This is an interview with San Diego Assistant District Attorney, Steve Walter from the local Public Broadcasting Service's local station.
(A link to the original source, which includes an audio version can be found after the full text.)
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): Now what constitutes the difference between a drug dealer and a legitimate provider of medical marijuana?
WALTER: It’s a very difficult question. The law itself, when I say the law I’m talking about Prop 215, SB-420, and the AG’s guidelines, as well as the case law. In essence, you have to be either a user or a qualified patient or a caregiver for such a patient.
Wow. So according to the San Diego District Attorney's Office, "a user" is "a legitimate provider of medical marijuana." That's really disturbing as I have obtained/do obtain all of my medical cannabis from Medical Cannabis Caregivers/ Legal Patients. These are the ones that Walter himself oversaw the aggressive arrests of. I guess going on the above quote, he believes that any one ELSE, just so long as they 'use marijuana' is a responsible, law abiding, trustworthy source for the medication I use for my healthcare. Great.
This is the first time I've heard of a representative of the law enforcement agencies involved speaking publically on the matter (with exception to the San Diego District Attorney.) Once again I'm hearing the same lie that the City of San Diego is spreading to the citizens and performing horrific illegal acts based upon: District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis claims that the collectives, co-ops and other medical cannabis organizations are illegal, profiteering criminals and not legal medical cannabis patients nor are they caregivers to their fellow legal medical cannabis patients.
I am a legal, medical cannabis patient. As such, I am a member of a few collectives, but most active in one called the Beneficial Care Collective. I do not receive any pay for my work, my only reward is being able to share my feelings, thoughts, expierences and medical treatment stories with my fellow patients. The Beneficial Care Collective was raided and shut down by armed forces on 9/9/2009, a patient that I consider a friend and fellow caregiver was wrongly arrested and the medication was illegally stolen by the City of San Diego.
Here is another report/ piece of insight on the situation currently going on in San Diego, California:
Craig Beresh of S.Cal NORML reports that at least 14 San Diegodispensaries received "cease and desist" visits by the S.D. policeyesterday. They were told that a written notice would followshortly. Numerous other dispensaries remain closed in the wake ofthe recent raids. As the following report indicates, police arefalsely spreading the notion that collectives can't operate legallyunder state law. S. Cal NORML is contemplating legal action againstSan Diego. - Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML>From: "Southern California NORML" <craigberesh@normlsc.org>>To: <dale@canorml.org>>>The San Diego police will be visiting all collectives over the next>few weeks...>>At Pacific Beach town council meeting Wed 9/16>PBTC handed out fliers to everyone with every collective's name and>address. The inference is to call the police and complain, although>that is not written. The theme of the night was to call police and>complain about everything, including motorhomes, street repair,>floatillas on the bay, alcohol, smoke shops and medical marijuana.> Then Shelli Zimmerman spoke. She was just promoted to Asst. Chief of>Police from the Northern Division which includes PB:>"All collectives are for profit. There has been no change in the>law. Collectives are illegal. Props 215 and SB420 do not make>medical marijuana legal. It just gives people an 'affirmative'>defense. Growing for your own medical use is ok and the cops won't>bother you. They are only going after illegal collectives (which are>all of them) We are using the same strategy as in 2005 and 2006. We>worked with SDPD, sheriffs, DA, and DEA. Seized product, multiple>handguns, and hundreds of thousands in cash. We don't have enough>resources to shut them all down. We went after the ones with most>complaints. Community vocality helps. Especially all the noise,>vandalism, intimidation, threats and profit complaints. All the rest>of the collectives will be getting personal visits by the police>informing them they are breaking the law and to shut down over the>next few weeks. If they>don't, they will get cease and desist letters. If they stay open they>will be raided. Just like in 2005 & 2006, all the collectives got the>message. Another strategy may be going after the landlords.">>A few personal comments:>I'm not sure what affirmative defense means other than a legal defense>or medical defense...>It sounds like people are organized and complaining to police with>multiple, anonymous, and false reports of noise and vandalism, like>PB town council, <http://savepb.org>savepb.org, and><http://discoverpb.org>discoverpb.org Is>this legal?>This is from a person just promoted to Asst Chief of SDPD which should>worry the medical community in SD. How can she even say that ALL>collectives are for profit without investigating them first. Send in>state auditors not SWAT!> - Craig Beresh, S. Cal NORML Source Visit California NORML for more information
