MARBLE FALLS — Wayward balloons may be to blame for a 30-minute power outage affecting residents and businesses along U.S. 281 and RR 1431 Friday morning.

Pedernales Electric Cooperative spokeswoman Anne Harvey said the balloons floated too close to a group of power lines on 1431, becoming tangled and knocking out power to about 300 homes and businesses.

Crews from PEC quickly restored power, though the outage left several major traffic intersections without signal lights. Police were dispatched to direct traffic until power was restored.

No injures or accidents were reported due to the outage.

Authorities were not sure where the balloons originated.

MARBLE FALLS — High levels of protein in his urine — that’s what the doctor told Nik Schappe in 2005. "It meant my kidneys were failing," Nik said.

"He was 34 years old and his kidney failed. How? Why? We had all these questions," wife Freda Schappe said. "We didn’t have any answers."

Nik, underwent almost a year of tests before a kidney biopsy revealed four possible causes — including Fabry disease, a rare genetic disorder with multiple symptoms that lead to renal failure, fatigue, cardiac issues, stroke and burning pain in limbs.

Now, four years after countless ups and downs, numerous hopes and disappointments and major lifestyle upheavals, the Schappes focus on one thing — getting through this as a family.

"We couldn’t give up," Freda said. "We were talking about his life."

And thanks to a father’s generosity and a mother’s selfless sacrifice, Nik and Freda are entering a future that looks a little brighter since Feb. 19.

But first there were challenges to overcome, including his mother being diagnosed with the same disease and his father’s fight to beat cancer before donating a kidney.

Warning signs

In retrospect, the signs were there in his youth — painful fingers and hands during childhood soccer games, just for starters. But Nik never knew a genetic disease plagued his body until in 2005 when the Austin firefighter noticed his left ankle and foot swelling.

"But it came and went," he said.

Then one night, Nik was sitting at a computer desk when he felt intense pressure in his ankle and foot. He pulled his leg back and stared down in disbelief.

"My foot and ankle were about the size of a Big Bertha (golf club)," Nik said.

After a few tests, the doctor told Nik the amount of protein in his blood was higher than normal.

"That’s a textbook example of kidney problems," Freda said.

After that night, the next year of the Marble Falls couple’s life became one of tests, questions and few answers, usually followed by more questions.

Finally, a nephrologist did a kidney biopsy.

"It came back with four possibilities — one of which was Fabry disease," Freda said.

Even as it became clearer that Nik suffered from Fabry disease, they were left still with a lot of questions and handed some misinformation. One doctor told the Schappes that Nik’s kidneys were operating at 40 percent of their capability. Though it’s significantly less than normal, the physician told them since it took 34 years for the organs to deteriorate to that level, then Nik probably had some time left before they became much worse.

A second opinion a few months later revealed Nik’s kidney efficiency had slipped to 10 percent — clearly life threatening.

Medical research journals note that Fabry disease is so rare, it is often misdiagnosed.

Getting answers

The two managed to learn more about Fabry only through "God looking out for us," Freda said.

A friend in Colorado was having dinner with a retired pathologist and told him about Nik’s health issues. The doctor asked her what Nik had been diagnosed with.

"She told him he probably had never heard about it," Freda said. It turned out the doctor was not only familiar with Fabry, he’d diagnosed a woman with it.

Thanks to that connection, the Schappes began networking with other patients and physicians.

"(Doctors) basically get a paragraph in their textbook about it," Nik said.

Through their new support network, the Schappes learned that pharmaceutical company Genzyme was pioneering treatments in renal failure, including Fabry. In 2005 Genzyme introduced Fabrazyme — the only current treatment.

Along with the treatment, Genzyme stepped forward to provide something else the couple so desperately wanted — answers.

Fabry, they learned, was a genetic disease that showed up aggressively in males typically when they reached their late 30s to early 40s. Nik’s father Jerry Schappe never had any renal issues, so they turned their attention to Nik’s mother Doris Schappe and her side of the family.

Genzyme flew down several experts on the disease and hosted a dinner at the IBC Bank in Marble Falls for 34 of Nik’s relatives on his mother’s side.

