Feb 10, 2017 at 08:17 pm

Update

Update posted by Sylvia D.A.

Hi everyone, I had been asked to write an update regarding the mason fund lots of people on here had donated into.

The purpose of this group is to keep people informed over where the money is going. There haven't been many financial updates on here, my apologies, simply because not much had been spent, the reason being because we were partly lucky enough to get a lot of financial support from the CQC of Brighton and partly because Dan wasn't well enough to start hyperbaric oxygen or any of the otter therapies we had in mind.

If you all remember, Dan went for one hyperbaric session £200, but he couldn't equalise the pressure in his ears and they recommended grommets. Following that he had an ear check up and they cleared a lot of gunk out of his ears. So far I had never been invoiced for this attempt so no expenses there.

Then, late October and November, he was booked in for laser therapy. Unfortunately Dan became very unwell so his initial appointment was postponed but then he ended up at the hospital at St George's so I had to cancel the second appointment as well. After that,Dan was not in a condition to drive across London for an hour each way to attend treatment.

Dan is currently on the waiting list for shockwave therapy that was recommended by the doctor in Putney and is meant to help with spasticity, I still haven't received the exact amount but I am guessing a few hundreds instead of a few thousands. Maybe Kate Memet would know the exact figure by now?

Dan's brother and I had been talking, and since Dan made such a leap in terms of pain management, we are very keen for Dan to try hyperbaric oxygen again, Dan agrees. Due to lack of time, my job, I asked Joe if he could kindly arrange an appointment for Dan on my behalf.

So basically not much has been spent yet, that explains why we currently stopped raising further funds as I think it is not fair if we keep asking for more money but don't spend it! We know that once Dan's hyperbaric starts it will be gone in no time as according to the doctor there he needs about 100 sessions, one ever day, and that doesn't include the ambulance to transport Dan there and back.

So in other words, so far we used some money for bits and bobs, like his fish oil, which we think has been very beneficial. He has an account in Putney so he can have things like massages.

When the fund was originally set up by friends it was to help the whole family, we had lost a huge part of our family income and with a new baby and toddler there were points where our home was at risk during that time. As it grew and gained publicity it became more about Dan and his uncertain journey but it would be good to gauge an opinion on a couple of thoughts:

Recently I have been considering my future travel expenses as it's costing quite a lot to visit Dan but I've been very lucky that's been covered until now by Dan's mum and my savings.

Dan and I never had a car for financial reasons so the car in particular is a big struggle for me, but by public transport it would be impossible and probably lots more. Nothing decided yet on that front, happy to take suggestions?

If Dan manages to organise the piano lesson for Chloé it would be lovely to spend some money on that too as I think it would be hugely beneficial to Dan and Chloé. Although Dan said he wants to take care of it but I'm not sure how viable that is. Again would love to hear whether people agree?

I've had so many kind offers of help over the past year and a half, including Young Sussex offering free days of nursery for my girls, family helping pay for groceries. The future is still quite uncertain financially but for me the most important thing is Dan's future is taken care of.

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