Craig Beresh of S.Cal NORML reports that at least 14 San Diegodispensaries received "cease and desist" visits by the S.D. policeyesterday. They were told that a written notice would followshortly. Numerous other dispensaries remain closed in the wake ofthe recent raids. As the following report indicates, police arefalsely spreading the notion that collectives can't operate legallyunder state law. S. Cal NORML is contemplating legal action againstSan Diego. - Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML>From: "Southern California NORML" <craigberesh@normlsc.org>>To: <dale@canorml.org>>>The San Diego police will be visiting all collectives over the next>few weeks...>>At Pacific Beach town council meeting Wed 9/16>PBTC handed out fliers to everyone with every collective's name and>address. The inference is to call the police and complain, although>that is not written. The theme of the night was to call police and>complain about everything, including motorhomes, street repair,>floatillas on the bay, alcohol, smoke shops and medical marijuana.> Then Shelli Zimmerman spoke. She was just promoted to Asst. Chief of>Police from the Northern Division which includes PB:>"All collectives are for profit. There has been no change in the>law. Collectives are illegal. Props 215 and SB420 do not make>medical marijuana legal. It just gives people an 'affirmative'>defense. Growing for your own medical use is ok and the cops won't>bother you. They are only going after illegal collectives (which are>all of them) We are using the same strategy as in 2005 and 2006. We>worked with SDPD, sheriffs, DA, and DEA. Seized product, multiple>handguns, and hundreds of thousands in cash. We don't have enough>resources to shut them all down. We went after the ones with most>complaints. Community vocality helps. Especially all the noise,>vandalism, intimidation, threats and profit complaints. All the rest>of the collectives will be getting personal visits by the police>informing them they are breaking the law and to shut down over the>next few weeks. If they>don't, they will get cease and desist letters. If they stay open they>will be raided. Just like in 2005 & 2006, all the collectives got the>message. Another strategy may be going after the landlords.">>A few personal comments:>I'm not sure what affirmative defense means other than a legal defense>or medical defense...>It sounds like people are organized and complaining to police with>multiple, anonymous, and false reports of noise and vandalism, like>PB town council, <http://savepb.org>savepb.org, and><http://discoverpb.org>discoverpb.org Is>this legal?>This is from a person just promoted to Asst Chief of SDPD which should>worry the medical community in SD. How can she even say that ALL>collectives are for profit without investigating them first. Send in>state auditors not SWAT!> - Craig Beresh, S. Cal NORML
Source
Visit California NORML for more information
Terrorist Attacks On Medical Cannabis Patients Continueby 921 » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:34 pm Unfortunately it appears that despite her claim to care about "Medical Marijuana Patients", San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her armed militia continue to wage war on San Diego's most defenseless...I received this report from an anonymous Medical Cannabis Patient/ Co-Op Member just today:A narcotics officer came in last night and demanded the administrators personal information. he would not leave until we gave it to him. he said he was getting all admins personal info for records and that the "task force" was going to be sending letters, that's why he needed it. I know he went to Mother Nurture and a couple others in SD. I feel it is a ploy to get their personal info so they can raid their houses along with their businesses. If you could post this all over for me, it would help others.I fear that those suspicions may be correct. In addition to above report and what I perceive are truly medical cannabis patients asking for help, I have noticed a whole new influx since 9/9/2009's raids. People I have never met or even "chatted with online" are emailing me asking where to get medical cannabis, asking where I live and telling me about buying marijuana off the street. People are posting "reviews" on the BCC section on WeedMaps insinuating that the Collective was anything but a legitimate Medical Collective. I post about BCC possibly opening back up and the suspicious emails increase instantly and the forum is hit with what I assume are links to possibly illegal, pornographic websites. And even though I've done countless hours of volunteer work to support local law enforcement families & officers and even though I may not live to see next year thanks to Cirrhosis (and other currently fatal health issues) - I am afraid that at any moment the door to the apartment I can't afford will be kicked in and I will be put in a jail cell even though I have not knowingly broken any California State Law.If this is how Bonnie Dumanis CARES for me and other Medical Cannabis Patients, I'd rather she ignore us, because she's far worse than any of the diseases that are killing me.~ "921"
Terrorist Attacks On Medical Cannabis Patients Continue
by 921 » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:34 pm
A narcotics officer came in last night and demanded the administrators personal information. he would not leave until we gave it to him. he said he was getting all admins personal info for records and that the "task force" was going to be sending letters, that's why he needed it. I know he went to Mother Nurture and a couple others in SD. I feel it is a ploy to get their personal info so they can raid their houses along with their businesses. If you could post this all over for me, it would help others.
http://www.sandiegobcc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50
Organizing for America,
While the President was expressing the need for our nation to reform its' inhumane Health Care system, some of San Diego, California's most vulnerable, suffering citizens were subjected to organized terrororism inflicted upon them by their own City and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies.
I am referring to San Diego District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis' continued persecution (not a mis-spelling) of those who benefit from legal medical cannabis. Lies are being told about the Collectives operating for profit and not being caregivers to its' members.
Please Mr. Stewart and OFA, we're already victims of our ailments, diseases, handicaps and inflictions. Members of these particular Collectives, at least one that I know, is an amputee U.S. Soldier. Isn't the pain he brought back from the war enough punishment and sacrifice for his country? Does he really need to suffer through prescription opiates that are highly addictive and less effective than medical cannabis? These voices need to be heard. Please look into the facts of this. People's lives are at stake.
