Saturday, August 28, 2010

Fw: Don't Let Meg Whitman Get Away With This...

Dear Frank,

Image: Meg                         Whitman

Meg Whitman is spreading falsehoods about California's in-home care program.

But you can help set the record straight.

Take Action: Email Your State Representatives

Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor of California, claimed in a recent radio ad that In-Home Supportive Services was one of three public programs in which "there are billions of dollars of fraud," and vowed to empanel a grand jury to investigate these supposed abuses.

She's wrong about the claim -- plain and simple. Review after review of of state and county IHSS programs have found that there exists less-than-1-percent to 2 percent of suspected cases of fraud in the system -- which constitute FAR less than the "billions of dollars" claimed by Whitman.

Take Action: Email Your State Representatives

Of course, any fraud is unacceptable. But so are Whitman's attempts to demonize In-Home Supportive Services on the basis of unproven allegations about fraud in the program.

This is why it's so important that we build an ongoing grassroots movement around in-home care. Because in raising our voices together, we can drown out the falsehoods of those who seek to undermine IHSS.

In-home care is a cost-effective program that saves California billions of dollars by allowing low-income seniors and the disabled to remain safely at home, and out of costly nursing facilities.

Take Action: Email Your State Representatives

Tell Them that IHSS is Efficient, Cost-Effective and Part of the Solution to California's Budget Problems.

doug oakley article

http://dougoakley.blogspot.com/

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_15788898?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com&nclick_check=1

a return of the thanks back to you

Thanks for your reply.

I saw the article in the trib: my, you’re good looking!

I’ll try to attach a poem I wrote last weekend.

Blessings to you and your friends! alan



Pride for prayers they never get to hear

The kindnesses you gave me decades or weeks ago,
I’m treasuring them now. You dear.
Tho I can’t tap out emails, I send thoughts of thanks that you cannot hear.

35 years of treatment, & the old boy still does have the blues.
Today he’s feeling better in his head, wondering what it was the Isley Brothers said.

When you’re down & feel like giving up, it’s the pride.
When you’re sick, maybe on the street, it’s the pride.
It’s the pride that keeps you goin on. It’s the pride.

71 years alive, your children sometimes feel like a weight
you can’t hold.
Yet you cough up what support you can, tho you’re old.
You honor yourself anyway, loving them less than perfectly.
Or you hit the brain stroke
and can only gesture with an eyelid, so much work.
It’s the pride one afternoon makes you go for broke ,
and blink like a child.

When your loved one, and loved ones died it’s the pride.
It’s the pride polishes your memories, inside today,
that carries them tomorrow.
And when your pride evaporates to thin and gone, it’s the pride.
It’s the worth of your love starts you on again, from a hollow emptiness.

Could be before you expire, you’ll give
one last caring gasp of fire.
It will be the pride,
a value for the love of what’s outside you,
still occasionally scraping itself, still popping itself up
from the momentary ego that you were.

* * * * *

Alan, all i can say to your great poem is EXACTLY!

would you like to be on my email community, THE E-SALON?

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

thanks

for your kind words, Alan. I think Of the fliers as the first ring of a performance. Glad to hear they work!

I am recovering from two months in the hospital. So I don't know when the next performance will be. Keep a lookout!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Re: ann cohen

Hi Frankie,


Louise called that very moment :)
Indeed magical!!


Heaps of hugs to everyone,
Paul

Friday, August 27, 2010

Fw: Re: Frank Moore

* * * * *

even when I am recovering, I'm a Media Player, speaking out!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Fw: Frank Moore

(Linda wrote:)

Hi Doug,

The article on Sunday in the Contra Costa Times was great!
We love the photos of us!

Lula Chapman commented on your note "your assignment"...

Lula Chapman commented on your note "your assignment":

"uhhh, how do i do that?"

* * * * *

I am back!

either post your videos on the universal underground video bank on facebook or send the racy videos directly to me .

Frank Moore
Inter-Relations
P.O. Box 11445
Berkeley, CA 94712

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Re: Donation From Vinnie and Jackie

(Tom Schulte wrote:)

I just made a donation, too - thanks for giving Outsight Radio Hours a home on LUVeR.com

...I looked into making some purchases to support things and have some visible signs of support about when I saw the store is offline?

**************************************
"Don't be normal, be natural!"
http://www.outsight.mu
http://www.myspace.com/outsightradiohours
http://www.facebook.com/outsight
http://twitter.com/outsightradio
Search for "Outsight Radio Hours" in iTunes!

