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dotymed

(5,610 posts)
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 07:51 AM Apr 2013

RIP Donna Nabor, another TN "for profit" hospital fatality.

My friend Donna Nabor passed yesterday. It was a preventable death, if she had insurance or money. What a sad way for a 45 y.o. woman to be forced to die. She had symptoms for the last year. She went to the local, county sponsored, "health clinic" when her symptoms started. They could only refer her to a local (all of these ex-Army Dr.'s are expensive in this area) Dr. who demanded $800 up front before he would send her to an overpriced, local lab, pay first or no tests. Donna could not afford this, she was a waitress and $2.30 an hour (under the table) was income. She had to pay rent on a trailer, lot rent, and buy gas to make it to work. When they repossessed her car last year, her gas bill dropped until she could find something else to drive.
She was a victim of this economy and our non-existent health care for the needy in Clarksville, TN. For 12 years prior, she was a factory worker. $12 was better than the $2 she had to accept.
Donna was not beautiful, she was the result of hard work and a hard life, it showed. By some Christmas miracle an intoxicated man came into the bar while she was working and gave 4 women, "beater" cars, title and all. He ran a small used car lot and was recently estranged from his over-bearing girlfriend. This was a Cadillac to Donna.
Anyway, last week her sister convinced the for profit hospital to admit her barely conscious sister. They discharged her the next day with a diagnosis of "end stage liver failure." All of that self medicating, to relieve her pain (of life too) had been her demise. 1 1/2 years ago she had confided in me that she thought she was having "woman problems" and the pain was unbearable. She told me of her aborted attempts at seeing a Dr. I encouraged her to go (or ride with me) to a non-profit hospital in Nashville. She didn't want charity and she had to work daily to survive.
After the diagnosis from the local for-profit hospital, her sister, whom Donna was so proud of {Donna had let her move in with her because she is ill, no diagnosis} took her home to die. She lasted 5 days and promised us (myself and her closest friend) that as soon as she had enough energy (2 days she thought) she would allow us to take her to St. Thomas hospital for some real help, she had been kicked-out of the for-profit w/in a day because she was uninsured. Our local, for-profit has the highest fatality rate in the state.
We all knew that Donna had a drinking problem. In the 3 years that I have known her I have never seen her drunk but I have seen her pain-free and smiling (rarely) after a "few" whiskeys.
I guess the next step is seeing how she will be able (she is dead and her sister, her only family is unemployable) to be buried. I have no idea. I know that my prognosis is very grim (my Union has kept me insured) and I will die soon. I cannot afford a real funeral and burial and I refuse to allow my 77 y.o. Mother to use her credit cards. I am going to investigate donating my corpse to science, but I do not want the profiteers to part me out for BIG money. I think they can "earn" about $100,000 per corpse by selling them to organ and tissue banks for the unbelievable amount of parts ( skin, ligaments, bone marrow, etc..) that can be harvested. Of course it is illegal for us to sell our "parts" so we can get a little of that money before we die. Our relatives are also forbidden by law to sell any of our parts to defray funeral expenses or profit as all of the tissue banks do. I looked in to how a person could own and license a human tissue bank. The profits are huge, low overheads....you have to know the right people...
Donna, you are loved by many. We kept a vigil for you in your last hours. Some at the hospital, some clutching their phones (me). I physically could not join in last night when her friends got together to celebrate her life. That hurt, but she would understand. My heart may have broken there. I could only lie on the couch, hurt, weep and apologize for not being able to attend.
What a country we have become. I am glad I will soon be done with it. My kids and grandchild we be my last worry.

