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David provided this update, sounds like it's been difficult for Jose.
David was at the beach for the first time in 8 months and its was great to see him back on the water. The amount of support David has provided just goes to show the kind of person David is.
Today by David Ezzy, Organizer
It has been 8 months since Jose's accident and I have some encouraging news to report!
First, I want to thank you for your generous donations. Your donations have paid for all of Jose's medical expenses and transport. Jose is incredibly touched by your outpouring of support for him.
1) Since my last update:
- Jose is still paralyzed from the shoulders down.
- He has regained a bit of movement in his left hand, as well as some feeling in both arms and his abdomen.
- He is completely off the ventilator, breathing on his own and has no problem speaking.
- Jose developed bedsores that went untreated at the first Tucson hospital where he went to be weaned off of the ventilator.
- The bedsores progressed to stage 4, which means they had tunneled to the bone.
- The sores got infected.
- He had many surgeries, removing infected tissue and bone.
- Jose was in 4 different hospitals in Tucson to recover from the bedsores.
- With the focus directed at healing his bedsores, Jose did not receive any rehab for his spinal injury.
- Two months ago, a doctor told Jose that he would never be able to eat solid food. This was because the plate that was used to fuse c4 to c5 vertebrae was impinging on his esophagus.
- Jose proved him wrong! He is now eating everything. His first real meal in 7 months was a chicken enchilada from a Mexican restaurant across the street from his hospital. After his first bite, Jose closed his eyes and was in total ecstasy.
- Through all of this and with the support of his loving daughter, Sirena, Jose maintains a positive attitude and looks forward to meeting his challenges head on.
- Despite the limitations from his injury, Jose shows incredible empathy for everyone he interacts with.
2) The Challenge of Getting Into Rehab:
- With the bedsores healing, we started applying to spinal rehab hospitals a month ago.
- We received rejection after rejection.
- Some saying the bedsores were not healed enough.
- Some saying his Medicare would not cover it.
- Some saying too much time had gone by since his injury.
- Some saying Jose did not fit their algorithm (whatever that means!)
- But, finally one hospital actually SAW Jose as a vibrant human in need of physical rehabilitation, and with a team of five people, went to bat for him. They had to convince their admissions department that Jose would be a good candidate for their hospital. And they did!
3) Jose is Now in Rehab!
- Jose was accepted into California Institute of Rehabilitation in LA.
- They are a joint venture with Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health.
- He was medevaced from Tucson to LA on April 1, 2023.
4) Going Forward:
- Jose is currently being evaluated by the rehab team and it is not clear how long his stay will be.
- I will post updates on this Gofundme page throughout his time in rehab.
- Jose's plan after discharge is to come back to Maui.
Any contribution amount will help get Jose one one step closer to his goal of returning to Maui.
Thank you again for the generous support you have provided to Jose.
Sincerely,
David Ezzy
Hess
> 9 months ago, 31 Aug 2022
That said if foiling in over 15 knots or chance's of doing over 35 on fin I will wear helmet