We need volunteers to help out at our Central Washington state fair booth in Yakima, Washington especially September 25 to October 2, 2009. The times available change very quickly but they will be between 11 am to 10 or 11 pm. You and your friend will each receive a FREE fair pass for each four hours volunteer time. So go to www.barackobama.com and click on the evens like to RSVP you and your friend NOW...
Yakima County Democrats are now on Twitter at http;//www.twitter.com/ycdemocrats
So come follow us for all kind of fun information that you just can not live without.
Thanks Randall (509.654.9740 or 509.210.2701) or questions e-mail: ycdemocrats@q.com
The president wants us to support legislation, but I can't do that unless I know what I'm supporting. For example, I'd like to know if we still need supplemental insurance? Will doctors and patients make decisions, or will insurance companies still intrude in the process? Will the public plan pay 100%? Are there deductibles and co-pays? How much, in dollars, will we pay for this government insurance? Will employers be required to pick up an employee's share of national health insurance? (They do in Canada). Will we be covered out of the country? Are there caps on care? Will they get rid of the $90 Medicare subscribers pay each month for drugs? Will immigrants and residents, even if "illegal" get services? Will women's reproductive rights be assured? Does the plan include dental and eyeglasses? (It does in other countries). I'm not sure where to get this info, but somebody knows and we certainly should!!
Yard signs, posters, buttons and bumper stickers were the symbols of the campaign that rallied people to talk and acknowledge the effort that we were putting forth to elect President Obama...they all worked so very well.
Organizing for America does not have any of that and WE NEED IT!
I would like to see a business size card that we can hand out so a person can put it in their wallet - then when they see it, they think about Organizing for America. So we need little cards with
It is not hard to get people behind the initiatives, it is harder to get them to do something. I have petitions to take to my Senators & Representative and most people asked did sign. A call, an email or a petition is very easy...but people need to see it as an organized effort...as we did last year...MOMENTUM works! It would make the grassroots effort easier if it had some symbols and the dressing of a campaign.
How do we get this part of Organizing for America done? I think it takes the approval & organization from mybarackobama folks to help! How do we get that done?
Thanks!
Barack Obama’s Campaign of Transforming and Modernizing America’s Health Care System:
The mental health care system is broken and needs to be transformed and modernized in order to meet societal needs. Everyone has mental or emotional episodes. It might be due to a trauma, the death of a loved one, anxiety, tremendous stress or some other factor. Some people's mental and emotional reactions to such events cause symptoms diagnosed as serious mental health disorder such as schizophrenia or posttraumatic stress disorder.
If you need help or need help for somebody you love and care for DO NOT call 911 or the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Avoid emergency rooms and hospitals. Avoid psychiatrists that are affiliated with a hospital or are controlled by pharmaceutical companies. You or your loved one will get trapped in a mental health care system that is simply wrong, abusive, and brutal. This system ignores all patients’ rights and violates the Constitution of America.
What to do if you need help:
1) Call a friend
2) Contact Mindfreedom International, Monterey County Affiliate 1 (831) 277-1351 (monterey@mindfreedom.org)
3) Contact the Mental Health Care Abuse & Patients’ Rights support group (831)277-1351 (mbas@att.net)
Suicide Prevention Hotline:
The suicide prevention hotline is very eager to get the police involved and get people into the abuse and broken mental health care system. The patient gets arrested and has zero rights. You don’t get counseling from the suicide prevention hotline.
911 (Law Enforcement)
Most law enforcement departments don’t know how to deal with people in a mental crisis. The officers have no counseling training or mental health training. They treat people with mental problems like felons. If you are lucky you will get arrested, you will be sedated without consent and transported to the nearest abusive mental health care facility. If you are unlucky, you will be killed.
Emergency Room and Hospital: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
On arrival you will be automatically diagnosed with a mental disorder. A psychiatrist may make that decision on pure speculation without even talking to you. You instantly lose all your rights. Patients’ rights don’t apply to mental patients. If you refuse to cooperate, you may be restrained, denied food and water for days and threatened with additional imprisonment. If you refuse treatment, CHOMP will forcefully drug you, perform unnecessary and invasive procedures in order to maximize their profits. You will be forced to swallow harmful medications with severe side effects or they will be injected into you.
After you get finally released, take a look at your medical file. You will be very surprised. Most of it will be false information. Statements you made will be taken out of context and discussions about treatment options and medication side effects that never occurred will be said to have happened.
