Altruism
 

altruism |'altroo,izem| noun.

the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others



As many of you may already know, my wife Martha was hospitalized for a week last month at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswich, NJ. I visited her there every day for as long a period as I could. On one of the first days there, I was making my way to the hospital's cafeteria to grab some lunch. As I approached the elevators, I heard a guitar. I poked my head around the corner and gazed into the room where the guitar sound emanated. There on a bed was a fellow with long thinning hair playing an old Martin acoustic. He invited me in and we struck up a conversation.

I was wearing my favorite YES 35th Tour tie-dye with the beetle. He asked me what sort of music I was interested in and I said, "Progressive Rock." The occupant of the bed told me he was in the band The Red Masque. This man on the bed was Brian Van Korn, percussionist and more for The Red Masque.

Brian has been stricken by a disease called "Transverse Myelitis" and has been hospitalized since mid-June. It has left him, more or less, paralyzed in his legs. Brian is a wonderfully enthusiastic soul despite this affliction, and I wish him the best of luck and hope for a recovery.

Martha and I have kept in touch with Brian and we hope to get to visit him in the hospital soon. I am asking the Aural Moon community to post some well wishes for Brian, or call or write to him. Spending 2 months in a hospital is tough and isolating. Some kind words from a concerned Prog community like here at Aural Moon will be a welcome diversion for him.

He can be reached by calling: 732.937.4275 (direct number to his room at RWJUH)

In lieu of a phone call or letter, please post some kind words here and I will relay this thread to him.

Ad(Thank you)vance

Re: Altruism
 

I've not been around Orion of late...Red Masque is local to me and I've seen them. Good stuff.

Certainly, for what it's worth, I will chime in with my hopes for a recovery (if it is possible...the muscular diseases are especially tough).

I'll pass this on to the Baltimore area proggers.

Re: Altruism
 

Dear VAx and Martha,

Please give him my best compliments ( don't know the right word in english)
I bought all the Red masque CDs from Big Balloon music half and a year ago and find them very interesting despite their uncompromise approach of music ( that's probably why I was seduced, the more you listen the more you like, that's prog)

mailotron:heart:

Re: Altruism
 

Brian,

I am not familiar with your music but given that I have never been given a bum steer by my friends at Aural moon I will listen out for sure.

As someone who has had their fill recently of hospitalisations I really feel for you and wish you the best of luck for the future both in health and happiness.

My thoughts are with you my friend.

Take care.

With love.

Re: Altruism
 

Dear Brian,

My husband Phil is a fan...I am just entering the prog community now after 13 years of him begging me to listen. We want you to know that we will keep you in our prayers daily for continued healing and peace. I am proud to be a part of Aural Moon and if VAX says it's good...it's good...so I'll try a listen...Many regards. Keep your head up and keep the music flowing...and by all means keep on proggin'...

Much Love, Angel and Philip Terry :angel:

Re: Altruism
 

dear LGT..

. beware if VAx says one day " Microsoft is good ":rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: ...
Yours,
Mailotron

Re: Altruism
 

VAX - is it OK if I link to this post from Progressive Ears and some other sites that may want to send their thoughts?

Re: Altruism
 

Brian,

best wishes and good energy your way from this moonie.

Re: Altruism
 

Re: Altruism
 

I don't see any problem.

Re: Altruism
 

Dear Brian, I may be only 18, but I have had my fill of hospitals too during the last year. I've found friends and almost a family here in our little music community and I think everyone would welcome you as they did with me.

I will listen to your music, and would be glad to share my opinions about it with you.

Best wishes.
Elric

Re: Altruism
 

Brian, hello!

It could be any one of us in your situation, and change can happen in a flicker of an eyelid.

Sending you good thoughts and energy for your recovery, and that you can find a bit of peace and something to enjoy each day. Glad you've got the Martin, glad you and Vax connected.

mossy

Re: Altruism
 

Sorry to hear about your illness. get well!

Re: Altruism
 

Best wishes to you Vonorn... It was so nice to see you at Lynnette and Brandon's...

