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Help Hope Live for Mclaren Slifer

Mclaren dove into a wave… something we’ve all done at one time or another at the beach.

On July 4, in South Bethany with friends, Mac dove into a wave. He has no recollection of hitting anything, no scraps or bruises but he knew instantly, something was wrong. He held his breath as his friends realized he was injured and helped him from the water.

Updates (17)

May 6, 2026

9 months.  It’s been 9 months since Mac’s injury. It feels like a lifetime. But I still get caught in moments where it feels like yesterday… and my stomach drops.. and I can’t breathe. 

9 months and it sort of feels like everyone (drs/therapists etc.) is speaking to us like this is the inevitable. this is it. this is all we get back.

In one breath you have to start embracing the acceptance so you can make good sound decisions for best outcomes going forward and in another.. just give his body another day and there will be something new.. another connection.. some new hope for a better outcome. We are in all these spaces at any moment on everyday.

April 9, just 8 months post injury, Mac had posterior deltoid to tricep transfer of nerve on both arms. Nerve transfers offer the most success if done prior to the 1 year post injury mark. Due to a cancellation on the surgeons schedule. We are well ahead of that deadline and I chose to view that as a sign of good things to come The incisions, about 7-8 inches on the back of his arms are healing well. They are itchy in spaces he’s not sure he can feel and feel weird to touch/itch which is frustrating. We have the highest hopes that those nerves will dig in and grow to empower and power his triceps. Having working triceps will offer a HUGE gain in independence. Being able to self transfer (moving himself from bed to chair for example) is one of our main hopes. We have 6 months (October) to wait to start seeing some results and then the BIG WORK begins.

Mac is cleared to get back to his therapies with some minor restrictions for his triceps for a little while. We start back June 1. It will be good to get back on a bit of a routine. Mac has been enjoying his leisurely recovery days ;) But his leg spasticity has definitely gotten a bit worse with the lack of outlet that therapy offers. He’s looking forward to getting back on the RT Stim bike (insurance has denied us 2x and we’re going for a 3rd appeal) to get one for at home. It would have been HUGE to have access to that while his arms have been recovering. Might have also helped us avoid an ER trip. The stim is such an amazing tool for a paralyzed body that can’t use and maintain its muscles in a typical way. Ironically, the ER trip probably cost what the bike would. Also note: the ER does NOT take Autonomic Dysreflexia in SCI seriously enough. Now I know better, next time this mama will be ROARING!

Next up --I’ve reached out to a couple of other facilities that offer adaptive workouts and rehabs and i’m hoping to get some of those sessions on the books for this summer too. These will all be pay to play and your generous donations will help get him there... in addition to some additional renovations that still need to be done to the house.

Mac is still not ready to head back out into the world and back to his friends but i’m hopeful time will get him there. (Friends, Don’t give up on him- keep sending him messages)

This week OUR TEAM celebrated so much! 

Jaiden Graduated with honors from the School of Computer Sciences at University of Pittsburgh

Caelie had her Senior Prom and committed to attending University of Pittsburgh in the Fall

Mac celebrated his 20th birthday. Never one to be the center of attention -A low key meal from Oriental Peal and his fav Wegmans Chocolate cake with just us.

I never in a million years thought i’d have it so shoved in my face to be so damn grateful that he made it to his 20th. 

Everyday is a gift. 

He is as perfect now as he was the day he was born.

And my Birthday Wish for him is to keep finding hope & reconnection in this year ahead. Mclaren Cruz has always done it his own way (so stubborn) and at his own pace. I have to trust his soul is taking care of him.

XOXOXO Team Slifer  (Melissa)

#ExpectNotOneMiracleButMany

#BentNotBroken

#teamSlifer

#StrongMF

#SpinalCordInjuryAwareness

April 15, 2026

Post surgery update : 6 days post op & All is well!It was a long day at Methodist Hospital (everyone was so nice and helpful) 12:30 check in, Mac left for surgery around 3:30, surgeon came to tell us all was well around 7:30, we left at 9:30, & home at 10:20p. Long Day.Mac and I amazed ourselves by getting up early (EARLY is NOT Mac’s jam…lol) and getting in the shower and taking care of business for the day. We were ready to hit the road by 10:30a… trust me! this is a miracle in and of itself.Mac was definitely nervous and those last couple hours before the surgery were mentally more nerve racking than the short 3 weeks we had to wrap our heads around the fact that it was going to happen so soon. He couldn’t wait for the anesthesia to just get out of his brain.Tim and I waited in the surgical waiting room with the 1.5-2hr surgical timeframe as a guide. I know I started to become a bit antsy once 5:30p came and went and I also realized I/We didn’t plan very well on the snack situation and, of course, at that point I didn’t want to leave because we would be able to go back to him any minute, right?!We received the text that Mac was in recovery around 6:10p and the surgeon came down to tell us how it all went around 7:10p. He had just come from seeing Mac and delivered the message from Mac to me “Tell my mom that i’m OK”  phew… deep breath.  The surgeon told us that all went really smoothly. Surgery was about an hour fifteen minutes … the surgeons worked simultaneously, one on each arm, they stimulated the tricep muscles (there are three) to determine the best muscle to attach the deltoid nerve. There was some flickers of activity in the upper tricep heads (which is what our therapists have been working with Mclaren so hard to get stronger), they left them alone and choose the medial tricep, which is the lower tricep muscle. Surgeon told Mac he had BIG Nerves! lol. And He told us Mac's medial tricep was huge. So, here's to hoping all those years of lifting, a splash of muscle memory, and HUGE helping hand from science will help Mac rebuild his triceps. We should start seeing results in 6months or so… 6-18months is the going growth rate for nerves with spinal cord injury. Everything just goes a little slower.Recovery at home has gone pretty smoothly. There has been very little pain at the surgical site (two 8 inch incisions from his shoulder to his elbow-ish- We haven’t seen them yet as the waterproof bandages are still on there), just some ‘weird’ feelings when he moves his arms. The immediate recovery includes him NOT moving his arms too much. Imagine keeping your elbows glued to your sides. We had to go backwards a little - back to feeding him, brushing his teeth that kind of thing for the first couple days while he hung out in bed. By Sunday, we got him out of bed and showered and from then have started to figure out the best ways to get things done more independently. He’s pretty much back to it with just some extra assistance in the set ups (like brushing is teeth- he can’t reach for the faucet & toothpaste, just yet). My feeling is next week will be a bit more of a challenge with the incisions getting that itchy healing feeling and he’ll be wanting to get his arms moving more to get things done. We’ve had great success with the ’sliced up the back’ crew neck T-shirts for getting dressed for the day (THANK YOU HOEY’S)We go back 4/22 for our follow up and to see what’s next. We are curious to know when we can get back to some therapy. We know, in terms of OT, that we will be somewhat limited for 4-8 weeks but I’m very hopeful to get back into PT to, at least, do the FES bike to keep his leg spasms in check. His legs are already cranky without that workout. United Healthcare has denied us twice now for a home unit… we are going back in for a third appeal. Would have been very nice to have that here for him while he recovers. But that’s another soapbox.Hope all of you are well and we are infinitely grateful you’re on our teamXOXO, TeamSlifer (Melissa)#ExpectNotOneMiracleButMany#BentNotBroken#StrongMF#SmallGoalsAccumulate#SpinalCordInjuryAwareness

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Guestbook

April 17, 2026

Slifer strong!!

Elise Cooper

January 14, 2026

With love from the McIntosh family

Heather McIntosh

January 3, 2026

I’m holding Mclaren in my thoughts with hopes for strength, healing, and peace.”

Eric (Rick) Moskowitz