* * * * *

well, your show literally rocks!

The donation will help! Thanks!

the catalog is still up, even though the store isn't. So you can still buy what you want!

http://www.eroplay.com/VOP/catalog.html

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

ann cohen

yesterday Ann Cohen came over to do a very magical concert of Songs and poems. Some of the poems were by her late husband, Allen... a major alternative cultural figure of the sixies [the force behind the San Francisco underground paper THE ORACLE and the organizer of THE BE- IN [trying to bring the San Francisco hippies and the Berkeley political activists together].

Ann is a force herself... playing her hand made harp as we talked, making up Songs jamming with what we were saying.

we were kids in ann's school for tots.

When we were talking about Louise Scott [who opened everything up for me forty years ago], Louise called right then. magic.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

kittee (8/11/10)

today is a sad day here. We have to say Good-by to Kittee, our twenty year old Siamese cat . He waited until we got back home from hospital. He spent the last weeks on my lap night and day ... Very demanding.
Even when he couldn't hardly walk, he climbed aboard.

[hours later]

they brought his body back home to be put in our back yard with the other two. He has gone to the vet's almost every day for fluids for over a year. He established relationships with every person there [they would talk to him, not to us]. So he went to sleep among his adoring fans as well as Linda and mikee. What a way to go.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Re: Fw: expanding

You guys are so dear. Thanks for sharing, Frank and Linda!
Stay full of life, joy and love.

Kaitlin

* * * * *

Kaitlin, it meant a lot to me that you came and sang to us.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Donation From Vinnie and Jackie

Hi Frank, Mikee, Linda and the gang,

We just arrived home from a trip and read all the emails on Frank's progress. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

We sent you some money through PayPal. If you guys are still tight on funds we can hopefully send you some more next month.

Get well my friend and thanks to everyone who has been looking after you.

- Vinnie and Jackie

* * * * *

thanks, guys. It helps. We figured that we have gotten about a third of what we lost from the e-salon people... Most who don't have much money themselves... amazing and inspiring... A layer of our family.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Fw: i typed this

You are stuck with me! all of your emails did a lot.
I read every one of them .
In Freedom,
Frank Moore

* * * * *

TYPE YOU! Xo Harley

* * * * *

same to you!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Re: expanding III

Wow Frank and Family.
Thanks for showing us the way to do hopsitols and aging and illness as love and art.
Very inspiring.
You should be so super proud of yourselves for being so phenomenal and special.
Annie

* * * * *

yes annie, life always gives you opportunities to do possibilities-opening art. The emails I got were my first sign that it wasn't just my personal situation that was involved. many demanded me to do my duty and
live to do more trouble-making magic together. There was a thick pile of them before I was in any shape to understand reading them. But when I was, a lot of them said i better not die or else.

There are a lot of layers of this "piece "... The RECOVERING CAM... A great female singer came over last week to give us a concert... Tomorrow a reporter [my nurse's brother] is coming to interview me about ihss.... So you never know what a piece will lead to. But this is a little extreme even for me... Although I did do DYING IS SEXY before.

In Freedom
Frank Moore

new painting


I did it last night in two hours. "sunset - rise". This week it took me a half hour to type a half line. I was pooped. But painting by mouse keys didn't require as much work. it has led [thanks to Jane Vincent] to new way of typing.

in freedom ,
Frank Moore

Re: expanding II

Hello Dr. Frank Moore! With your Ph.D. in tribal love! I have been thinking for awhile how I could assist your recovery in more than just that $ 3.50(I literally don't have any money) , so I thought I'd share a remedy that helps make me feel better instantly... George Harrison! I know you are probably very familiar with his very sentimental and spiritual music... but here are a few tunes that heel me very quickly

I'd have you any time (the opening track to the album "All Things Must Pass" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5R1anXnsXQ

Blow away (from the album of his name "George Harrison" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddnRtFd7Hps

And His Close friend Billy Preston plays "My Sweet Lord" the way he does on his album "Encouraging Words" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azAk9rCJ7fg&feature=related


- Aaron Ingemi

* * * * *

what is behind your donation is what matters, not how much .

mikee is Downloading George 's music!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Re: expanding

Indeed! I had several of the nurses and therapists comment about how well everyone was able to pull together to help Frank. That's a pretty good working definition of what family is all about

rk

* * * * *

exactly! And it was day-to-day for six weeks, so they saw it wasn't just show... But very practical down to earth love /intimacy /tribal body that operates effectively uNder hard situations.

