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East Oregonian
LEUKEMIA: Baker ¿rst diagnosed in 2003
Continued from 1A
“We’re taking it day by day,” he
said
The couple sat in the living
room of Winkler’s grandmother’s
house in Athena on Monday during
a respite from hospital life. Baker,
26, lounged on the couch looking
comfortable in her bare feet. An
armband that covers a PICC line port
seemed the only clue of her cancer
struggle as she laughed at the antics
of little Emma, who danced in the
living room. Winkler beamed at his
girls. The little family has learned to
savor the carefree moments.
By that evening, Baker would
be back in the hospital — this time
St. Mary Medical Center in Walla
Walla. It has been a hard road.
+er ¿rst leukemia diagnosis
came in 2003 at age 13 after her
health took a sudden dive. Baker,
then a student at Sunridge Middle
School, said cancer came out of
nowhere like a switch had been
Àipped.
“I was going up the stairs at
school and my legs felt really tired,”
she said. “My friend said my face
looked green. I went home and laid
on the couch.”
When she tried to get up, her
body crumpled. She had a fever of
104 degrees. That night, an emer-
gency room doctor at St. Anthony
Hospital diagnosed leukemia. The
teenager started a regimen of chemo
treatments, spinal taps and blood
transfusions. A couple years later,
she went into remission.
Leukemia returned at age 22,
went into remission, than came back
a year later when Emma was just a
baby.
“Tyna was so sick,” Winkler
said. “For the next year-and-a-half
or two years, we practically raised
Emma out of a daybed at OHSU.
She saw her mom get poked and
prodded and all those tubes. That’s
all she knew. Maybe that’s why
she’s so strong.”
Winkler remains in awe of
Baker’s resilience.
“I’ve seen her doctors’ jaws drop
when they come in and read her lab
reports. She’s a medical marvel.
She hangs on and ¿ghts. It’s really
unfortunate she’s come out of remis-
sion this many times.”
In May, the couple noticed their
toddler was feverish, lethargic and
had achy legs and enlarged lymph
nodes. After taking her in for blood
work, they got the dreaded call —
Emma had leukemia, too.
“The doctor said, ‘You need to
get her to the hospital emergency
room right now,’” Baker recalled.
Emma was loaded on a plane
bound for Portland. Winkler Àew
with Emma while Baker drove the
family car. The little girl started
treatment immediately.
“I felt absolutely horrible,” Baker
said, her voice trailing out. “It’s hard
knowing she got it from me. It’s
easy to be strong for yourself, but
it’s hard to be strong when it’s your
child. I kind of fell apart.”
They marveled at Emma, who
charmed the medical staff and knew
how to put on a blood pressure cuff.
Within hours, she went into surgery
for the insertion of a PICC line and
the removal of a bone sample. The
little girl took it with courage.
“She’s outgoing and strong,”
Winkler said. “She blows me away
every day.”
He and Baker have steeled Emma
for the inevitable loss of her hair.
“We’ve told her she’ll end up
losing her hair the same as her
mom,” Winkler said, “but it’ll grow
back thicker and prettier.”
Things are looking good for
Emma, though she still has two
more years of chemo treatments to
ensure every lingering cancer cell
is destroyed in an effort to avoid
her mother’s multiple relapses.
Baker also faces more treatment
and a likely therapy that involves
reprogramming cells from her own
immune system to ¿ght the disease.
She and Winkler remain steadfastly
optimistic.
“Treatment has taken a toll on
Emma,” Winkler said. “She’s not in
the clear yet, but for the most part,
the doctors are astonished with her.”
The family’s ¿nances are in a
shambles. These are tough times.
Winkler left his job a few years
ago after a gas leak in their apart-
ment gave him carbon monoxide
poisoning and continuing head-
aches. He now co-owns an art glass
business in Walla Walla called
Glassography, but can only work
between treatments. The couple
divides time between the Ronald
McDonald House and the Walla
Walla home of family friend Cyndy
Purcell, who recently started a
donation account at Banner Bank
in the name of Emma Marie Baker.
Purcell, executive vice president
at Banner and mother of one of
Winkler’s high school buddies,
said donations can be made at any
branch.
“This is a young family that’s
had so much heartache,” Purcell
said. “They are battling really hard.”
“Financially, it’s been terrible,”
Winkler said. “There’s nothing
more I want to do than to go back
to my job, but it’s just not possible
right now.”
When he needs some inspiration,
however, he doesn’t have to look
farther than Baker.
“She’s such a ¿ghter,” Winkler
said. “She’s amazed the doctors
over and over.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@
eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-
0810.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
UAV: Punishment for breaking rules
include warning notices, civil penalties
Continued from 1A
“Our message is education
over regulation,” he said.
Beyond some of the safeguards
prescribed by the FAA, Jenson
said the club will teach children
and adults how to conduct a
pre-Àight check and pair one its
22 members with more inexperi-
enced pilots. Jenson said safety is
key when operating RC aircraft,
especially since all pilots face the
occasional crash landing.
Risky behavior is not only
dangerous, it can get UAV opera-
tors in trouble with the law.
In a ¿rst for the state, a Cali-
fornia man was recently arrested
for Àying his drone to close to a
wild¿re north of Sacramento,
requiring authorities to tempo-
rarily ground planes that were
dropping retardant on the ¿re.
The man was charged with a
misdemeanor rather than an FAA
penalty, but the administration
does have the authority to enforce
its rules.
FAA
spokesman
Allen
Kenitzer wrote in an email that
the FAA has a variety of ways of
punishing rule breakers including
warning notices and civil penal-
ties.
Reckless UAV activities can
garner up to $27,500 in civil
penalties and up to $250,000 in
criminal penalties or up to three
years in prison.
“There is no one-size-¿ts-all
enforcement action for violations,”
Kenitzer wrote. “All aspects of a
violation will be considered, along
with mitigating and aggravating
circumstances surrounding the
violation. In general, the FAA will
attempt to educate operators who
fail to comply with registration
requirements. However, ¿nes will
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remain an option when egregious
circumstances are present.”
The prospect of a more de¿ned
set of rules for commercial
drone users is encouraging to
Derrick Westoby, the owner of
Milton-Freewater drone company
OmniFox Aerial.
The commercial rules, which
go into effect Aug. 29, follow
many of the same parameters
as the hobbyist guidelines. But
they also require pilots pass an
aeronautical knowledge exam
and submit to a vetting from the
Transportation Safety Adminis-
tration.
The new commercial drone
rules largely replace the Section
333 Exemption, which required
each drone business to submit
an application to the FAA for
commercial operations.
Westoby said the streamlined
process makes it easier for his
company to do business, even if
it creates more competition by
lowering the threshold for entry.
Westoby said business is going
well for OmniFox, which uses its
drones for precision agriculture
and engineering projects.
The proliferation of UAVs
has the Pendleton School District
considering adding language that
describes the proper use of drones
in a school setting to its of¿cial
policies.
Meanwhile, the city of Pend-
leton continues to push ahead in
making itself a drone-friendly
city.
At a meeting Tuesday, the city
council unanimously approved
an “air park” at Grecian Heights
Park for local UAV enthusiasts.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0836.
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