7/26/04
The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai, where Moses lives, recently featured a story about Moses. It is an inspiring piece that illustrates Mo's fierce commitment to life and the strength and love of his family. read it here

As of 8/28/03
Some neat news is that vocational rehab, a federally funded program to help the disabled get back to work, is now moving forward and we connected with this great guy on Oahu who used to be a pilot and body surfer who became a quad, and now runs a big computer tech co. He is helping to advise us, and out of the two state contracted companies that offer the computer setups, he's got us moving with the best choice for Mo. And the guy who runs it is also a quad. He will be coming over to asess Moses for his needs in mid sept. The plan is to push for desk top for future schooling along the lines of a graphic artist,so that would allow Mo to incorperate his artistic nature with the computer. There is another quad on this island that Sterling refered us to who we will try to meet who does video editing. Plus these folks at rehab will help with enviromental controls and voice activated phone. Satch and Mo are at 29 to 31 games in chess,since Mo got home - with Satch in the lead. Ilove to hear Moses laugh or writhe in happy fustration at loss. a window of joy in the laugh... so, its going to take a while but a good game plan.

As of 8/05/03
We've added a few photos of Mo and the family. As you can see he's looking pretty good - enjoying his food and very happy to be home.

As of 6/30/03
We're doing pretty good. moses has been home since may 29, almost a month. it's GOOD to have him home, after that long battle for his life in that big city/foreign turf of honolulu. here he's awakened every morning by the songs of many birds and a homegrown smoothie...., and at night we're amused & bewondered by an amazing & wild chorus of frogs & toads....it's pretty sweet up here in the hills of kauai.BUT----we need some help. Moses needs more to do, particularly in the realm of reading. He's got a little set-up whereby he can read magazines & newspapers, with one of us turning the pages for him.We use a clothes-pin to hold the reading material to the rack, & the process is slow & time consuming, and me & 'mom' gotta a lot more to do---such as making a living, taking care of the farm, etc.SO, we need what's known in the world of assistive devices as a PAGE-TURNER, so that moses can start reading real stuff, the great literature of man & womankind, .....maybe starting with "Cosmos", by carl sagen,or "shogun", by clavell, or ????? The world of human lit is so vast & wonderful & entertaining, and brain-feeding!! So, moses really needs this page-turner thingee, and they're quite expensive, about $800. !! OW!!we're busy & broke trying to get moses a van with lift for his wheelchair, a good computer system, an excercise machine for quads, etc. So, if anyone out there can help us with money for these needs, or information, or just good communication , we are open & ready to receive!! DON'T be offended or put off by my direct appeal for funds----why should i beat around the bush?.... love to all, Hawk

As of 5/27/03
THE BIG DAY IS NEARLY HERE! Moses is scheduled to be released fom the hospital on Thursday 5/29/03!!! This is the big event for which everyone has been working, hoping and praying. He is finally going home to actually take up his new life. Hawk and Cherry have been preparing for this day for months, getting the house set up to make it as easy as possible for Mo. He will have his own room, but most importantly he will have all of his family available all the time.

As of 4/30/03
They took out Mo's trache today! We were hoping he'd come home by may 20, but as & if he keeps showing more improvement, and therefore more to 'work with', they may want to keep him in the rehab hospital. He wants to come home soon badly --- but might have to wait longer. he's been moving his arms voluntarily !! Just a BIT, but (as you see) a BIG BIT. They have some neat yet simple tool/toys with which he tries to move/manipulate his arms & hands tho it seems like so very little that he can do, (to him), it thrills the heck outta mom/cherry & i don't mind too much, either! So, thought he's "quite down" at times, he is coming along.

As of 4/8/03
Mo's getting better & better. Today they removed the 'peg' from his belly--that they used to feed him through. Chris Reeve had his for 5 years---never ate with his mouth for all that time. soon, (we hope) they'll also be able to remove Mo's trache tube from his throat, YES!! it seems like he'll be home soon, maybe in as little as 6 weeks.

