Oct 31^st

True story! On Oct. 20^th Bill Simons, a 56 year old unemployed college graduate, is sitting with his wife in their very low rent apartment in Denver listening to the radio. He turns to his wife and babbles something. The right side of his face sags and Ann, his wife, suspects a stroke. She calls 911 and an ambulance arrives within two minutes.

 They take Bill to Denver General Hospital but Ann is not allowed to go with him in the ambulance. Ann does not drive so she calls a cab but it is sometime before she can get to the hospital. Meanwhile the hospital physicians cannot treat Bill because they don’t know his medical history or what medications he might be taking; consequently, the clot busting drug, Actephase, is delayed in its administration. The longer the delay the les effective the clot busting drug.

Within the next 24 hours it is determined that Activase is not busting the clot which has been located “deep in the brain.” Cat scans have determined its location and surgery has been performed to successfully remove the clot. Unfortunately the brain is now beginning to swell probably due to bleeding into the brain. When the clot was surgically removed the tissue behind the clot, not having received a blood supply, had died so the blood could not take its usual route and had begun to pool. More surgery was required; it was successful and a shunt was installed to drain off any accumulating blood.

By the next day after many CAT scans surgeons determine that the brain is swelling again. Ann has gone home to their apartment for some sleep and does not hear the phone requesting permission to do the necessary surgery to reduce the pressure; the neurological team does it anyway because the increasing pressure, if not reduced, will kill the patient. The surgery, called a craniectomy, involves the removal of a section of skull above the part of the brain which is the locus of the swelling. The removed potion of the skull is stored with the hope that it can be replaced before it deteriorates too much for replacement, in which case a plate will be put in place to protect the brain. This remedy for swelling is rarely used but in this case it is successful. The swelling stops. Bill has various tubes entering his body and he responds to little but he is alive. He is said to have “global aphasia” in which the patient can respond to very little stimulation.

Bill has been in the hospital’s ICU for a week, been through several complicated and dangerous surgeries and is at last beginning to recover some function. He can squeeze Ann’s hand and obviously recognizes her. The hospital personnel have gotten Bill up and in a chair so he can look out the window of his room. He wears a helmet to protect his head.

Now, at eleven days post stroke, Bill has improved enough to be moved to a step down unit and out of intensive care; speech therapists and other therapists have begun treating him. He is drinking small sips of thickened orange juice from a cup and responding well to verbal commands. Much of stroke recovery occurs in the few months immediately following the event so Bill seems off to a good start.

Why post this story on a political blog? We have mechanism in this country to provide excellent care for indigent people like Bill. From the time the ambulance was called to now Bill has not been refused care or received the least inferior care because he had no money…and believe me he had no money and no insurance. If that other party wins what do you suppose will happen to this wonderful example of caritas in the meaning the Greeks gave the word?