Btw, RK is doctor Kerbavaz, my ent for over twenty years... But much more! A dear friend! He is on the e-salon. He put in my trach, and basically is over seeing my recovery. We email him questions almost daily ! he even checked in on me on his camping trip!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

expanding

possibilities!

In the hospital several nurses said to me separately that they always thought that they needed kids so they would have someone to take care of them when they got old. But when they saw how we six were tribally taking care of one one another, they realized that there are many different ways, many kinds of families. It blew them out how were there for one another.

re: frank update (7/12/10)

hi frank linda and mikee! so glad to hear you're home frank, a much more restful place to RECOVER.. wow talk about uncomfortable zones of fun...recuperation! i'm making a little trip to the east bay this week and if it's something you would like, i would like to drop in and say hi, bring a smile and anything else you might request. let me know if this is an idea that works, or if not, i totally understand. let me know...

GET WELL SOON..
marz

* * * * *

Marz,

i would love to see you, but we are doing a lot here and we need to focus on that.
maybe in a couple of weeks.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Our 2001 Honda Odyssey Minivan Art Car FOR SALE!




We love the car and don’t want to sell it, but we have to for medical reasons. We have to get a wheelchair accessible van. Photos above!

2001 Honda Odyssey LX Minivan Art Car

$8,500

2001 Honda Odyssey
only 38,114 miles
V6 3.5 liter
Automatic transmission
New transmission under warranty in 2009
Regularly serviced
Service records available
2nd owners
Front wheel drive
Air conditioning
Power steering
AM/FM/CD player
Dual front air bags
Traction control
Rear air
Power windows
Power door locks
Tilt wheel
Cruise control
ABS (4-wheel)
Quad seating
Roof rack
Privacy glass
2 new tires in 2009
“Tie-died” paint job
Minor cosmetic damage to rear back panel on driver’s side (see photo)

Email me back or call (510) 526-7858 if you are interested.

Friday, August 6, 2010

frank update, July 11, 2010

hi jorge,

we got your phone message. it means a lot to us.

frank was discharged from the icu at alta bates on monday early evening and returned to alta bates' e.r on tuesday early evening on the advice of his doctors. the trach he had in was not working and frank was basically breathing around it and thru his mouth and not getting much oxygen. he was immediately admitted back to the icu and they replaced the trach with a larger one that works.

we returned home again thursday late afternoon and everything has been going smoothly since. although frank is doing well, we want to give him a little time before scheduling the acupuncture treatment. we should know more after meeting with his nurse, ot, pt, etc. this coming week.

keep sending frank those good feelings to get him strong again!

with love,
frank linda mikee

Frank update! July 4th, 2010

we got word from the doctor this morning that they are going to send Frank home tomorrow (Monday)!! You can watch him recover on the CheroCam later in the day.

http://www.eroplay.com/webcam.html


In Freedom,
Frank Moore

From Frank

Your emails mean a lot to me.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore

Update Re: Frank in hospital (6/29)

6/29

Last week, Frank had progressed well with the trach to the point that he was off the ventilator, breathing through the trach on his own with some oxygen, and getting used to eating our homemade food. He was able to get off the liquid tube feeding.

On June 24th, the night before his 64th birthday, Frank moved out of the ICU and into a room on the "floor". All was going well, to the point where it made sense to start weaning Frank from the trach, and plans were made for Frank to leave the hospital today, Tuesday. But when the trach was taken out yesterday, Frank didn't do well. It was a rough day. Frank had a hard time doing anything, eating included. By last night, he was in pretty bad shape, and the ICU was brought back on to the case. The decision was made to put the trach back in, and he was moved back into intensive care at 5am this morning.

The doctor says we are "waiting for the dust to settle". If all goes well, we may be going home in a few days, with the trach in, so that Frank can build up strength at home, so he is able to move around, re-build his muscles, cough again, and ultimately have the trach removed.

Frank is working very hard to get better, and it is still very, very challenging.

Update on Frank in the Hospital (5/30-6/19)

Hi everybody,

In case you have been wondering why you haven’t heard from Frank for a while, here is why …

Frank has been at Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley since Sunday, May 30th. He has been in intensive care since Tuesday, June 1st. He is doing much better, but we wanted to let everybody know what happened.