Cyndee

Re: Altruism
 

dear brian,

i am so sorry for your illness, yet VAX says you have an uplifting spirit about you and that is priceless medicine...supernatural magic...whenever you're feeling a bit tapped in that department i hope you come here to refuel. i've heard your music and look forward to your being involved in future music making. as a musician you're intrinsically creative, you will find a way to channel that.

in the meantime know that those of us here will be wishing & praying, and sending thoughts of healing for your recovery.

much affection
podakayne

Re: Altruism
 

Hang in there Brian, at least you've got your Martin to play with, I'd be doing the same in your situation :). Best wishes for your recovery!

Re: Altruism
 

Brian actually has quite a few musical toys in his room. Guitar, drums, and even a small toy accordion.

I allowed Brian to use my Powerbook for an afternoon and he composed some music in GarageBand.

FYI, M and I will be visiting him this afternoon... I'll take a printout of all of your well wishes to him.

Re: Altruism
 

Hello from France and know that The peace of God bathes your spirit and your heart. That You are resting in the eternal arms of beauty, truth and wisdom. These blessing words can link your spirit to your body to heal it. Keep on prog rocking, bro. Take care,

Cédric.

Re: Altruism/Vonorn's status
 

I printed out the forum posts that you made here to date and Martha printed out the Progressive Ears thread that Avian began. Martha and I took the printouts to Brian last evening (16-Aug).

When we arrived at Brian's room at RWJUH, he was in his bed and on the phone. The partioning curtain which divided his half of the room by the window was partially drawn and there was no bed on the other side by the door. Brian's guitar was placed on the bed by his legs. I snuck into the room and announced our presence there by reaching around the curtain and plucking the low E string of his guitar.

Surprised, Brian quickly terminated his conversation on the phone. Martha and I got to spend about half an hour with him before we needed to leave for another appointment. He was delighted to see us. He welcomed the printout of the responses from you here and the people that contributed on the Progressive Ears list. He says, "Thank you!"

We were once again treated to a preview of his current musical composition which he has been inspired to write by his ordeal.

Brian was supposed to be moved to a rehab center but that plan is on hold for the moment. There seems to be some issues with various beaurocracies involved. There always seems to be more red tape than surgical tape in medicine today. :rolleyes2

He's showing improvement in movement in his left leg; not so much that he'll be up and about dancing a jig in the next few days but there is movement. It is still too weak for him to really manipulate and, before we left, his lef fell between mattress and bed guard rail and I had to intercede to put his leg back on the bed. His IV tubes have been removed; however, he still has the large catheter in the juglar which was used for plasmaphoresis.

Many of his musical toys have been sent home from his room in anticipation of his relocation. He still has a drum and guitar as well as his note and sketch pads.

That's it for now. We'll try to get in to see him again in the next week assuming he is still a resident at RWJUH.

Re: Altruism
 

HI Vaxman/Brian

This is Lynnette from The Red Masque. Thanks for setting up this topic and taking these greetings here and on ProgressiveEars.com to Brian. He really appreciates it.

I have faith that Brian will recover eventually but it is a long process and, unfortunately, he is mired in red tape at the moment, which is keeping him from getting out of the hospital and into the rehab clinic. I know he talked to his lawyer andthey are trying to move things along so hopefully this will speed things up.

In the meantime, if anybody is in the area, Brian loves visitors. I've been visiting whenever I can on the weekends (I'm about an hour and half to two hours away from his hospital (during normal traffic -- much longer if there is bad traffic), so it makes it difficult to visit him during the week when I am at work).

HOPEFULLY he won't be in the hospital much longer though.
Anyway, thanks again.
Lynnette

Re: Altruism
 

Hi Lynnette,

We are about 35 miles south which by proNJ driving standards means it will take us between 1 hour and eternity to get there.

We would love to drop in and visit him more often but, as Brian can attest, we're having some issues with one of our offspring making our free time a real premium these days.

I spent a week in the hospital back in '99 and I couldn't stand it. I can't believe he's still sane -- albeit, I wonder sometimes if he ever was ;) -- after 2 months.

I let Brian borrow my Powerbook and EVDO card one afternoon when I was there visiting with my wife. He was so happy to be able to have some interent access to touch the outside world. He also started on his Overture for his latest creation using my GarageBand that day. If I would have met up with Brian earlier on in his stay, I would have worked on getting him a Powerbook and EVDO internet access for the time he was in the hospital.

