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     I'm back home now. Nothing new to really say except they said it would probably do more harm than good to do the surgery now because of the location of the aneurysms. I finally did find out where they are exactly. Your brain has 4 lobes, between the lobes, deep in the brain close to the stem is the wheel of willis and the carartic artery. That is where they are located
and it would involve a surgery for at least 4 hours to get in one side and because it is in the center of the nerves that control the face and eyes I could have blindness in one or both eyes or be paralyzed on one side or even both....or I could die if when moving one of the veins or arteries to get to where they need to be and it cripmed and they did not see it, that could
cause a stroke.
     All they did was give bad news. When I told them what I was told by Anne, they told me she was not affilited with their hospital and she had no say in what they can or cannot do. They informed me they do not do the coiling at their hospital so both would be open head surgeries and they would not be preformed at the same time. It would involve at least 2 surgeries and
the time between would be at least 3 months. They also told me in no uncertain terms the headaches were not from the aneurysms. They said
they were migranes...I say they are full of crap!!!!! I have had migranes for 30 years and I know what a migrane is. The pain is totally different and they asked me to explain the difference and I did and they said it was just my imagination on the difference. They did not say it aloud, but you could see it and hear in their tone they did not believe me.
     When I first arrived they gave me shots of dimeral with phinagren for the nausea I was having.  I got 3 of those within the first 6 hours I was there, then I was moved to the ICU and given a shot of morphine and phenagren. Then I was taken to xray for a ct scan, then straight to another xray room and they did a MRI and from there I went to a surgery room and they did another angeogram all within an hour. Then I was taken to recovery for 4 hoursand given 2 vicadin then moved back to ICU. I spent the next 4 hours there, then the neurosurgeon came in and told me they would not do the surgery at this time I got so upset and angry I just wanted them to remove all the needles and all the crap for the monitors so I could go home. I was crying and so upset they gave me another morphine shot to calm me down, but it did not help. I ripped off all the leads to the monitors and was taking the IV out myself and they came in and removed it. I was ready to go home. They told me that if I left against their advice, they would never see me at that hospital again, unless it was an emergency and I was flown in, then they couldn't refuse me. I got a phone call at that exact time from Anne. She convinced me to stay overnight so Dr. Marc could call them and find out exactly what was going on. I told her I was leaving and was not staying there, she talked to hubby and convenced him to convence me to stay one night, so I relented to stay one night. They wanted to start another IV and
I refused to let them stick me again...so they moved me from ICU to a regular room and left me there all night. They had an aide come in every 2 hours for vital signs but otherwise I did not see anyone till 7am the next morning. Then I got a call from Anne saying that someone from her hospital would be transferred to there to do the coiling, or assist, and it could be done there. Then when the doctor came in he said that unless the doctor was affiliated with that hospital he could not do that...he was OFFENDED! After that he was rude....
     I saw so many different residents and everyone of them wanted to do their own testing, the same old one over and over and the same questions over and over...I realize they are training and have to learn, but geeze.... could they not learn also to read a chart and see what was going on? Each kept saying they could see the pain I was in but all they could offer now as
Tylenol because the neurology does not want me to have anything else to see just how bad the pain really was.
     By now with all the stress and pain I was a basket case and each time someone new came in and started the same old crap I got so upset I started crying and could not stop. Hubby got fed up with what they were putting me thru and got a little nasty wih them. They finally backed off some and sent a social worker in and tried to pasify us. They said they would do the surgery
if that is what I wanted but they would not do it right away and I would have to stay in their hospital for at least 2 weeks before I could even get on the schedule. Then they could not guarentee the surgery would be within a month and I would have to be there till the surgery was performed.
     Due to the financial problems here we only had $200 to get there and home so hubby was not spending any money. We took a cooler with sandwich stuff and sodas and chips but that would only last a few days. They would not even let him have a cup of coffee. They said they had to take care of the staff and patients and if they had any left he could have some then and
we never saw them again. And the food....omg. What they wanted me to eat! Instead of a diabetic diet they had me on a low carb diet. It was nasty! Totally uneatable!!!!! I know hospital food is not good, but at least in Abilene its eatable. The fish they brought me last night for dinner tasted like they seasoned it with dirt from the yard. No joke, it was really gross.