"Of the 35 people in the family, there were only three that were not at risk," Freda said.

The screening determined that none of Doris’ siblings had the disease, so they couldn’t pass it on to their children. But Doris and Nik’s sister did.

Though his sister hasn’t begun treatments, Doris started the biweekly Fabrazyme infusions along with Nik.

"I don’t have any major organ damage," Doris said. "I’ve had symptoms of the disease, but the symptoms are also symptoms of other diseases. Until Nik started having kidney problems, I didn’t even know I had it."

Living with 
Fabry disease

For Nik, the most pressing need following his kidney-failure diagnosis was dialysis. Doctors recommended peritoneal dialysis, where a catheter is attached to the body through the abdomen wall.

"Peritoneal dialysis works best for me and my job," Nik said. While he is an Austin firefighter, Nik works in the dispatcher’s office.

The move to peritoneal dialysis came with some bumps. After surgeons installed the catheter, Nik became sick until the incision healed.

"He went catatonic at one point," Freda said.

"It was the worst month of my life," Nik said.

Nik’s nerve endings weren’t getting enough oxygen. When the pain hit, it came hard.

"I would come in and find him on the floor writhing in pain," Freda said.

Eventually physicians were able to modify his medication and prescribe pain killers to relieve much of the pain.

Freda, who had been a computer programer traveling up to four days a week, started staying closer to home. She began selling Mary Kay products and also became a certified dog trainer.

Mom and dad make sacrifices

Once Nik’s initial condition stabilized, the couple began exploring the one option that could give Nik his life back — a kidney transplant.

He didn’t have to look far to find a possible donor.

"I was an obvious choice," his father Jerry Schappe said. "And I didn’t hesitate."

Jerry underwent the screening process in 2007 to determine if he could give a kidney. While almost everything looked good, doctors noted a high prostate-specific antigen. This led to a prostate biopsy.

"I had cancer," he said.

"But they caught it extremely early," Nik said.

"They would never have found it in the normal testing," Jerry said. "Had I not gone through the (transplant) screening, they would not have caught it that early."

Jerry opted to have his prostate removed.

But this meant his transplant viability was shot since a candidate must be cancer free for at least two years under the hospital’s guidelines.

Hopes crashed for the Schappes.

A few other people interested in donating a kidney to Nik weren’t viable either.

"I’ll be honest. We went through a bout of depression," Freda said.

Eventually, Nik sought help. During this period, Freda learned that Scott & White Health Center in Temple would allow Nik to get on their transplant list even if he was on another one.

Genzyme limits 
treatment medication

Last summer, Nik and Doris learned Genzyme had to shut down the manufacturing of Fabrazyme due to possible contamination of its facility. So the company notified Nik and Doris that they would have to cut back on the biweekly treatments to conserve the drug’s supply.

Without the regular infusions, Nik’s health could seriously be in jeopardy. So the woman who gave birth to Nik decided to make one more sacrifice for her son. In October 2009 she gave up her treatments so Nik could still stay on his scheduled infusions.

"I said I needed Nik to have this," she said. "Without this, he dies."

After more than two years of being cancer free, Jerry resubmitted to the transplant screenings in December 2009 — this time through Scott & White in Temple.

The end game

In January, the phone rang in Nik and Freda’s Marble Falls home. It was somebody from Scott & White. They had a date and time available for the transplant surgery.

Nik laughed when he recalled the conversation.

"I said, ‘What’s the earliest date?’ They said, ‘Feb. 19.’ And I said, ‘Book it.’"

There was some hesitation on the other end of the phone. Nik said the caller asked whether he should check with his dad.

"’No,’ I told them, ‘he’s retired and he can go any day."

Jerry laughed, shrugged and smiled. "It’s true."

On Feb. 18, Nik, Freda, Doris and Jerry drove to Temple where the father and son checked in to the hospital. The next day, Jerry underwent four hours of surgery, starting at 8:30 a.m. as Dr. Patrick Lowry removed his left kidney by a laparoscopic procedure. Nik’s surgery started a few minutes after that, lasting about six hours.