As of 3/19/03
Mo has been pretty much off the vent for the past 2 weeks and completely off it, breathing on his own for 3 days now. He's also beginning to breathe through his nose. This is really big step forward and very good news! He still has the trache in and his voice is very weak so his talking is very limited, but the prognosis for imp[orvement is very positive. He still can't cough so mucous is still a problem, but there is ggod reason to anticipate imporvement there as well. All in all, the last couple of weeks have been really good.

As of 3/09/03
Mo has been breathing on his own for about 8 hours a day. He now needs minimal assistance, but is kept on a respirator at night. This is doubly good news because if he continues to make this kind of progress and can breathe independently, he can be moved to Rehab of the Pacific in Honolulu, and the family can stay in Hawaii instead of having to move to the mainland for his long term care. Each step toward getting home is slow, but more sure today than it was a little while ago.

As of 3/01/03
Moses has achieved a level of stability. He is showing some success at being able to go off the ventilator. Although he has to be on it at night he can now breathr on his own successfully for a good part of the day. They will be looking into the possibility of putting him on a coughilator (replaces the ventilator at night with the primary purpose of extracting mucous from his lungs while he sleeps. He is eating well and is off most of the drugs.

As of 2/04/03
Moses has shown consistent improvement this week and they still feel strongly they can wean him from vent, so now he has been cpap everyday. He's now up to 12 hrs or so. It's complicated - not all on his own but all his own breaths. He's tolerating the cardiac chair 1 hr daily and holding his own neck up - 12 minutes today. Step by step. It can step back so I'm reluctunt to say much tho he is getting stronger. Hes been eating for a few weeks now, but only the stuff we bring he doesn't think much of the hospital food!

As of 1/08/03
Moses is stable, and continues to improve a little. His oxygen needs have dropped from 40% to 28%. His sense of taste is better and Cherry is feeding him lots of good, really natural foods: melons; juices (carrot, celery, broccoli, etc.); turky; ahi; pumpkin; miso; etc. He is having to learn to sit up (which is very hard but a must do), and his physical therapy at this point includes strengthening his neck muscles. His parents have rented a tiny apartment in Makaha on the North Shore. They've had to rent a car and Cherry says it's about a 40 minute drive from the apartment to the Kaiser hospital.

As of 12/21/02
Moses has been moved to the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Aiea, on Oahu. Moses was pretty freaked about being loaded into an ambulance and moved into a strange room and had a panic attack. New doctors, new nurses, new faces Aiea is about 45 minutes from the airport, making it that much more difficult for Hawk and Cherry, and adding more stress and strain for the family as they try to cope with this.

As of 12/17/02
Moses had a speech therapist come and see him and he is ok for swallowing, so he has been eating the last 3 days (pudding and apple sauce). They also can release the cuff so that he can now speak a couple times a day. I've been hesitant to run to the world with the news but its been 3 days and his volumes have been strong - more good signs.

As of 12/05/02
Mo's breathing ability has seen marked improvement. He was able to breathe on his own for the past 48 hours, with only minimal assistance from the ventilator. This is very encouraging. He still has the trache and can't talk, but there is good reason to hope that in the next few days he might be able to start taking some liquids.

As of 12/04/02
The nurses are all on strike, but the state flew in nurses from out of state so our beloved mo and all the other paitents are being taken care of. Not a much change in Mo's condition. It seems that soo Mo will be moved the the Kaiser Hospital (his insurance carrier) in Aiewa. This will make it more difficult for the family as that hospital has no overnight facilities for family members, and Aiewa is about 40 minutes outside of Honolulu.

As of 11/30/02
This past week, despite a collapsed lung again and another “bronch” Mo's doing better. As time passes, the necessity of periodically clearing phlegm or fluid build up from his lungs is less frequent than it was at the beginning. He's gone from needing that process every other day to every couple of weeks. So that's great news. The process of getting Moses off the vent is slow but it is happening and that continues to be the main focus for Moses, the doctors and the family.