I did not eat one thing they brought me except 1/2 dry turkey sandwich and 1/2 half soggy apple. That was all I had to eat from 10pm on Wednesday night till 7:30pm Friday night was that 1/2 sandwich and 1/2 soggy apple. The only person that even cared to ask was the lady from the kitchen that came to get the dinner tray. She asked why I did not eat or if I wanted her to leave it and I said not thank you just take it away. I was not gonna say why but hubby popped off that I had said it tasted like dirt and she was surprised. She asked if I would like a sandwich and remembering the sandwich from before I said no thank you. She asked are you sure and I told her no thanks we were about to check out, but thanks for caring enough to ask. She shook her head and left with they tray.

I will warn you ahead of time, this is a lengthy story. But I truely believe this is a story that people need to hear, to know exactly what kind of health care is available to people in our area, and it's probably the same all over the country. Maybe someone can learn something from the mistakes we made and the misfortune we went through.
   I'm sure you gathered, my name is Kelley Dunn. My mother's name is Vickie Strickland, the problem has to do with her medical condition, and the lack of treatment available to her.
   In late March, she was diagnosed with having 2 aneurysms on her brain. This was especially scary to our family, because 12 years ago, my grandmother (her mother) died from complications from an aneurysm.
   After meeting with a doctor at the Medical Care Mission in Abilene, she was told to go to Hendrick Medical Center (our local hospital) to have a CT Scan done. Upon receipt of the results, she was informed about the aneurysms. The next day, my mother called the company that was supposed to be providing her health insurance only to find out that they hadn't found a suitable policy to replace the one that was terminated in November 2003, they hadn't found any policy for that matter. We are currently in the process of meeting with lawyers about this situation, but that takes time, and time is something that my mother will run out of soon.
After finding out she didn't have insurance, she asked Dr. Stoebner (from the Medical Care Mission) what she should do. She was instructed to take the results of the CT Scan, go to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, and tell them she was having headaches, and that they would help her from there.
   The next day, she and my step-father, Donnie Strickland, made the trip to Dallas, in hopes of finding some help. Once in the emergency room there, she sat on a bed in the hallway for 18 hours. During that time, the doctors ordered an angeogram, to be done in Abilene, at Hendricks Medical Center (because it would be cheaper and easier). The people at the desks, nurses, doctors, everyone was very rude. I was required to stay in Abilene for that visit, and I was worried, and wanted to speak to my mother. I was told by a nurse that patients were not allowed to recieve phone calls and that she would take a message for my father to call me, but could not guarantee he would get it. He never got the message, and I did not get to speak to him until I called and finally spoke to someone with a soft-heart for tears, because I was crying by that time.
   While they were at the hopsital, the financial representatives for the hospital told my mother that, because she was not a resident of Dallas County, that from this time forward, she would be required to pay .00 up front for each visit, or she would not be able to see a doctor again.
   My mother came home that day, and on May 4th, the angeogram was done. At this visit to Hendrick Medical Center, the doctor ordered that she should not work anymore until after the surgery.
   She called Parkland Memorial Hospital on May 7th to inform them that she had the results from the test, and they set an appointment for May 19th, confirming that she would have the .00, or she would not see a doctor. On May 19th, she went to Parkland for her appointment, and paid the .00. At that time, they took the results of the angeogram, told her that they would review the results at their next meeting (held only on Wednesday mornings from 7-8am) and they would call her after the meeting on May 26th. She never even saw a doctor.
   She never recieved a phone call that Wednesday, so then next day, Thursday, May 27th, she called Parkland Memorial and left a message. Friday May 28th, Jim, a technician from the hospital called her back, and had no idea why he was calling. He said, they gave him the name and number and told him to call her. So she explained everything that had happened.
   He said that he would have to "jump through some hoops" and would call back. He called later that evening and said they would call her the next Monday, May 31st, and set her an appointment probably for Wednesday, June 23rd.