Several days before Frank, Linda & Mikee decided to bring Frank into emergency, Frank was experiencing symptoms which they later found out were related to gallstones, and gall bladder problems. Dark urine, severe gas, tightness in the body … They called Eda, Alexi’s mom, in Brooklyn, NY, who has been an RN her whole life. She recommended that they go into the hospital right away, better not to wait to go into Frank’s regular doctor’s office. She was right. Frank went into the emergency room Sunday night, and was admitted sometime early the following morning. The exploratory procedure the following day revealed a gall bladder filled with gallstones, and beginning to gangrene. They entered the hospital not a day too soon.

The surgery the following day to remove the gall bladder was successful. The surgeons said that his gallbladder was like a “sack of marbles”! But the surgery was very hard on Frank, and immediately following the surgery, Frank could not breathe on his own, and was put on a ventilator, and taken into intensive care. We knew that Frank’s lungs were sensitive, but there were a whole host of other physical challenges that came at Frank following the surgery, including the threat of kidney failure. So this started the first week of a hair-raising journey that has now lasted 3 weeks, and is still not over.

1st week: Sunday, May 30th – Saturday, June 5th

Following the surgery, Frank was brought into the Critical Care East wing at Alta Bates. Frank was soon very eager to get off of the ventilator, and to begin eating and drinking normally again. Frank’s friend and ENT doctor of 25 years, Dr. Rich Kerbavaz, became involved in the case, and talked to the ICU doctors about his experience of Frank, and what is “normal” for Frank. His breathing and eating may not look the way they are expecting. This is controversial. Not all of the doctors agree, but there is a strong push to wean Frank from the ventilator, and get him started eating and drinking again. They remove the breathing tube, which is a big deal, and Frank embarks on several days of swallowing and eating tests. They are disasters! Frank ends up on the BiPAP (basically a breathing mask), a substitute for the breathing tube. The “tests” result in heart rate problems, gas, difficulty breathing. Frank is also dealing with fluid in the chest and lungs, very bad kidney numbers, the heart “A-fib” (Atrial Fibrillation), blood pressure problems, gas and digestive issues. All of these things make it harder for Frank to breathe as well, and he hasn’t eaten for a week!

At the end of this week, after the East unit’s patients are all moved to Critical Care West, Frank is very anxious to get off of the BiPAP. Saturday night, Frank’s heart goes A-fib, he is having trouble breathing, and the breathing tube is put back in.

2nd week: Sunday, June 6th – Saturday, June 12th

“Two steps forward, one step back.” – Dr. Olson

This is a week of setbacks. The week starts with a scary warning from one of Frank’s nurses: “Frank is a very sick man.” This followed a request, standard procedure, for Frank’s medical directive paperwork. It throws all of us into a temporary meltdown. This is Monday evening. Later that night, the night shift doctor sums up the week’s theme: “You know as they say,” she tells Linda, “in Critical Care its always 2 steps forward, 1 step back.” It really helped to hear this. “No,” said Linda, “I didn’t know that’s what they say!”

This was a week of “weaning” trials on the ventilator interspersed with setbacks. A rash that appeared in the first week starts to spread across Frank’s belly and back, and Frank bites, unintentionally due to his spasticity, through two tubes! First, the tube that creates the vacuum seal on the tracheal balloon for the breathing tube, and the tube has to be replaced! Then, later in the week, Frank bites through the feeding tube, which also needs to be replaced. Each time, a day or part of a day is lost, and “weaning” is postponed.

The nights are difficult, Frank is very uncomfortable with this mouthful of tubes, and can’t sleep. There are continuing problems with digestion, retaining fluids, and Frank’s kidneys. Also, he has a fever, which like the rash, is mysterious and stumping the infectious diseases doctor … Another day is lost to a CT Scan to try and locate possible sources of whatever infection is causing the fever …

However, the week ends with what feels like a turning point: Friday night, Dr. Rubaii, a great Critical Care doctor, often working the night shift (Mikee thought he should be wearing a cape!), flew in and gave Linda and Corey a guided tour of Frank’s body on the ICU computer, showing them everything through the CT Scan’s cross-sections of Frank’s body. Basically, everything looks good! There is some fluid, but they are starting to get the fluid moving through, drying up, but everything looks fairly normal to him. Added bonus, Frank’s prostate is in good shape! The real issue for Rubaii is getting Frank off of the ventilator. All of these other “complications” that came up after the surgery were nothing to worry about, as far as he was concerned: “We need to get him off the vent!”

