming together for a common cause. That cause is to help young people overcome unfortunate health issues that life sometimes throws our way. Being a Los Angeles Area California native, I take pride in supporting in a way that I can the good work these people do at Children’s. My team rallys around our annual goal or raising money and donating portions of our income to help Children’s in their quest to heal young people when they need healing. My team and I are committed to providing outstanding results for buyers and sellers referred to us by our past clients. I have discovered that Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shares similar commitment to their patients. And since their services survive on sponsorships and donations, we are happy to contribute and proud to support them.

Sincerely,

–

P.S. The story of this young person enclosed may cause you to look at your loved ones differently. It did me. Check it out.

It’s easy to refer those you know considering buying or selling a home. Here are the Options Again: Enter their contact information at www.ReferralsHelpKids.com, call me direct or pass my number on: 213-880-9910.

Your Home Sold GUARANTEED or I’ll Buy It*
Corey Chambers Team
200 N San Fernando Rd #119, Los Angeles, CA 90031
(213) 880-9910
coreychambers@yahoo.com
Visit us on the web at www.ReferralsHelpKids.com

Viral Mystery

A rare, polio-like illness called acute flaccid myelitis appeared on the national radar in 2014 and may be on track to return this summer and fall. Here is one family’s story, and a look at CHLA’s innovative, multidisciplinary approach.

Like many parents, Bernard and Carlene had never heard of a rare disease called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) before the summer of 2016, when their 2-year-old daughter, Maipele, started exhibiting some strange symptoms.

Maipele, whose name is Polynesian for “sweetheart,” had had a runny nose on May 21, which grew into a cough, followed a few days later by a severe asthma attack. By the time Maipele reached a local emergency department near the family’s home in Camarillo, she was in respiratory distress. After doctors stabilized her, Maipele was airlifted to a hospital in Santa Barbara.

A few days later, back at home, Maipele “woke up as happy as can be,” recalls her father. She ran through the house, laughing. It was then her parents noticed something odd: Maipele’s right arm seemed to dangle by her side. They asked her to lift her arm. She couldn’t. “Her arm was like a dead weight,” says Carlene. “She wasn’t in pain, but she could not move her arm at all.”

Innovative surgery

AFM is a polio-like illness that scientists suspect has a viral origin. In its worst-case scenario, the disease can leave its targets partially or totally paralyzed in one or more limbs. CHLA takes a multidisciplinary approach to AFM, bringing together experts from Infectious Diseases, Neurology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Pulmonology, Surgery and more. Though there is no effective medical treatment for the disorder yet, CHLA plastic surgeon Mitchel Seruya, MD, has developed a workaround, refining a novel nerve-transfer surgery—borrowing nerves from the ribs and diaphragm in a kind of “electrical bypass”—to replace the deadened nerves in the affected extremity. CHLA is the only place in the western U.S. to offer this surgery for AFM.

“Too often these kids and their families are being told that nothing can be done about AFM except give it more time,” says Seruya, director of CHLA’s Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Center in the Division of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, and assistant professor of Clinical Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). “We are a flagship for this type of management for AFM.”

But before Seruya and Maipele would meet, Maipele’s parents began an odyssey in summer 2016 to discover what was wrong with their youngest daughter. Her illness struck at a busy time for the young family. Carlene was eight months pregnant with their third child, while Bernard, Petty Officer – First Class, at the Naval Base Ventura County Air Operations at Point Mugu, was in advanced training. An air traffic controller, he is also assistant radar branch chief.

The worried parents returned to the local emergency room, where doctors diagnosed a dislocated shoulder, which can cause limb weakness. Next, the family saw their pediatrician, who started Maipele on a course of physical therapy.

An unexpected diagnosis

By mid-June, with Maipele no better, their pediatrician referred the family to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

By then, Carlene had given birth to their son, Elijah. She stayed home to care for him and their oldest daughter, Rochelle, then 7, while Bernard and Maipele made the hour-and-a-half trip from Camarillo to CHLA. Finally, the mystery had a name—acute flaccid myelitis. It hit hard. “We had so many questions,” says Carlene.

AFM, marked by sudden onset of limb weakness or paralysis, first appeared on the national radar when 120 cases were reported the summer and fall of 2014. Two years later, in 2016, 149 people were confirmed with the disease. In the off years of 2015 and 2017, cases went down. So far, no one—not scientists, not clinicians, not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—understands why.

The prime suspect is a viral infection, as a number of viruses can cause AFM symptoms. The CDC reports that the 2014 emergence of AFM coincided with a nationwide outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), associated with severe respiratory illness.

Now officials are concerned that if AFM’s two-year cycle holds true, the number of cases may rise again in 2018. The illness primarily affects children.