   No one from Parkland Memorial called all the next week to confirm the appointment, May 31st-June 4th. My mother finally called them Monday, June 7th, and found out that they had set her appointment, but failed to call her and confirm it. At that time, she found out that her appointment was set for June 23rd.
   During this same conversation, my mother informed Marie, an RN at Parkland Memorial, that she did not have .00 to give them, because she was instructed not to work, and her boss would not allow her back without a release. Marie stated she would need to speak with financial department and would call back the next day, June 8th. Marie called back the next day and told my mother that it did not matter about the money, to come on in anyway.
   My mother went back to Parkland for her appointment on June 23rd, and upon trying to check in, was spoken to by the financial representatives, who were very rude and unprofessional. In front of the doctors, nurses, other patients and their visitors, she was told, and I quote, "Whenever we let people in from another county without paying, we never get our money, but we're gonna let you go in this time." She was also informed by the technician, Jim, and a resident doctor, that all of the matters handled in the appointments could have been handled by phone or mail, there was no need for her to have made any trip do Dallas at all. Jim also said he would try to see what he could do about the payment she had already made, but he could not make any promises. We have yet to hear anything about that situation.
   At that same time, the resident doctor informed my mother that the surgery needed to be done, but that they would not do it there because she is not a resident of Dallas County (for at least 6 months) and because she did not have any insurance.
   She came home that day and got online to try to research other avenues we could persue to get this taken care of. She discovered a case study in Houston at University of Texas, associated with Herman Hospital. She e-mailed Nurse Anne Wojner on Friday, June 11th and explained everything that had happened. She got a response from Anne on Sunday, June 13th. Anne told her that it sounded like she would qualify for the case study, however that only paid for the testing, not the surgery. There was another program in Galveston that would pay for the surgery as well, and she was going to look into it, and would respond again as soon as she knew anything. She also told my mother what symptoms to watch for, such as numbness, headaches worse than normal, swelling of the face, etc. She said if any of this occured to call 911 or go to the local emergency as soon as possible, because those could be signs of bleeding or rupture.
   Today, July 1st, my mother woke up feeling really bad. Around 9:30 this morning, she called my grandfather (her father) to pick her up and take her to the hospital. The right side of her face was swollen, and numb, and she was shaking really bad. She said her head hurt alot worse than normal and she was having trouble walking and keeping her balance, all the signs Anne said to watch for.
   Once at the hospital, she was checked in and given some pain medication for her headache and some nausea medication to try and calm her stomach. They did another CT Scan to check for bleeding or rupture, and told us that everything looked the same. The doctor told her that she should follow up with the program in Galveston as soon as possible and she was sent home.
   When we got home, she called Anne and explained about the hospital visit today. Anne said it usually takes at least 15 days to enroll in the program, but she would try to put a rush on it.
   At this time we have no other place to turn. She must have this surgery. Upon trying to get a release from Parkland Memorial Hospital to go back to work so she could try to maintain a normal lifestyle and pay her bills, she was informed that they could not give her any such thing, because they had denied her service.
   My father was having back problems, and was finally diagnosed with Spinal Bifida Oculta a little over a year ago, and has not been able to work steadily since. He does what he can when he can to make money for the household, but his condition makes it hard for him. He was denied Disibility Benefits stating that his condition was not serious enough. What this boils down to, basically is that my parents have very little income, sometimes none at all. I am currently working 3 jobs, trying to keep the bills paid.
   My mother has no health insurance, at no fault of her own (as I explained before), and because of that has nowhere to turn. I truely believe that my mother has had to go through things that no person should ever have to experience. One little bit of stress could cause the aneurysms to burst, and the doctors know that, but the only person that has even tried to help is Anne Wojner, and that program could take a while to get into, and my mother needs this surgery now. She went to school, worked all her life, and pays her bills and taxes. She hasn't done anything to anyone, and doesn't deserve to be spoken down to or treated like a child. She deserves only the best, and has been given only the worst.