As of 12/04/02
The nurses are all on strike, but the state flew in nurses from out of state so our beloved mo and all the other paitents are being taken care of. Not a much change in Mo's condition. It seems that soo Mo will be moved the the Kaiser Hospital (his insurance carrier) in Aiewa. This will make it more difficult for the family as that hospital has no overnight facilities for family members, and Aiewa is about 40 minutes outside of Honolulu.

As of 11/23/02
they gave mo too much downers last night, he was pretty blurry in the a.m., & Cherry was discouraged, but upon returning from the marker, he had been sat up by his nurse, and had been breathing on his own for several hours, and it turned into an elated day for Cherry. He still has some sort of mechanical pressure support keeping his lower lungs inflated...even though he is breathing his own breaths.

As of 11/15/02
Mo is doing good - kinda par for the course of this type of injury. They had him sit up yesterday for 45 minutes which is good because you tend to have blood pressure problems at first. He still is improving slowly, lung-wise, and he is in an opiate stream right now which he will probably start getting weaned from as he gets stronger tiese next couple weeks - so onward we go one step at a time

As of 11/12/02
There is very little change in Moses' condition over the long weekend, other than continued (albeit painfully slow) improvement with breathing. The medications continue to cause unpleasant side effects but doctors and nurses are addressing that issue now. Yesterday's session with the Chinese healing master, Jishou Yang, went really, really well. Cherry was so pleased with his seminar, as well as his subsequent work on - and demeanor around -Moses, who responded very positively to his presence and touch. He will continue with regular visits in the near future. Cherry is going to e-mail in more detail about this encouraging and deeply spiritual experience. Jackie was able to visit and lend support to Cherry and Mo for a few days and attend the seminar at the hospital with Cherry.

As of 11/08/02
The pneumonia is under control now and Mo's lungs are improving. His abililty to breathe on his own is also steadily improving. Keep sending your love, he's starting to read his mail! Mo's been moved out of the critical ICU to a less critical section. he's had his ups and downs with med changes, but the physical body is starting to kick back in in small but significant ways. Although he's still on the respirator, Mo has seen steady improvement in his ability to breathe on his own for short periods. Cherry managed to convince a Qui Gong master to come and see Mo and work on him next week. if you're not familiar with Qui Gong, just let me say that it's been known to perform cures when western medicine calls cases hopeless.

As of 11/04/02
Cherry said she felt - and the doctors did too - "upper bicep movement" - they believe his injury is below that so it makes sense. Cherry and the doctors felt Moses "push back" -so there's something there. He had to be "bronched" again tonite which isn't fun - they clean out the phlegm from his lungs, but sedate him a little for it because it's very unpleasant and they don't like to do it too often because it's not good for the lungs. Today there seems to be less secretions from the lungs which is very good news. Other good news - his stomach had shut down for a while, but now it's kicking in again, so they will be trying solid food on him again in the next couple of days.

Yesterday was a little tough - some nausea and stomach problems associated with medications he's receiving, but as soon as nausea passed Moses was very quick to flash his pearly whites and hold his irresistible ear to ear grin. Great news today is that he's been oxygenating periodically at 100%!! This means his body is beginning to properly process the oxygen that he's taking in. This is another positive step toward breathing on his own.

As of 11/01/02
The doctors are now calling Moses' injury "complete" as opposed to "incomplete". Incomplete injuries usually have varied amounts of sensation or movement in various parts of the body. A complete injury means that there is nothing happening below the level of the injury. So "complete" is not good - BUT it's still way too soon to tell anything because the injury's only two weeks old. And doctors in these kinds of injuries are legally required and paid to be pessimists.

As of 10/29/02
Mo spiked a 55 on the breathing apparatus which means he's taken a giant step toward breathing completely on his own. A week ago when he was tested, he was at a minus 5, so this is excellent progress. Cherry, Hawk, family and doctors are very, very happy with this progress. Keep the faith and the positive vibes -they're working their miracles already!!

