Kenneth Moseley's Surgery
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Thomas Moseley and I am Kenneth’s younger brother. Kenneth is a 23 year old with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disability that leads to muscle degeneration as you age. Despite this Kenneth has consistently beaten the odds as he did not move fully to a wheelchair until 10th grade, graduated Gainesville High School with honors, and continues to use his arms to watch videos on his laptop, listen to podcasts on his iPod, and eat by himself. For many people with DMD, this is practically unheard of and he continues to be strong and healthy.
Naturally with Muscular Dystrophy, your muscles get weaker and many things get harder to do. As Kenneth has gotten older, he had started to lean to one side and lose most of the function of his left arm. His scoliosis had gotten to a point where we made a family decision to get spinal fusion surgery at Florida Hospital in Orlando to correct the curvature in his spine. The surgery would take away a lot of future pain for Kenneth and improve his quality of life. The 6-hour surgery on May 13th was a total success. His spine is now drastically straighter than it was before, and he even grew a couple of inches. After the surgery he was on a ventilator to help him breathe.
Pre / Post
Pre / Post Profile
Kenneth and I
Prior to surgery Kenneth passed every single test with flying colors. He had never been attached to any breathing machine in his life. Many MD kids move to a breathing assist machine much earlier in life to help their weak muscles take in oxygen, so Kenneth, again, was ahead of the curve. After surgery Kenneth was up the next day, and in the chair the day after that. He was extubated two days after surgery and moved to a BiPAP machine. The next day he was moved out of the ICU and down to a normal recovery room.
Unfortunately, Kenneth had a major setback and lost the ability to breathe. He was re-intubated and was fine after, but after more tests they found a lot of fluid plugging up his lung, especially on the left side. Over the following week Kenneth was stuck on the ventilator and unable to talk. Communication was very hard, but Kenneth and I developed a really solid system and I have to say, he’s not half bad writing left handed.
Our system
In Orlando, we could not get over the hump of being able to move off the ventilator. He had 3 scopes to flush out his lung, but a cycle kept repeating of his lung starting to improve, but then getting plugged again preventing us from moving forward. Compounding this issue was the fact that there was no cough assist machine in the hospital we were at. For people with Muscular Dystrophy, coughing is really hard as it takes muscle. We again made the family decision that we did not feel comfortable taking him off the ventilator and to the BiPAP in Orlando, so the next day, May 23rd, we pushed for a medical transfer back to Shands and back to Kenneth’s doctors who specialize in Muscular Dystrophy care. The process moved quickly and Kenneth transferred by Helicopter (unfortunately no pictures).
As I am writing this, May 25th, the ventilator was finally taken out at 3:30pm and moved to a BiPAP. Everything looks good right now, and we are extremely hopeful that we will be able to transition away from the BiPAP and finally get Kenneth back home soon.
Many people have reached out and have already given to us in a number of ways, and we are incredibly thankful for that. This community in Gainesville, and everyone who knows our family has been very supportive and there for us during this time. People who know Kenneth know of this amazing man who continues to amaze and live a fantastic life. We are glad we went through with the surgery, but we were not expecting to be at the hospital so long. As a family, we try to never ask for much, but with us staying so long and even transferring to a different hospital there will be many expenses.
Anything given will be used for medical bills, and hopefully working toward Kenneth getting a new wheelchair, and maybe even a new van to drive around town with. If you can give any amount, no matter how small, we will be eternally grateful. Things are starting to look up! Thank you again for anything you can donate. We will always appreciate it.
Look at that Moose
Family
Kenneth and I, fresh edition
Bros
Throwback
If you want to learn more about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and potentially help more people like Kenneth go to the MDA's website here.
Naturally with Muscular Dystrophy, your muscles get weaker and many things get harder to do. As Kenneth has gotten older, he had started to lean to one side and lose most of the function of his left arm. His scoliosis had gotten to a point where we made a family decision to get spinal fusion surgery at Florida Hospital in Orlando to correct the curvature in his spine. The surgery would take away a lot of future pain for Kenneth and improve his quality of life. The 6-hour surgery on May 13th was a total success. His spine is now drastically straighter than it was before, and he even grew a couple of inches. After the surgery he was on a ventilator to help him breathe.
Pre / Post
Pre / Post Profile
Kenneth and I
Prior to surgery Kenneth passed every single test with flying colors. He had never been attached to any breathing machine in his life. Many MD kids move to a breathing assist machine much earlier in life to help their weak muscles take in oxygen, so Kenneth, again, was ahead of the curve. After surgery Kenneth was up the next day, and in the chair the day after that. He was extubated two days after surgery and moved to a BiPAP machine. The next day he was moved out of the ICU and down to a normal recovery room.
Unfortunately, Kenneth had a major setback and lost the ability to breathe. He was re-intubated and was fine after, but after more tests they found a lot of fluid plugging up his lung, especially on the left side. Over the following week Kenneth was stuck on the ventilator and unable to talk. Communication was very hard, but Kenneth and I developed a really solid system and I have to say, he’s not half bad writing left handed.
Our system
In Orlando, we could not get over the hump of being able to move off the ventilator. He had 3 scopes to flush out his lung, but a cycle kept repeating of his lung starting to improve, but then getting plugged again preventing us from moving forward. Compounding this issue was the fact that there was no cough assist machine in the hospital we were at. For people with Muscular Dystrophy, coughing is really hard as it takes muscle. We again made the family decision that we did not feel comfortable taking him off the ventilator and to the BiPAP in Orlando, so the next day, May 23rd, we pushed for a medical transfer back to Shands and back to Kenneth’s doctors who specialize in Muscular Dystrophy care. The process moved quickly and Kenneth transferred by Helicopter (unfortunately no pictures).
As I am writing this, May 25th, the ventilator was finally taken out at 3:30pm and moved to a BiPAP. Everything looks good right now, and we are extremely hopeful that we will be able to transition away from the BiPAP and finally get Kenneth back home soon.
Many people have reached out and have already given to us in a number of ways, and we are incredibly thankful for that. This community in Gainesville, and everyone who knows our family has been very supportive and there for us during this time. People who know Kenneth know of this amazing man who continues to amaze and live a fantastic life. We are glad we went through with the surgery, but we were not expecting to be at the hospital so long. As a family, we try to never ask for much, but with us staying so long and even transferring to a different hospital there will be many expenses.
Anything given will be used for medical bills, and hopefully working toward Kenneth getting a new wheelchair, and maybe even a new van to drive around town with. If you can give any amount, no matter how small, we will be eternally grateful. Things are starting to look up! Thank you again for anything you can donate. We will always appreciate it.
Look at that Moose
Family
Kenneth and I, fresh edition
Bros
Throwback
If you want to learn more about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and potentially help more people like Kenneth go to the MDA's website here.
Organizer and beneficiary
Thomas Moseley
Organizer
Gainesville, FL
James Moseley
Beneficiary