When it was done, Nik went into the intensive care unit for a few days before being transferred to a regular room. Jerry returned home Feb. 23.

"I couldn’t wait to get home," he said.

The doctors told the family that things looked good with the transplanted kidney. Some of the medication gave Nik nausea, but by Friday Doris said things seemed to have leveled out for her son.

"If things go OK, he may be able to check out Saturday (Feb. 27)," she said. "(Freda and Nik) have a hotel room near the hospital so they’ll probably stay there the first night. That way if he doesn’t feel right, the hospital is right there. But if that goes all right, they could be home by Sunday (Feb. 28)."

When Nik learned the hospital gave him and his father a thumbs up as recipient and donor, he thought of something he hasn’t been able to do since the catheter was put in.

"The thing I’m looking forward to the most is going swimming," he said before the surgery. "That’s one of the reasons we moved here. But I haven’t been able to enjoy the lakes for so long now. Hopefully that all changes."

"Yeah, things are looking a lot brighter now," his wife said. "It won’t be smooth all the way, but it will be better. If it hadn’t been for our family and our faith — I don’t know how we would have got this far."

daniel@thepicayune.com

BURNET — When it comes to longevity, just look to the 38 families honored Thursday by state and local dignitaries for maintaining the same ranch or farm property for 100 years or more.

The C.C. Barton Ranch near CR 200 and the Shifflet Ranch west of Marble Falls were among several farms and ranches recognized during a special gathering at the Herman Brown Free Library, 100 E. Washington St.

The Texas Family Land Heritage Program will officially accept the Barton and Shifflett ranches June 4 in Austin at the Capitol. The program honors Texas farms and ranches in continuous operation by the same family for a century or longer, according to officials.

“These ranches and farms are living Texas treasures,” Gov. Rick Perry said in a prepared release.

The same family has operated the C.C. Barton Ranch since 1907, while the Shifflett Ranch has been maintained by the same family since 1858.

“It is in my blood, and I love it, and so does my wife,” said Shifflett Ranch owner Tommy Shifflett, referring to his spouse Jo Ellen Shifflett.

Rick Rhodes, the Texas Department of Agriculture Assistant Commissioner for Rural Economic Development, praised the family ranch owners, most of whom have operated by the same property since the late 19th century.

“They believe in the basic principles of life, food and clothing,” Rhodes said. “They are strong, and they have endured the ups and downs of the agricultural industry.”

County Judge Donna Klaeger also commended both ranch families during the ceremony.

“We appreciate your service to home and history,” Klaeger said. “As a rural county, we want to make sure we continue our heritage.”

Since it began 36 years ago, the program has honored more than 4,300 farms, and the recognition permits recipients to display a sign on their property to document the family history as recorded in the Family Land Heritage Registry.

To qualify for the program, the farm or ranch owner must be a Texas resident who can trace ownership from the first landowner to the present, and the land must be in use, officials have said.

raymond@thepicayune.com

BURNET — Local law enforcement officers will soon be able to train for the use of deadly force in a mobile simulator that features real-life scenarios. Federal stimulus funds of more than $364,000 will pay for the simulator, Marble Falls Police Chief Mark Whitacre recently told the Burnet County Commissioners.

“It sounds pretty exciting,” County Judge Donna Klaeger said.

The simulator will be mounted onto a trailer and hauled by truck to various police agencies for officer training, according to Capital Area Council of Governments Deputy Director Sheila Jennings.

“It will offer a nonlethal means to train officers on the use of force through simulated exercises,” Jennings said. “The simulator will include a computer that will be programed to set different scenarios and train officers to respond to different situations.”

Situations could include a person held hostage, an individual reaching for what might or might not be a gun or other tests that use footage of actors.

In some confrontations, officers often have only a few seconds to make life-or-death decisions that have long-term ramifications, justice experts said. Simulators go a long way to help officers learn to quickly adapt to such situations.

Advanced Interactive Systems is currently constructing the simulator in Fort Worth, Jennings said.

The simulator could be ready in six months.

