Friends of Tony Update
This page was last updated on June 4
Tony came home from St. Jude's on May 25 --eight months to the day after the plane crash rendered him paraplegic-- to begin a new phase of home rehabilitation. Needless to say, he was very happy to return home, where about a half-dozen friends and his immediate family greeted him. Tony currently needs around-the-clock medical care, which includes the assistance of Ryan, his full time caregiver and Linda, his evening nurse, who takes care of his immediate medical needs. Since mid-March, Tony's been in rehabilitation at St. Jude's Medical Center in Fullerton. Prior to that, he was at UCI Medical Center's Burn Intensive Care Unit in Orange, where he was being treated for third and fourth degree burns over 70% of his body. Tony is now an outpatient at both facilities, scheduled for further medical procedures and ongoing rehab throughout the summer.
If you didn't already see it, there was an article and picture about Tony's homecoming in the Local section of the Orange County Register, published on May 26, 2005. It was entitled, "Home and Healing." There's a link to the online article in the news section of Tony's website. In preparation for the story, Tony was interviewed by the reporter for over an hour the day before being released from the hospital. Then, the day of his release, the photographer and reporter met up with Tony again and spent a couple of hours talking to Tony and his family at the apartment. The local story caught the attention of ABC News and Good Morning America, who are now both interested in covering the story. More news will follow on this as it develops.
Now that Tony has had almost two weeks to get settled into the new apartment with Mary Alice, he once again welcomes all visitors to come by and see him. While still connected to a feeding tube for general nourishment, Tony's appetite continues to get better and he's been eating larger portions lately. It's always appreciated if anyone can be part of Tony's meals on wheels plan by bringing him any of his favorite foods.
A few more names have been added to the friends page and to the Friends of Tony Update email list. They include the following.
Linda Bushong
Quinn A. Di Sandro and Leonardo Indelicato
Fred Inocencio
Linda Cain
Ellen Donofrio
If you check out the friends page, you'll see that some of the names now have hyperlinks associated with them. Click on a linked name, and you will be taken to a new area called, Friends of Tony: The Power of One, where you can learn more about some of the special people in Tony's life. These are individuals who have done something extraordinary for Tony, and they include the following stories:
Linda Hayden - Continues to Help Save Lives
Kris Larson - A Local Hero
Patti Porto - Tony's Resource Department
Regina Sbraccia - From the Hospital to Hospitality
As a work in progress, you will learn more about these special people with each update and how they may have personally helped Tony, or his cause. More stories and pictures will be added to that section soon. In addition, the news page also features several new pictures, and most of those pictures are hyperlinked to other parts of the FriendsOfTony website.
By the way, if anyone has pictures from the barbecue or blood drive events held for Tony last year, puhleease (yes, that is an over dramatic use of the word please) send them already. We need to get moving and start to plan for similar events this year, but we need past pictures for the website.
Last item
Some of you may already know this, The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, passed the House of Representatives on May 24 (the day before Tony left St. Jude's) by a vote of 238-194. The House passed H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. That was a rare bipartisan victory in Congress. There's still work to be done, so please contact your Senator and ask them to bring S.471 to a vote. For your information this research, supported by The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (http://www.christopherreeve.org/about/aboutmain.cfm), seeks to develop cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. It's the only medical hope people living with spinal cord paralysis have of ever getting better.
In brief, the bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to fund research using human embryonic stem cells derived from embryos created for In-Vitro Fertilization purposes and donated for research, regardless of the date on which such cells were derived. If enacted, the bill would overturn the current policy, which permits the use of Federal funds for research on human embryonic stem cells derived only before August 9, 2001.
Steve Albanese
FriendsOfTony
Calendar
June 2005
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July 2005
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June 3 - 5
Friday - Monday
Abilities Expo
At the Anaheim Convention Center
July 9
Saturday
Memorial Planned for Linda Hayden
(more information coming)