Everyone is pulling for his recovery and I hope to see him and the rest of The Red Masque at the NJ Prog House. Fingers crossed!

Let me know when/if you're going to visit him this weekend. Maybe we can drop in when you're there.

Re: Altruism
 

Hello again
I wont' be down this weekend because it's my father's birthday and my family is having a get together so I have to drive all the way to my parent's house in the complete opposite direction from brian's hospital (which would put me about 4 hours away from Brian). But I plan on going up the following weekend - either sat or sun - not sure yet. but I'll let you know.

yeah, brian told me about you letting him use his powerbook. He was quite happy with that. He told me yesterday he is thinking of buying a lap top with his credit card.

and no, you are correct, he never WAS sane ;) But in a good way.
actually, this might be kind of weird to say, but he's actually been more focused since he's been in hospital. I guess in times like these you really understand what's important. anyway, he's a unique guy and we're all pulling for him. I told him he was getting out of the band that easy so expect to see us in November (or sooner if I see you at the hospital). I really hope they figure out this SSI stuff though. THAT is driving him mad and me too.

Lynnette

Re: Altruism
 

The SSI issue pisses me off too. There's so much waste in the medical/hospital community and then, when somebody really needing a hand up has the need, there's nothing left to go around. It's one of the reasons I hate governments too. Not that I believe they should be in the business of giving out handouts; however, since they do, they should be seeking to give out where it's due.

If we do meet up in his hospital room, do you mind if we call you Brian too? It will help alleviate the confusion in a monty phythonesque way. ;)

VAX (Brian)

Re: Altruism
 

You're not going to hijack this thread as a soapbox for socialism. I worked for the government (DoD) for 10+ years and NASA for 1 before I had enough. Waste, waste, waste abounds everywhere and everywhere you find waste it's augmented by graft and sheer utter management stupidity.

In light of your other comments, I have my share of medical issues. In insurance terminology: I have one foot in the grave and the other firmly seated upon a banana peel (ie. I'm uninsurable! I might be insurable but I can't afford the outlay of money equivalent to the GDP of some countries to pay for it.). Through no fault of my own (as is with Brian's "Vonorn" as this thread relates), I have medical needs that the government won't address. It pisses me off to no extent that I have to outlay $100 a month for syringes alone but drug addicts are being provided them free of charge. I know the 'gummint's' intent is to stop the spread of HIV, which is all fine and good, but they're promoting the use of illicit drugs in the process. What happened to the "equal protection under the law" of our US Constitution? It's been distorted by the government pigs-- "all animals are equal; some animals are more equal than others".

My mom always asks, "What to you do with all the money you make?" Well mom, I spend more than $25K/year on medicine alone. This last year has been exceptionally tough with the crap my daughter has pulled and with Martha being out of work for her medical issues and mine getting worse.

Here's just a short narrative about hospital waste as it relates to Brian's situation.

Martha was tiring of the food in the hospital so I brought her a meal from outside. The hospital dietician's office called and asked her why she didn't order dinner. She told them she had eaten and that I brought in food for her. Brian, on the otherhand, had not eaten because his meal was delivered and then taken away as "garbage" because he was asleep when they brought his meal. Later that same evening, just before I was to head home, the hospital brought Martha a meal -- even though she said she had not wanted a meal. We were on the phone with Brian at the time who said he wanted the meal as his was discarded. The hospital staff would not oblige him and the food was trashed. Two meals in the garbage. I can bet that the price tag on that hospital swill was higher than a fine dinner at a top rate establishment.

In 1999, I was presented with a bill for $20K for a week long hospital stay. All I did was lay upon a bed whilst the hospital filled me up with rat poison to get my prothrombin time to a "theraputic" level. There was no need to be tortured and fed swill for a week. My Dr. routinely changes my rat poison dosage and I get prothrombin time/INR blood tests as an out-patient at a local lab for 1/1000th the cost of that hospital stay. You cannot convince me that hospitalization is not grossly over-valued and over-priced and wasteful... as is most doctoring. If I am called in to fix a problem and I don't do it right the first time, I'm expected back on my time to finish the job. Not so with doctoring. You keep paying and paying and paying while they practice and practice and practice. It's the only job I know where the government provides documentation on your ability to be incompetent... it's called the licence to practice medicine. I suppose it takes a beaurocracy of incompetents to recognize incompetence.

