On the road again . . .

Charleston Yacht Club

     Hi all - I am happy to be back on the trail and photographing - writing again.  I want to take today's article to briefly explain how we got where we are, what was accomplished the last 120 days in Charleston and where we are going from here.  

     The name for the non-profit has emerged - it will be called the WIND foundation.  WIND stands for World Initiative for Neurological Discovery, and was the result of many people's input.  At the end of this article are the corporate vision, purpose, mission and guiding organizational principles.  I welcome feedback on them - they are pretty well evolved but if you can think of anything missing or that can be improved upon please let us know.  

Tom Smith, Dr. Les Neville and myself

     I want to take this opportunity to thank Tom Smith.  In my absence he has regularly seen Les at the nursing home, helping him read again and helping him with his appointments at Network Neurology, the clinic that ultimately is the core focus of this effort.

     For those of you that are not aware of the beginnings of my journey, it was brought about by a series of events following an accident that Dr. Les Neville, pictured above, was involved in three years ago.  He suffered traumatic brain injury, and has been in a nursing home on John's Island by Charleston since.  He has been visiting the clinic weekly since March of this year, and has seen much improvement in his cognitive function.  I am in hopes that the progress continues.  The continuing problem is the loss of short term memory, on of those baffling problems suffered by so many stroke and brain injury patients that we hope this endeavor ultimately solves.

Cobblestone street in Charleston

     I am working along with the other members of the board to raise the monies to build a world-class ground breaking neurology treatment and research center in Charleston.  This is not a short term plan - in fact if it continues to move forward it will be the work of the rest of my life.  As you will see from the guiding principles at the end of this article, it will be ground-breaking in the medical world on a number of levels.  

     A quick tribute to two friends that many of you know that died in the last months - first Ali. (Allison)  Ali was a tennis pro in her younger years - more recently a wife and mother.  She died in a tragic accident in Arizona two weeks ago.

Ali Gunning

     And second, Dina.Teague.  

Dina Teague

     I was able to go along with Dina a number of times over the last few years to do volunteer work at a local rehabilitation center.  She is missed by many. . .

Leo Emch

     And along with the deaths, a new life.  My third child, Graham and his spouse welcomed my first grandchild into the world.  Below is a family photo I took and was able to print on canvas for them.

     I later sent a note that I could get them a good deal on a stroller like the one below . . .

  . . . kind of a volume discount type of thing.  I don't think they are interested.. . Congratulations Graham and Tabatha.

   The foundation has its beginning - shown below in the center is board member Rusty Turner, the founder of Network Neurlogy.  Just opened in February of this year, they are passing a thousand patient visits per month.  This is the nucleus of many great things to come.  

Dr. Mark Kinby, Dr. Robert Turner and Dr. Mike Yost

     Also pictured is scientist Mike Yost, who is a board member and a world renowned medical researcher.  Also of much help, and not pictured, was Louis Winoski.  So the right team is coming together, and the direction has become clearer.  Here is the basics of the plan as it stands now - I am going to continue the journey around the edges of the United States, setting up a story every twenty five miles.  When I have completed the perimeter, I hope to travel it a second time by bicycle.  At twenty five miles a day, which is a couple of hours on a bike, it will take a year and a half to traverse.  If things continue as planned, that trip will be the primary fundraiser to put together the monies to actually build the hospital.

     But meanwhile there is much to do.  A website has to be built, and one of the things I was able to do these last few months was to earn the money to buy the domain names and the other web things needed to accomplish this.  I have never built a site before (besides these basic blogs) so there is quite a learning curve.  We hope for the site to ultimately be a hub where patients, care-givers, clinicians and researchers can all go for helpful information on the cutting edge of the neurological arena.  

     I was also able to earn the money to buy a new camera.  The old one was on its last legs - but it has taken over 150,000 shots.  Hopefully this one will give the same service - which at the 2-3,000 shots per week it takes to do this blog only ends up being a year.  Yikes.

     So sit back and enjoy this first trip around the edge of the country.  This is going to take a few years, and I will do the best I can to continue giving you good images and written content.  In the short term, my hope is to complete the stretch from Savannah Georgia to St. Augustine Florida by the end of February, then a long run starting in March that will pick back up in Cape Fear NC and hopefully get us to the top of Maine before it gets too cold at the end of next year.  And, if you have a few minutes, please read the corporate statements we put together.  We spent a couple of hours every Sunday working on them for the last several months, and we would love the input if you have any.

Warmest to you all !!

David

     Corporate Principles

World Initiative for Neurological Discovery (Center)

(WIND Center)

     Vision

WIND Center envisions a world where every individual has the opportunity to perform at their best.

Purpose

     The purpose of WIND Center is to comprehend, holistically treat and ultimately prevent neurological disorders, to research, develop and implement techniques that bring maximum cognitive function, to create a knowledge base of best practices at all levels and to educate patients, their care-givers and colleagues. 

Mission

     WIND Center’s first mission is to develop an environment that brings clinicians, researchers, patients and care-givers together, that develops a holistic approach to comprehending and treating neurological issues, that fosters research to improve cognitive function, that organizes and consolidates existing knowledge and then educates patients, care-givers and industry colleagues.

Guiding Organizational Directives

1.     All decisions and interactions are to allow for intuitive divine guidance – the ultimate authority is a loving God as expressed in the consciousness of the group.

2.     Every individual has value; the physical, mental and spiritual health and welfare of the individual patient and their family supersedes all other motivations of the organization.

3.     All efforts are undertaken by collaborating research/clinical/educational teams with the priorities of identifying, implementing and informing on best practices and developing a coherent and easily accessible body of knowledge while seeking seeks core causations.  

4.    Models for organization, research, diagnosis, treatment, and education should be eagerly pursued, easily replicable and freely shared at the global level, always seeking first to avoid duplication of effort.

5.   Every effort is made to insure the integrity of the body of knowledge, including models, data and information, to be sure that it is easily accessible and that it is freely shared with colleagues, patients, care-givers and whomever else is appropriate.

6.   WIND Center as a whole or at the individual level seeks to be accessible to colleagues, seeking first to acknowledge and show appreciation for other’s efforts rather than seeking credit for its own accomplishments. 

7.     In all areas the organization operates in an environment of accountability, honesty, transparency, openness and mutual respect, always seeking first to find common ground with each other and those we interact with.

8.    At every level the organization operates in an environment of encouragement, constructive criticism and continuous improvement. 

9.      Closely following the patient/family unit is the welfare of our employees and affiliates;  the organization encourages and promotes individual growth and well-being. 

10.     No donations, compensation or agreements of any kind are to be accepted which impede the organization or obligate the group or any individual to act outside of these core values.

11.     The organization has no opinion on issues outside its specific areas of expertise.

12.   Decisions are to be made without regard to geo-political, cultural, ethnic or gender based pressures, although appropriate lines of research that investigate anomalies in specific groups may be pursued.

     If you made it this far - thank you so much again !!  To email me, click Here.  If you can contribute a few dollars to help me on this journey, Click Here.  For the daily meditations, go to :  www.captureamerica.blogspot.com.  But whatever you do, have an awesome Monday !!

David