RE: Davenport update?

August 9, 2003

Dear Beth,

Thank you for keeping people posted while I was in the hospital. I posted

just now to let everyone know I am home and slowly on the mend. I will get

the stitches out in about three weeks and have six to eight weeks of

recovery. The surgery lasted 10 hours but it was the right surgery and the

right doctors. The main doctor (Dr. ) cut me from the sternum to

the lowest part of my stomach. He cut out all of the infected mesh, scar

tissue, revised my gastric bypass, hand sewed all the hernia areas and then

triple sewed me closed. To say he did a good job is such an understatement.

It has taken me five surgeries to get the abdomen fully closed, but today I

am fully closed and finally on the road to recovery. This operation lasted

almost ten hours but I was only in the hospital twelve days. The last time

the surgery lasted 4 hours but I was in the hospital three months and never

fully closed after a year. So far everything seems to be going great. Please

remember me in your prayers.

My friends, I am originally a Kentuckian and by nature a proud man. I have

never been on social security, welfare or anything like that. I don't

begrudge the people who are and over the past year of sickness have realized

how valuable those services and programs are to people. In fact next week I

have to apply for SSI just to keep from going under. I have a new movie

project but that can't start until I am fully recovered and I am pretty

desperate now. Several people sent checks to help me while I was in the

hospital and I public ally thank each of them here and will send a personal

note to each one. I know it takes a lot of love to give a stranger your hard

earn money and their act of love meant so much to me. Thank you, thank you,

thank you.

If there is anyone in the group that still wants to help me, my home mailing

address is:

Davenport

3609 Canterbury Dr.

Baytown, TX 77521

I would not ask if things weren't so terribly hard right now. I have

exhausted all my resources but am behind on my house and my car and SSI

won't kick in fast enough to save them. I do not mean to be a burden to you

all so will not belabor this matter beyond saying I need help. Anyone that

can help, even if it is only ten or twenty dollars, I would so deeply

appreciate it. That is really how desperate I am right now. Within a month

or two I will be working and then can return the money or share the kindness

with someone else in need.

To me the great beauty of these groups is we help share each others fear

before we have the surgery, the pain after we have the surgery and the

knowledge each of us has gained walking this terribly difficult road. I am

so thankful I found these groups and in some cases, they found me. Without

the love and support from you all, I think there are times I would have

considered suicide. There are hard days behind me and I am sure some hard

days ahead, but thankfully, I know that I will not have to walk them alone.

Changing subjects, I have had some more inquiries about the Bariatric

Transport System. I am probably six months away from having a working

prototype. I have been thinking about where to set up a plant to build these

special ambulances. This area (Houston) is almost too tax heavy to start a

new business here right now. I have been researching grants and loans for a

start-up business. It will save a lot of EMS people from getting hurt trying

to lift those of us over 300 pounds.

I appreciate your continuing thoughts and prayers as I continue to recover

from this latest surgery. My next surgery will be to have the excess skin

removed at my ankle but that is a long way off and an easy surgery. I will

wait on that one until I have a good reserve.

Again, from the bottom of my heart I want to thank everyone who has stood

with me through this long and difficult time. And for all the new people who

don't know my story, I was dropped by two nurses following my original

OPEN-RNY. The doctor had written an order that there were to be four people

any time I was moved and these two nurses decided they would move me since

they were short handed. I ended up on the floor and a couple of days later

my incision opened from the sternum to the belly button, exposing my organs.

I almost bled to death and suffered many infections. I spent almost six

months in the hospital. It has taken multiple operations to repair the

damage caused by those two nurses. Despite that mishap and the many

complications thereafter, I would still have weight loss surgery today. So

to the new people, please don't let complications in any one patient be your

determining factor in proceeding with weight loss surgery. I have endured a

lot of pain this last year but I will endure that much pain again to get rid

of this excess weight and get my life back. Even now, my life is so much

better than it was before. So do your homework work, pick the right doctor,

the right procedure and the right hospital for you but don't give up the