Technology to the rescue, , , it really was brain surgery

A good friend of mine was recently diagnosed to have an aneurysm on his brain and the doctors recommended he have it addressed as soon as possible.

Last Wednesday my friend Ken  had brain surgery to repair the problem. He is still recovering and improves every day, , , he is a lucky man.

What amazes me is how technology is playing a part in his situation. Certainly, our medical profession has evolved significantly, , , what has become common surgery with the brain was extremely high risk just 20 years ago.

Even so, there is still more unknown than what we know about the brain , , , it can still be risky and have uncertain outcomes any time you operate in this area. I know a little about these issues because our son suffered a traumatic brain injury in 1993. It’s amazing what he remembers and what he can’t remember, , , and other things that affect his day to day life.

Technology played an important part in Ken’s surgery and also in his recovery he is going through now.

Technology can help in other ways. For example, Ken’s insurance won’t pay for all of his hospital bill and he can’t work for 6 to 8 weeks. As a self employed person, this will hit him pretty hard, , , so two of us decided to try to do something. Technology is helping us in this effort.

Ken has lots of friends because he is a “giver”. Everyone who knows him realizes this. An example is that when he lived in India for a couple of years, he adopted 6 children and paid a monthly fee for many years to help feed, clothe, and provide shelter and education for them. He still supports one of them through college, , , at times when it is financially difficult for him and his wife to do.

Here is what we did in just a couple of days:

1. Created a web site to tell Ken’s story and provide updates about his recovery, , , see www.kenstaten.org. I used WordPress.
2. Added capability for friends and family to make a donation by credit card or PayPal. This is so much easier to do than just ten years ago when I first created my web sites.
3. We collected contact information from Ken, Craig and my network of people we felt would want to know of Ken’s condition. I consolidated and scrubbed our lists using EXCEL.
4. We sent out email messages to our contacts. This part was the most tedious but also important. Rather than sending out a bulk email message quickly, I decided to send personal messages to each person. I developed a standard message including asking the recipient to pass along the word, , , then sent the email messages, , , one by one. It took a while but had a more positive effect I think and was not spamming.

We probably sent out 200-250 email messages yesterday and today.

The results have been fantastic. In just a couple of days we have raised several thousand dollars to assist Ken and help him deal with this temporary challenge. His friends and family have come through in a big way as we thought they would for him, , , again, because he is such a “giver”.

The donations are great but what is more important are the prayers and the support expressed by Ken’s network. This support is a huge morale booster and will go a long way in helping Ken focus on his recovery.

Technology is helping.