I got to do one more thing to help out Carla and Lance.

The second I heard about a screening for Star Trek II to benefit Lance and Carla, I emailed furiously to get the chance to design the poster. I talked to Jennifer Rose at Santa Barbara’s Downtown Organization and she gave me the go-ahead. A few hours of work, some back-and-forth, and this was the result. They’ll soon be up around town and please feel free to distribute this however you wish. I’d be glad to provide higher-resolution or resized versions of this poster for anybody who needs one.

Write to Carla and Lance.

If you wanted to write to Carla or Lance, here are their addresses. There’s also an address for Metro Entertainment. Jon there said that he’d make sure anything sent there would get to them. (I’d only send a card or something right now; it’s not likely they’re going to have much room for “stuff” at the moment.)

Carla Hoffman
BICU, bed #4
101 The City Drive
Orange, CA 92868

Lance Hoffman
BICU, bed #6
101 The City Drive
Orange, CA 92868

Metro Entertainment
attn: Carla and/or Lance Hoffman
6 West Anapamu
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

An Update on Carla and Lance.

There’s a Facebook group established, where got this update from Jason, Carla’s brother:

Hi Everyone,

We last saw Carla and Lance today at around 2:00. The staff were
working with Carla, taking blood and other samples for testing. Other
staff were completing Lance’s hydrotherapy (cleaning the burns). It
takes a lot of work and time to perform this for Lance due to his size
and also his tendency to resist the treatment somewhat. Cleaning all
of the burns is very painful and typically requires additional
sedation/pain medication. This is performed once daily and involes
completely redressing their burns.

Carla has burns on her arms, back, hands, and thighs, about 33% of her
body. Lance has burns on his hands, arms, face, and feet, about 22% of
his body. Fortunately, the burns on his face do not seem to be more
than 2nd degree and we are told his appearence will return to normal.
He’s pretty swollen right now. Their conditions are about the same
based on where the burns are and their degree.

Both Carla and Lance continue to be medicated and sedated (2 mg
Morphine/ hour and I don’t know how much Atavan) and are both on
respirators. Carla is being respirated at 15 breaths per minute. She
has increased the number of breaths per minute to as high as 22, by
breathing on her own. Lance is being respirated at 18 breaths per
minute and has gone as high as 24, also breathing more on his own.

Their heart rate and blood pressure are being kept stable.

The doctors will make rounds twice daily. Every Monday they take
photos and evaluate the progress of the burns. Any third-degree burns
will be treated with surgery as soon as possible. Dr. Lane stated they
might begin surgery as soon as Wednesday. If they feel that Lance and
Carla are strong enough, they will take skin graphs for the
replacements. If not, they will use cadaver skin.

The staff indicates that this is all normal in patients recovering
from the level of burns that they have.

The BICU has six beds, total. Carla and Lance have their own nurse,
each, as well as the charge nurse and several attending physicians.
The staff nurse in charge today has over 20 years of experience in
burn treatment and therapy.

Yesterday I watched them stabilize Carla after a drop in blood
pressure and, although it was frightening, it was also really amazing
how effective their treatment was.

We will call the BICU tomorrow after rounds and update everyone with
their report. Both Mom and I returned home (SB and SF) but plan stay
with Carla and Lance again on Friday.

Jason

Help Out Carla and Lance Hoffman.

Carla Hoffman is, bar none, one of my absolute favorite people in the comics blogosphere. She’s got an unbridled enthusiasm for the medium that can quickly be turned into a razor-sharp wit you don’t want to be on the receiving end of. Her husband, Lance, is a gentle bear of a man, all wrestler muscle and watchful eyes, with a warm smile and a basso profondo laugh that you hear weeks after you’ve met him.

As you probably know, they were caught in the recent fires that swept through Santa Barbara and have been placed in a burn unit, where they’re in critical-but-stable condition. Their home has been completely destroyed in the blaze as well, leaving them in pretty dire straits. More than anything, once they’re out of the hospital, they’re going to need money to get back on their feet again.

The Lance and Carla Burn Fund has been established for them at Santa Barbara Bank And Trust, located at 1483 East Valley Rd, Montecito, CA 93108-1248. I’m going to swing by my bank today and ask about transferring some money to them, and I’d really like to encourage everyone else to do the same. The second I know more information, I’ll get it out to you guys.

Edited To Add Currently, there is no way to directly transfer money to Carla and Lance’s fund. I dropped a check to them today via Priority Mail. Make your check out to The Lance And Carla Burn Fund and mail it to:
Santa Barbara Bank & Trust
1483 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA 93108-1248

Please make the effort, if you can. They’ll need all the help they can get.