Sounds like Rick's buying... sign me up. :D

Re: Altruism
 

some good news today:
brian's left leg is getting stronger by the day, he says. In therapy today he could do some things he couddn't do even two days ago.

also looks like the red tape issue to get into the rehab clinic might be expidited as his lawyer is getting on SSI's case.

also he went outside (he took a 'walk' in his wheelchair) for the first time in 2 months which he enjoyed immensely,a nd also 'discovered' the children's section and their teaching piano and waspracticing red masque keyboard sections. so all in all a good day.
Lynnette

Re: Altruism
 

That is good news. By the way, I've deleted my other posts. Discussion about the other topic is pointless, and this is not the appropriate place for it.

Good luck!

Re: Altruism
 

I found that piano looking for an ATM machine I was told was in the Children's Wing. I played it for about an hour. Sometimes I get lost like that...

Glad to hear that they gave him the wheels again. When my wife was in there with him, he got the "wheels" for the first time. He was delighted.

Re: Altruism
 

Brian,

Here's to renewal.... an instant karma has moved, sent your way. Positive waves and thoughts to you for renewed strength of body and balance of mind and inner spirit.

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i am leaving now to go visit Vonorn at the hospital and i'll be there with the rest of the TRM crew so if anybody feels like coming by, please do so. we'll be there in a couple of hours.

Re: Altruism... photographic evidence
 

Martha had an appointment with the neurologist at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center on Monday. We dropped in to see Brian. He was sitting in his room playing his guitar when we arrived. He was very happy to see us again. This time, Brian had obtained a set of "Wheels", so we took him downstairs to the children's wing of the hospital where a digital piano is located. We spent about an hour down there while Brian tinkered away on the keys. He's a good piano player, BTW.

Martha used her cell phone to get some pix. Next trip to visit, we will take along a "proper" camera and get some better quality pix. In the interim, if you are interested, there are 6 JPGs and 2 QT movie files here: http://www.gigsofpixofgigs.com/Vonorn

I'm finally doing something with my new domain name. :rolleyes2

Re: Altruism... photographic evidence
 

Hey thanks for posting these pics.
the ones I took got screwed up for some reason. my camera ate them, for lack of a technical term ;)

Re: Altruism/Lynnette's Pix
 

Lynnette emailed me these pix. I've uploaded them here for you to view.

Re: Altruism/Lynnette's Pix
 

Hey VAX,

These are awesome pics...Lynnette did a great job of putting the face with the name...

Much love, Angel

Re: Altruism/Lynnette's Pix
 

What face? What name?

Re: Altruism/Lynnette's Pix
 

What gun? You're a policeman!

Re: Altruism
 

I know I'm coming late to this wonderful thread, but I'd really like to add my voice to the well wishes - and a hearty note of 'stick in there'. For the past six years I've been in permanent chronic pain thanks to failed lower spinal surgery; they say I'm lucky to be walking again - and I do believe them. But some days it's really hard - particualrly with all the tests and the continual having to find energy to fight it all the time.

Hang in there. You meet the most wonderful people who can challenge and enrich your life in so many ways. Keep the music close to your heart; it's the best therapy you can ever have! I wish you all the very best for a gradual recovery. It'll come: slowly, slowly, but surely.....

Warmly,

Rob

Re: Altruism
 

some good news
vonorn started walking with a walker this week......
-Lynnette

Re: Altruism
 

Wow. This is great news Lynnette.

Is Brian still at RWJUH?

Tell him we said "Hello". Out life has become complicated again by our "little problem" or we would have dropped in to see him.

Re: Altruism
 

HI Brian
Yes Vonorn/Brian is still at RWJUH.... I went and saw him yesterday and took some pictures including one of him standing. I'll email them to you later today when I download them off the camera..... He also had other improvements this week too, so overall (except for getting another GI infection) he's doing very very well.
Lynnette

Re: Altruism
 

Lynnette (Velvet) sent some pix of Brian "Vonorn" Van Korn... on his feet and looking much much better than when I first saw him in his room at RWJUC.