3rd week: Sunday, June 13th – Saturday, June 19th

“Do they always put on a hospital show?” – Frank Moore

The third week has felt, in many many ways, like a significant turnaround, and on the road to recovery. Frank’s swollen body, filled with fluids not being processed well by his kidneys, returns to its normal size, his kidney levels improve, blood pressure and heart rate finally stabilize and the IVs gradually drop away. Day by day, the rash begins to clear up, Frank’s fever goes down, and he is on a liquid diet through the feeding tube that he is digesting. Frank continues the “weaning” trials on the ventilator, gradually reducing the pressure support that he is being given by the machine.

Over the course of this week, the issues involving the discomfort and risk of the tubes come to the fore. Frank loses a tooth to the uncomfortable breathing tube, and the idea of a tracheostomy is looked at and then chosen as the better alternative, both for his comfort and for how it will help the process of weaning from the ventilator altogether. After biting through a feeding tube for the second time, it is now moved into his nose, which is not perhaps more comfortable, but less risky; and the idea of a PEG feeding tube, fed directly into Frank’s stomach is considered.

Dealing with the discomfort of the tubes and tracheal pain and trying to help Frank sleep at night continue to be challenges. The doctors want Frank to rest at night and get stronger, but this is usually Frank’s “work time”! The “go-to” drugs in the ICU are generally Fentanyl and Ativan, fast acting meds for pain and anxiety, but they tended not to work so well for Frank … he likes vicodin! Frank on Ativan was a little disturbing at first, but mainly funny, surreal, and quite accurate! Frank says he “likes the Halloween people,” and talks to Linda of their “delivering our next act.” He tells Mikee, “Baby, I’m getting a lot of ideas.” At times, he knows it’s the drugs, and says, “See why I don’t speak when I am tripping?” In reality, it all made perfect sense. The ICU at night is surreal even without drugs! One night, he asked, “Do they always put on a hospital show?”

But Frank, true performance artist, gives the ICU an unforgettable hospital show. Wednesday, following a successful tracheostomy by Dr. Kerbavaz, during a routine turn in the bed, the “trach” tube pops out of Frank’s neck!!! Without the amazing speed and focus of the team of nurses, respiratory therapists and doctors in Critical Care West, Frank would not be with us. They saved his life. They all said they had never seen anything like it. Kim said that in her 30 years of nursing she had never heard of this happening, it was just something you read about in textbooks! The charge nurse tells Linda and Mikee that Frank has certainly left his mark. When they finally let Linda and Mikee back into the room, Frank was sitting up pretty and smiling! But it is perhaps the most traumatic experience of our lives.

Meanwhile, Frank has been doing his thing! The word has spread in the ICU that Frank is a radical artist and local celebrity. Nurses and therapists love Frank’s paintings, and are inspired by his presidential platform. There is practical talk of socializing the health care system, inspired by Frank’s health care plan. “Everyone in the health care field knows that you could successfully socialize health care in the U.S. in 6 months …”

By the end of the week, Frank is making great progress toward getting off of the ventilator support. He weans longer and longer each day, needing less and less support. This time around, the other problems that surrounded his attempt to “wean” have all but faded away. The end of this week saw Frank “Dangle” (off the edge of the bed), and then spend the following two days moving into a “cardiac chair” to get him sitting upright. The first day he had his first “real” food and water for nearly two weeks. He started off with a cherry popsicle! Saturday the 19th, Frank wore only a “trach collar” all day, meaning that he was basically breathing on his own, with a limited amount of oxygen support from the machine. He did great.

As we head into the 4th week, and Frank’s breathing improves with every day, the focus turns toward eating!

We can not say enough about the nurses, doctors and therapists of Critical Care. Without going into the ICU, you will never see this parallel universe of caring people from all walks of life, giving all of themselves, every day and night, to save the life of anyone who is given into their care. They are superheroes, all of them, and it has touched us to the core to see what they do, both with Frank and with everyone in the ICU.

Linda and Mikee have been with Frank nearly 24/7 since he entered the hospital. Corey has started doing 12 hour shifts with Mikee, so that Mikee can spend time with Kittee, their 20 ½ year-old Siamese, who is also taking a hit with their absence. Alexi is cooking all of the food for everyone, and Erika delivers these amazing meals to the hospital almost every day. Hot miso vegetable soup and assorted delicious sandwiches are the standard fare. And Betty is moving Frank along with her prayers and love, which carry a lot of weight! Together we are making it through this!



In Freedom,
Frank Moore