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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RIP Donna Nabor, another TN "for profit" hospital fatality. (Original Post) dotymed Apr 2013 OP
It is criminal to allow anyone to suffer and die for lack of money. I am so sorry, dotymed. Mnemosyne Apr 2013 #1
should be criminal dembotoz Apr 2013 #2
I'm so sorry. Thank you for telling us about Donna. vanlassie Apr 2013 #3
A truly sad OP malaise Apr 2013 #4
Malaise, I have been trying to help defray my final costs. dotymed Apr 2013 #11
That's a lot of money malaise Apr 2013 #13
This message was self-deleted by its author ellenfl Apr 2013 #15
I know 2 people dying sorefeet Apr 2013 #5
For profit healthcare kills....greed kills prairierose Apr 2013 #6
You said it all for me. freshwest Apr 2013 #16
This deserves its own OP. UnrepentantLiberal Apr 2013 #7
Unrepentant, I agree that tissue banks, organ banks, etc.. The staggering profits dotymed Apr 2013 #12
My late mother (a nurse for almost 50 years) donated her body to a university hospital. Jim Lane Apr 2013 #20
Thanks Jim. dotymed Apr 2013 #22
They make lots of money off stem cells from foreskins too. Manifestor_of_Light Apr 2013 #17
I'm sorry to hear about your friend ca3799 Apr 2013 #8
No one in our country should be forced to go through that DFW Apr 2013 #9
I am so sorry and I feel your pain. mountain grammy Apr 2013 #10
K&R n/t Dalai_1 Apr 2013 #14
What a country we have become. Indeed. timdog44 Apr 2013 #18
i am sorry for your loss noiretextatique Apr 2013 #19
{{{dotymed}}} Please take care of yourself, too. WinkyDink Apr 2013 #21

malaise

(267,828 posts)
4. A truly sad OP
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 09:24 AM
Apr 2013

and this may seem insensitive at this time, but why do we need these expensive funerals.
What's wrong with simple cremations.

dotymed

(5,610 posts)
11. Malaise, I have been trying to help defray my final costs.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:56 AM
Apr 2013

My family should not go into debt because they want to commemorate me. Even "simple cremations" start at $2500 in this area.

Response to malaise (Reply #4)

sorefeet

(1,241 posts)
5. I know 2 people dying
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 09:26 AM
Apr 2013

right now who could be helped but have no money so they just don' go to a doctor. My brother wasn't even offered pain medication unless he entered their hospice. We got him to another state where he got at least some treatment and he lived another year and a half. The state I am in literally did not give a fuck. He also died of liver disease, but it was almost like he was profiled from the start by doctors because they knew he had abused alcohol. It was like oh well you ask for it now you want me to do something? They just didn't know WHY he self medicated and never cared to ask I guess. I got as much respect for a doctor anymore as I do a cop. You know your doing harm doc, but you just don't care enough to open your fucking mouth.

prairierose

(2,145 posts)
6. For profit healthcare kills....greed kills
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 09:51 AM
Apr 2013

I am sorry dotymed that your friend had to die in such a way....There are days when I share the sentiments at the end of your post . I see so much cruelty and hatred and greed and so little will to change anything for the better.

I am glad that you are still well enough to post.

Take care of yourself.

 

UnrepentantLiberal

(11,700 posts)
7. This deserves its own OP.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 09:54 AM
Apr 2013

Can you please do so?

I am going to investigate donating my corpse to science, but I do not want the profiteers to part me out for BIG money. I think they can "earn" about $100,000 per corpse by selling them to organ and tissue banks for the unbelievable amount of parts ( skin, ligaments, bone marrow, etc..) that can be harvested. Of course it is illegal for us to sell our "parts" so we can get a little of that money before we die. Our relatives are also forbidden by law to sell any of our parts to defray funeral expenses or profit as all of the tissue banks do. I looked in to how a person could own and license a human tissue bank. The profits are huge, low overheads....you have to know the right people...


Those assholes are even ripping us off when we're dead.

dotymed

(5,610 posts)
12. Unrepentant, I agree that tissue banks, organ banks, etc.. The staggering profits
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 11:07 AM
Apr 2013

made from our corpse' (if donated, selling is illegal for us) deserves an OP. I'd bet that we have much better qualified people on DU to write that OP. If one doesn't come up, I'll try to "get the facts" on a good day. Thanks and yes, we are commodities from birth til death.