As of 10/27/02
The tracheotomy went well. It was necessary because quadraplegics need to learn to breathe differently, using their diaphragms. Hawk said Moses was smiling ear to ear and looked beautiful.

Moses is fighting a gastral problem right now. Apparently, it's common among people suffering this kind of injury. The good news is that he has this problem because he's trying to breathe on his own - but right now there's a tube there so air bubbles form and so this - along with all the medications - upsets his stomach. The great news is that the doctors had Moses sit up for the first time over the weekend. Today Moses is scheduled for a tracheotomy. Hawk has been there since Saturday and Cherry will stay at home on Kauai until Wednesday when they will trade places again. The ICU will accommodate any and all visitors for Mo until 8:00 pm nightly. After 8:00 p.m. it's family only.

As of 10/27/02
The problem continues to be breathing, and Mo is still on a respirator, though the docs have turned down the # of times per minute it works as Mo is able to breathe more times per minute on his own. Right now it's 10x p/m for Mo and 10x p/m for the respirator. By Tuesday they'll try to take him off the respirator and put him on a ventilator, which is a lot better for his long term ability to breathe on his own. The gunk in his lungs had abated by yesterday morning, and the nurse said that the 7am x-ray looked good. It will be a long, slow process, and everyone's thoughts and prayers are needed all the time. Just breathe for Mo whenever you become conscious of your own breathing, and it will help, I promise! Love, Fran

As of 10/25/02
Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day for Mo. He's fighting a mild case of pneumonia and had a lot of phlegm in his lungs. This morning was better.

As of 10/23/02
Moses broke his C3, C4 and his C5 is affected too. Those who break C1 and C2 (eg. Christopher Reeve) are likely on a respirator for the rest of their lives. He DID NOT break those and so that's good. Moses is on a respirator at first just to help him breathe and to be sure he's getting all the oxygen he needs. After a short while they wean C3 patients off the respirator. The doctor's plan was to get him off the respirator by Friday, but there's been a change of plans. He's got a problem with one of his lungs being stubborn and wanting to deflate which is causing a little concern for the doctors.

Swelling is the biggest determining factor re prognosis and recovery of some movement. They will only know how much movement he has after the swelling has gone down. That takes up to six months. We've also read on a spinal cord injury website that some movement can come back as late as 18 months after the accident because swelling was still there up to that time. But Mo's doctors are saying most swelling will be down for the most part by 6 months. So seems it's a guessing game until 6 months have passed.

The general feeling is the sooner they can wean him off the respirator the better. The body gets used to it, apparently, and doesn't want to work at breathing on it's own if a patient stays on it too long. The Catch 22 is the problem with this partially deflated lung. The cursory understanding is that this lung issue needs to be resolved before they can remove him from the respirator. Moses, however, has displayed his indominable spirit and the ability to breathe on his own by taking a few breaths on his own over the last couple of days. This is great news.

Everyone around Moses right now feels there's no brain damage. He's been sleeping a lot of the time. But when he's awake he seems totally cognizant of what is going on. He's terrified, but he's strong.

He had surgery on Monday, Oct. 21st, and that went well. It confirmed his spinal cord is NOT severed. We believe that gives more room for greater improvement and movement with rehab in the future.

Friends are flying over now. This is so crucial to keeping spirits up. Pat Leo and Mo's girlfriend, Jenny have already kept vigil. Fran and David and Meg Mitchell and Josh Leo are flying over soon. Ann-Marie and other mainland friends will fly in whenever there's a gap.

We think it's really important that there always be someone there with him and and his parents. They need support. This is so exhausting. We hope we can all band together and make sure - someone is always there - physically there - over the next few months.

If you are reading this and you want to get involved in the support of this deserving family, please e-mail Kip Winsett at kipwin@cox.net, or Ann-Marie Blix at anamari3@attbi.com, or Joanie Wells at mjwells1@earthlink.com.