An uncommon condition

CHLA neurologist Wendy Mitchell, MD, cautions parents to keep in mind that AFM is extremely rare. “Fewer than one in 1 million people are affected,” she notes. But it is something to be aware of, she adds, “especially since we don’t yet know why it seems to increase every two years.”

AFM targets the gray matter of the spinal cord, Mitchell explains, “where motor neurons reside, and so it affects movement and muscle control.”

If children haven’t recovered within three months after diagnosis, they typically face persistent paralysis, says Seruya. Doctors have yet to identify any factors that point to one child having a better recovery than another. “It’s a tough thing for families,” he adds, “because we have so few answers.”

Since 2014, Seruya has consulted on 16 cases of AFM at CHLA, and operated on eight—three children with total paralysis who went through a two-stage surgery, and five with partial paralysis of the hand, elbow or shoulder who underwent one surgery. The children ranged in age from 3 to 8 years old. In all cases, the procedure succeeded in restoring some functionality to weakened limbs.

After Mitchell and the Neurology team at CHLA confirmed Maipele’s diagnosis, they prescribed a steroid medication that has been effective on other types of myelitis (inflammation of the spine). Maipele embarked on a program of physical therapy at home in Ventura County and at CHLA.

She made progress in adapting to the use of one arm and learning how to rely on her left hand. But she still couldn’t lift her right arm or hold anything in her palm. Off balance, she even broke the arm in a fall at home.

Deciding on the next step

In April 2017, Maipele’s parents met with Seruya, who guided them through the surgery. In the first stage, he would take six nerves from Maipele’s ribs, transferring three to her arm to enable her to flex her elbow and three to flex her wrist and fingers. “With total paralysis, there are no other available donor nerves in the arm, as all are turned off,” he says. “So we must go elsewhere—in this case the breathing nerves.”

Because Maipele’s arm was totally paralyzed, she would need a second surgery to transfer one of two phrenic nerves from her diaphragm. That would enable her to extend her arm to the side.

Her parents were concerned about Maipele’s asthma. Would the removal of one phrenic nerve affect her breathing? The nerves originate in the neck and pass through the heart and lungs to the diaphragm. Seruya assured them that all previous AFM surgery patients had not shown any signs of compromised breathing or endurance.

“It was a lot to take in,” recalls Carlene. After some thought, they opted for the surgery. “We decided we wanted to give her the opportunity to experience a life with all her extremities,” says Bernard.

Ideally, Seruya prefers to complete the nerve transfer within 12 months of an AFM diagnosis to give the child a better chance at recovery. “The earlier you act, the better,” he says. Maipele made it just under that deadline—11 months. In the early hours of May 2, 2017, she was wheeled into surgery. The procedure took about nine hours. Maipele went home with a soft cast and a sling on her right arm.

On Aug. 10, 2017, CHLA surgeon Cathy Shin, MD, FCS, FAAP, harvested the phrenic nerve from the right side of Maipele’s diaphragm. Then Seruya took over, transferring that nerve to her arm.

Because her breathing nerves would now do the job of movement, Maipele would need to learn how to deploy them. Working with CHLA physical and occupational therapists, she practiced coughing to activate the flexing nerves and exhaling a sharp breath to extend her arm. “All of this tells her brain that her arm is still there,” says her mother.

Through October and November, CHLA doctors and Maipele’s parents saw signs of progress. She could rotate her shoulder and flex her elbow partway. By late December, 3 1/2-year-old Maipele could bend her elbow all the way (“as if she’s doing a bicep curl,” says her dad), open and close her fingers and even grip toys. She’s now also able to put her clothes on by herself—very important for a toddler who loves playing dress-up.

The grip strength in Maipele’s right hand will always be less than it is in her left. But Seruya expects the next year or two to bring continued improvement. “In a word, she’s resilient,” says her father.

Maipele’s progress is being followed by the Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Center, and she continues to see CHLA physical and occupational therapists, along with other team members in Neurology, Pulmonology and Orthopaedics.

“There aren’t enough ‘thank yous’ for everything everyone at CHLA has done for us,” says Carlene. “We are very grateful.”

“We’re excited to see what the future holds for Maipele,” says Bernard, adding that they hope to be a resource for other families who face a diagnosis of AFM.

Guidance for parents

No one knows for certain if AFM cases will increase again this summer. Most symptoms of enterovirus D68, thought to be one link behind AFM, resolve without the need for medical care. The best course of action: Be alert for viral infections this summer and fall. Follow all recommended hygiene practices, such as handwashing protocols and cough etiquette.

If a child has symptoms of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness, followed by sudden weakness or decreased movement in one or more extremities, visit an emergency room or see your doctor immediately.

Article by Candace Pearson, courtesy Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

How you can help:

Refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members considering making a move:

www.ReferralsHelpKids.com or call Corey at 213-880-9910.