(09-05-2017 10:44 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(09-04-2017 02:33 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(09-04-2017 01:03 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(09-03-2017 05:50 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(09-03-2017 05:17 PM)dfarr Wrote:  So you don't know if the guy was gay, had AIDS, or was even there for a gay/HIV related issue, yet you keep on preaching as if you do. Talk about having your head up your ass.

I work in healthcare in Alabama. I went to school with dozens of nurses and physicians. I was either a student or employee at UAB for 12 years. Healthcare is kinda our thing, so I know tons of people throughout the state in healthcare. Half my family are nurses and doctors in this state. I can say unequivocally that your a purely FOS.

Your version of being denied care is not being seen the next day for an ear ache, so excuse me for not feeling sorry for you.

Uh, reading is fundamental. The patient at Mobile Infirmary was listed HIV positive. He was thrown out of the ER because they didn't want to treat him, and because he couldn't really move well, they physically threw him down in a gutter in 40 degree rain. These are not in dispute. Mobile Infirmary, in pleadings designed to try to avoid any responsibility, argued that he died of AIDS. No idea how they came up with that, seeing as they never treated him and the patient died of exposure related illnesses at the hospital he was transported to after he was found in the gutter 4 hours after being physically thrown out of Mobile Infirmary.

Also not in dispute is that I can't find one single hospice in Mobile that accepts AIDS patients. Can you? How about Tuscaloosa?

My brother died last month in needless pain because we couldn't find one single hospice that would take him. Most of the beds are controlled by one hospice company and they flat out rejected him. He experienced terrible pain as a direct result of that denial.

Exactly, what kind of hospice cannot handle a Gay man, who is bed bound, with a DNR and less than 10 days to live? What medical condition does he have that they cannot handle? Obviously you know that the ONLY reason for a denial is.....they don't want to handle it. BTW, the hospice company, which controls many, if not most, of the hospice beds in the entire state, does NOT have sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policy.

The reality is that Gay people in Alabama cannot get even BASIC medical care, much less specialized care.

Tomorrow, I'll probably have to pay a 990 dollar penalty for being Gay. Because there's only a couple PCP's in Houston that are trusted by the LGBT community. That's a pain but I'm one of the few people that can afford such a HUGE surtax for being Gay. Most people just do without care as a result. I'm relatively less disadvantaged than Gay people in Alabama, because there are 2 or 3 PCP doctors that treat Gay people with SUPPORT and dignity. I'm not lucky, as I'm still far more disadvantaged than straight persons, who will NEVER have to pick a PCP that is oversubscribed just to avoid being denied a medically necessary referral because of your sexual orientation.

Again, please let me know the hospices in Alabama that take LGBT patients with HIV. Use those contacts and let me know. I'd love to know what you come up with. We were rejected. Not 'there isn't space', but you can't come here. Even if you paid double what the list price was'.

----

Where can Gay people in Alabama die with dignity? Maybe there's one facility in Birmingham that has 10 beds and no availability. If there's anything in Mobile, we were unable to find it.

I'm truly and deeply sorry for your loss. Losing a loved one is awful.



Something to think about...

My wife's 95 YO grandmother (GM) had a heart issue and went into hospice.

Some background:

• My wife home schools our daughter.
• GM lived two counties away to the west (45 miles / 50 mins).
• I work a full-time job.
  

We never considered looking for a hospice facility. We knew she would be most comfortable in her own home. She deserved that comfort and that dignity.

My wife and teen aged daughter would travel to GM's home on Sunday evening with clothes, school books and lesson plans in tow. They lived at her house from Sunday evening to Friday evening. While there they not only had to continue holding school but also take care of GM's needs (eating, bathing, toilet, exercise, medicine, emotional and psychological comfort).

I was alone at home during the Sunday-to-Friday shift taking care of the house after working all day.

On Friday after work I went to GM's and relieved them for the weekend. They were able to go home and rest. During my shift I took care of GM's needs (previously explained).

We only saw each other briefly during shift changes on Friday & Sunday.

We did this in excess of 3 months until she passed away. We were originally told she had 6 months to a year and we had accepted that.

Yes, providing end-of-life care for another person is emotionally and physically draining, but it should be done gladly regardless of whatever sacrifices have to be made.

Oh, I was there even after they found a 'second class' facility to divert him to after TWO WEEKS of grossly inappropriate care. I was there all the time. After my brother's multiple denials of care, I wasn't going to trust anything Alabama around my brother without watching them.

Basically, we had to use our own money to rent an empty room in a nursing home where the BS 'in home hospice' people provided the 50 dollar bed rental, the 10 bucks worth of morphine, and the lady to clean him three times a week. But we still had arguments with the nursing home people who tried to violate the care instructions. They aren't equipped to be a hospice. The hospice wouldn't take us at any price.

I was there 24-7. That's not my issue. My issue is that my brother was denied appropriate care, either because he is a Gay man and/or was dying of an AIDS related ailment.

Some people need hospice care. My brother was one of them. He didn't get it, because he is Gay/suffered from AIDS.

For many Gay men, they don't have extended families. There aren't kids, wives, etc.....it was just me. I have no idea what would have happened if I wasn't there. And I'm terrified about what happens to me now that I don't have any relatives. One person physically cannot do it. Its not possible. You grandmother could have also had sitters too, if needed. My brother's home was so bad that even that was extremely difficult.

You could have moved your grandmother into any hospice. Its different when you know there's not any other solution, and he's being denied care, simply because of bigotry.

I'm glad your grandmother died with dignity. My brother didn't, because he was turned down like yesterday's garbage by the medical community in Alabama. That's what happens to Gay men in Alabama.

We made the decision NOT to move her to a facility. That was never an option.


I understand your point that she was afforded the option while he was discriminated against. If that is truly the case -- and I'm not saying it is or isn't -- then you have an easy-win lawsuit. The media and SJW groups would jump all over it.

Under what grounds? It is LEGAL to discriminate in Alabama. The hospice monopoly specifically excludes sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policy for a reason. I'll probably sue, or at least try to get their licenses revoked or cause them more scrutiny when they attempt to extend their monopoly to more areas. What I really want is the medical license of the doctor who reviewed my brother's file.