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
20. My late mother (a nurse for almost 50 years) donated her body to a university hospital.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 07:17 PM
Apr 2013

It was the last place she worked before her retirement and was affiliated with the state university. The body would be used for the instruction of medical students. I haven't done any research and I can't say for sure that there's no profiteering involved, but I'm assuming there wasn't.

She also specified that she would be an organ donor, which is different.

You can specify both but can do only one because the organ donation leaves the body unfit for use for teaching purposes. The fellow at the university was very nice -- he said that helping living patients was more important and that if any useful organs could be harvested, that should take priority, and that's what happened.

dotymed, I'm sorry to hear that you think this will soon be an issue for you. I hope you're wrong. In preparation, though, you might want to look around and see if your state university has a medical school with an affiliated teaching hospital.

dotymed

(5,610 posts)
22. Thanks Jim.
Thu Apr 25, 2013, 09:35 AM
Apr 2013

I have been investigating both.
Organ donations-very high profit. Patients are charged for the organ, etc..
Donation- it is very hard (it seems) to guarantee that your body will go to a specific college. Unless you donate directly to that college. They can still sell your corpse if not needed. It is their property.
Also, the extreme profitability of the harvestable parts (mind boggling how many parts can be harvested) really leaves that decision in an administrators hands.

 

Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)
17. They make lots of money off stem cells from foreskins too.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 03:45 PM
Apr 2013

When NOBODY should be touching a baby's penis to mutilate it. Wait until he is grown and let him make that decision.


ca3799

(71 posts)
8. I'm sorry to hear about your friend
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:19 AM
Apr 2013

I'm sorry to hear about your friend.

I just wanted to let you know that the 'not for profit' hospital most likely would not have seen or treated your friend either. Even though they are 'not for profit', they are not 'charity' hospitals, either. The make lots of profit and guard their bottom line as closely and as jealously as a regular, for-profit hospital does.

The recent article in "Time" magazine called "Bitter Pill" by Brill explains why this is so.

DFW

(54,057 posts)
9. No one in our country should be forced to go through that
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:32 AM
Apr 2013

Not Donna, not you.

For all the crazy bureaucracy the Germans have thought up for themselves, it is just about impossible (although not completely) for this to happen there. I'm glad my wife and younger daughter are covered there as German citizens, and tremble for my elder daughter, should something befall her while she is living in the States.

mountain grammy

(26,571 posts)
10. I am so sorry and I feel your pain.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:38 AM
Apr 2013

I lost a dear friend two years ago this August. I still can't believe she's gone and have a hard time dealing with it. Someday, when I can find the strength, I will share her story here.

timdog44

(1,388 posts)
18. What a country we have become. Indeed.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 04:12 PM
Apr 2013

It is a sin the things that happen in this country in the name of profit. I am sorry you are so close to the end. Having been in the heatlh care industry, I have seen things from all angles and I am glad of some things and ashamed of others. I hope the end for you will not be too painful, physically nor mentally.

I know you have a concern about after care. My wife and I are now in the process of filling out papers for the donation of our bodies to science. It is not for the procurement of organs and so not for a profit motive, but for the use of the body for education. And you can Google it for the area you are in. But the way it works where we are is to file the papers and after being accepted, arrangements are made for your body to be taken to a funeral home, to be embalmed and then to be transported to the education facility. After they have finished, which can take quite some time, they will have the body cremated and the ashes returned to loved ones. And this is all at no fee to you.

I know this is not an easy thing to contemplate, but it sounds like you have already done the contemplation. I wish I could offer you some way to heal, but that does not seem to be in my power other than the good thoughts I can send to you. Surely your next time around will be better for what you have to go through this time.

noiretextatique

(27,275 posts)
19. i am sorry for your loss
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 06:07 PM
Apr 2013

but even with insurance, there's no guarantee she would have gotten proper treatment. i know for a fact that when it comes to breast cancer, for example, uninsured or underinsured people don't get the same treatment options as people with good coverage or those paying in cash. and depending on where you live, there may not be specialists in your type of cancer in the hospital, perhaps not even in the area. "for-profit" and "healthcare" do not belong in the same sentence. it is CRIMINAL what these idiot conservative assholes have done to this country.
for you.

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