“It will certainly be available to all (law enforcement) agencies within the CAPCOG region” including Burnet County, Whitacre said.

raymond@thepicayunetv.com

JOHNSON CITY — Pedernales Electric Cooperative directors say they have a long road ahead to regain the trust of members stung by more than 30 years of what some called “autocratic” rule. That announcement came on the heels of a nine-month survey released Monday, which revealed that just half of the co-op’s membership view PEC as “trustworthy.”

The study, conducted by Austin-based Somerset Guild, showed that 21 percent of respondents view PEC as untrustworthy, while the remainder were neutral or didn’t know.

PEC Board Vice President Cristi Clement said the study shows where improvements are needed — especially when it comes to building members’ trust once again.

“What we need now are our areas of weakness,” she said. “We can focus on those areas and expand on what we need to do rebuild.”

The $250,000 study was commissioned to give PEC leaders a look inside what members think of the co-op, according to General Manager Juan Garza.

“We conducted this research to learn the true perceptions of PEC from members and stakeholders,” Garza said. “We have chosen the road of open communication, so this information was presented in open session of our board meeting.”

There was some good news in the data — 77 percent of co-op members were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with PEC’s service, while 84 percent of co-op employees stated they are “proud to be part of the PEC organization.”

Even so, Clement said the middling score on trustworthiness indicates damage left by previous PEC leaders.

The co-op until 2008 was run by former General Manager Bennie Fuelberg, who left office amid allegations of wrongdoing including money laundering and theft. Fuelberg and former PEC attorney Walter Demond were indicted in June 2009 on charges of money laundering, breach of fiduciary duty and theft by a Blanco County grand jury. Both are awaiting trial.

The board itself, under Fuelberg, was accused of accepting inflated salaries for little work while restricting fair elections and member input.

“I think (the survey) more clearly reflects the impact of autocratic rule,” Clement said. “I think there’s damage there, and we know that. The lack of trust has been well-earned by the leadership.”

Since Fuelberg’s departure, Clement said the co-op has worked overtime to restore its image, primarily through openness.

“There’s a lot more that we need to do on just building trust,” she said. “When we say open, we really mean open. Sometimes there’s the good, the bad and the ugly, but putting it out there is more honest than erring on the side of being closed.”

Now that the data have been collected, Garza said the co-op will focus on improving relations with members and employees.

“We’re already working on initiatives to address concerns raised in the report,” he said. “I’m visiting each office and inviting every employee to further discuss any issues or ideas they have to move the cooperative forward.”

PEC, at more than 220,000 member-owners, is the nation’s largest  member-owned electric cooperative. It was formed more than 70 years ago under the purview of former President Lyndon Johnson.

Meanwhile, during Monday’s board meeting, directors agreed to put a members’ bill of rights before consumers for a vote during a June general meeting, but failed to approve  an overhaul of the utility’s bylaws.

chris@thepicayune.com

BURNET — The City Council during a brief meeting Tuesday named several appointments to government boards. Also, city officials have announced a format change for utility bills.

Meanwhile, Paula Bundrant was appointed to the Burnet Housing Authority to fill the unexpired term of A.B. Daugherty.

“I think we ought to appoint her — she’s a good person,” Councilman Paul Shell said.

The council also re-appointed three members of the Planning and Zoning Commission — Jim Roberts, George Laudenschlager and Bret Burton. The Board of Adjustment saw four members re-appointed to its board — Joy Taylor, Johnny Henderson, Dale Myer and Steve Newton. Also, the council appointed Tasha Lowe and Chad Nelson to the Economic Development Corp. board of directors.

The council also approved a resolution for the EDC to purchase land from the Burnet Municipal Airport at U.S. 281 and John Kelly Street for airport improvements and a site for a proposed fire station.

In other news, the city has changed its format for issuing utility bills.

Beginning in March, the Utilities Department will switch from its current postcard-style bill to letter size, officials said.

The new format will show electric and water usage during the year as well as the previous month’s bill, and also include a newsletter.

There will not be any change to the timing of the billing or the due dates, officials said.

For more on the change, call the city at (512) 756-6093. The council next meets 6:30 p.m. March 9 at council chambers, 2402 S. Water St., which also is the air museum at the municipal airport on U.S. 281.

andrew@thepicayune.com