liberation said:

dook is on the right. His friend is on the left.

Ah, the clouds are parting.

liberation said:

they better be Now send your support!

Hey guys, it's me - Paul/DOOK This is my super old school account that I never use, but I figured now would be the time to break its silence...

I received correspondence from Dave's family, and there were a few things that I thought I should pass on to you.

* There is currently no known surgery at this point that can make Dave normal. Dave's injury was to his brain stem more so than to his brain and at this time brain stem injuries do not recover. However, since the injury was more to his brain stem than his brain, he is still the same old Dave with the same positive personality. He can carry on conversations via eye movements, use a button near his head to manipulate his computer and recognize friends.

* Dave's family informed me that, since the surgery that can help Dave does not currently exist, any monies sent his way will be put into a trust.

* Dave is a fighter - he's beat the odds in a major way. He's very lucky to be alive considering the extent of his injury - he was in a coma for 5 months following. He is so incredibly positive and he such a strong sense of hope.

* Dave's father linked Dave's email to his Paypal account so you can use stenstrod@yahoo.com if you are interested in helping Dave out (miguel - any chance you can post this in the original message above?)


Anyways, I thought that it was important for you guys to know the above info. I know I say a prayer for Dave almost every night and if any of you could send a prayer or two his way, it would mean a lot to him.

I was going through some old pictures from college the other day and I found some of me and Dave and they made me smile. So, I scanned them and thought I'd share some of them with you!


Me and Dave back in the dorms!



Me looking dumb and Dave looking cool

Hey Dook! Nice pics.

Cheers for the info for Paypal. Sending as we speak.

Let's do this!

Surely this should be a sticky.

Mods?

Fauxie said:

I'm in.

when i read the post on myspace, i thought it was Paul shenanigans.

thanks for the clarification

Fauxie said:

bump

thank you dook!



will papypal tomorrow when i get paid.

retina said:

I'd still like an answer to this quesion please. Even if there is no chance to improve his condition in any significant way I'm sure he could use the money for hospital bills and such, but if there is an actual procedure which could normalize his life again then that would motivate me to make a bigger donation. Also if there is such a procedure, exactly how much would it cost? As with most fund-rasiers; to have a concrete goal in sight, and to regularly be able to measure how far along we've gotten, would be a huge incentive.

i think dook did address that in his last post, retina. the way i see this request is more like addressing the $50 from medicade per month.

i will send a donation to show support, i will write to say hello and tell him what a crazy wonderful friend he has in dook (paul) and i will include a postcard as it would be nice to get correspondence from all over the world.

it's nothing big, but i hope it makes a small difference

emm said:

I admit I just skimmed past that post since I thought it was all about the pictures. Either way I'm still a bit confused about the possibilities since the message from David himself said: "Since Medicaid only gives me $50 per month, I will have to live to be 230 years old to be able to afford stem cell surgery to grow my brainstem back", which seems to imply that there is a surgical procedure available after all. Oh well, even if there is no chance for recovery it's still a very worthy cause. It's just too bad that there is no concrete goal to work towards, if that truly is the case.

emm said:

Oh, that's another thing that I realized after talking with Dave's family... Dave actually receives significantly more from Medicaid than the $50. However, from what I understand, both the money from Medicaid and Social Security are transferred directly to the care facility where Dave is staying. He gets to keep $50 for his personal care account. So, Dave is definitely getting significantly more than $50 in the way of medical care/assistance, but $50 is all that he sees for his personal care account....I just wanted people to know that.

Oh, and I really like emm's idea of post cards from around the world! Even if you don't send money, I KNOW Dave would like to have a postcard or two from wherever you are - it's an inexpensive thing, but I think it would put a smile on his face!

Ptownhood said:

If we want to send a little care package with some fun stuff in it for Dave...what address should we send it to?

applekisses said:

David Stenstrom
4686 East Asbury Circle #206
Denver, CO 80222

Stax said:

Thanks, Stax...was I a dork and just missed this?

Paul, did you explain to Dave that we were gonna be contacting him and that we're a bunch of freaks from a Prince Web site? I just want to make sure he knows how you know me.

applekisses said:

I'm a dork too!

Stax said:

Well, at least you knew where the address was.

Ok, so I am aware there are computer systems that allow the user to operate it through eye movement Does he have one? What does one cost? Can we make it happen? Granted I am rather ambitious but um..... whenever did that stop me?

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Something like that may be a bit ambitious, but there are lots of assistive devices that could be do-able. My uncle has MS and is immobile below the neck. He has lots of gadgets to help him out day to day. Maybe a lift or something?

Stax said:

That is a good start... Where do we begin to make a difference? All things like this are grass root start ups.... How does one create a ground swell? Makes one think!

Hi there,



It's the orger formally known as mrdespues here...

I was touched by this thread and will contribute something via paypal.

Hello to everybody else I know round here...

Stax said:

These are wonderful ideas...let's keep researching and then set our goal!

applekisses said:

Yes!

I don't log in here much at all now.. quite busy ! but I do think of you guys... just sent the payment...


take care all!...

J

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Fantastic idea or maybe an electric wheel chair and ramp. Dook could you ask Dave's family the equipment he needs or may need in the future

The team I help use this website (1 of many) to purchase mobility aids, maybe this website could get us a few idea's then we could set a target amount.
Link: http://www.morethanmobili...lAod5EOxWQ

SSDD said:

hi despues!

just paypal-ed some over.

cborgman said:

hiya cborgman!