How do you look at the conflict where almost all countrys denys to receive any prisoners from Guantanamo Bay
Being a teenager living in the mid-west, I am reliant on news commentors for my information. From what I can tell, there is little out there that truly is as it is told. The media is filled with lies, on both the conservative and liberal sides. Unfortunately for the left, they hold the majority of the television industry, giving them the "powerful bad-guy" sort of stance. FOX being the general right wing corperation, they receive most of this criticism. They however are no more innocent than the left. Commentors such during early evening shows I have found to be very oppinionated, however shows such as On the Record and The O'Reilly factor seem to only defend their own positions, not neccessarily offending accept in truth-hurts sort of situations. I must admit I do depend on O'Reilly for most of my political information (that and my history classes), but still feel that I can farely say that I am independent. Do note that I am not saying that these are definitely conservative figures, I have just observed that they are considered as such by many of my family members and friends. I wanted to point out that I believe myself to hold a neutral position before continuing:
QUESTIONS for President Obama:
-continuously I hear of the growing debt of our country, stimulous bill after bailout after simulous bill. So if given the chance, I would appreciate an explaination from Obama -from what I have read you have a number of plans to reduce and eliminate our national debt (it even said so in your information page on this site). So what is this great plan? I don't need an hour and a half long speech about health care, education, and the need of our support of further stimulous packages; just an answer. Come on now, a paragraph or two would due. I need to know that we are not sending ourselves on a thirty year wild goose chase to the complete collapse of our economy -how are we going to pay for all of this "bailing out" without destroying the chance for advancement within my generation. I don't want to have to spend the rest of my life paying back what is being done right now. Especially since I haven't been told whether it is actually doing any good or not. What the hell!
Another thing -the idea of a business being "too big to fail" is hard for me to understand as well. The point of the bailouts is to keep the stock prices of large businesses that are on the brink of bankruptcy afloat, but isn't the failure of a large business exacly what the stock market needs? If a large business fails, won't the stock prices of its competitors skyrocket? I realize that the loss of jobs that such an event would be devastating, but if the other businesses are gaining strength, doesn't that also mean a great new market of job openings?
__________________________________________________________________________________
I understand that Obama will probably not read this and there is a great possibility that no one else will take the time either, but seriously, this country has needed a leader, and now that it has one that in public oppinion is right for the job, we need that leader to supply us with proper guidence, anyone who can help find these things out I would be grateful to. -thanks,
Nathaneil Brosnan
Shannon's Story
Hello All... this is my experience with health care in our country. It is kind of a long story and never seems to end on this page or in real life. Since writing it there have been many other things that have happened that I will post later on. I want to thank you for reading it and please share your thoughts. Awareness is key:O)It was Aug.2001 in San Diego, CA. My boyfriend and I were getting ready to move to Oregon. I had tonsils that had been infected for some time and a root canal that had gone bad. I started having some intermittent balance issues which were hindering my ability to drive. I briefly saw an ENT who said she would help me. My move came up abrupt. I did not have a lot of choice in the move and did not get to see her again. After moving up to Oregon from San Diego we found that work in Oregon was hard to find. I found myself working for a temp agency without any medical benefits. While my balance got better my tonsils remained infected and secreting stuff. I found myself looking for work anywhere and one of the places happened to be US Customs. I went through the background checks, interviews, and physicals without a problem. We were waiting to hear back from Customs. It could have been a month or a year. My then boyfriend and I decided to move to Arizona. I am from there and knew they would have a good job market. We arrived in spring of 2003. Shortly after Customs called and my balance started acting up. I took the job and the train to Louisiana. I figured I would have benefits and get my balance problem fixed and move on. I started going to some doctors and even the ER a few times. My head was hurting. They gave me all kinds of drugs to try and help. Some of them made me a lot worse, some did nothing. I kept a list. Finally on doctor gave me a Z pack. I thought I was cured. Everything got better. EVERYTHING! I left to go for training in Georgia and as time went by my tonsils started secreting puss and my balance returned to its unusual state of disarray. I went to the ED in a Georgia hospital. I thought maybe I had an STD. They did a lumbar puncture on me and all was pretty normal. I was upset and wanted them to find out what was going on. They discharged me. I went back to the training facility. I started having spinal headaches and could not continue with my training. They were going to send me back to Louisiana on a plane. The whole car ride from FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center) to the Jacksonville FL airport I had to lay flat in the car. I don’t remember when or how I got into the airport or when the Customs officer who drove me left but I to remember the paramedics taking me to the Jacksonville Hospital. I did not make my plane. I only remember being in an MRI room. I think they had put me out for the MRI machine. They gave me a foley catheter. I know I wanted to go home. They let me go. I was in a strange place with no car, no friends and drugged up. I had to find my way back to my studio apartment in Louisiana some 200 miles away. I called a cab and had them take me to the Amtrak station. I got a one way ticket to New Orleans. Once on the train I picked a seat that I didn’t have to share and laid on it as flat as possible trying dimmish the pain. I fell asleep and woke up some time later. Seeing that I had not been up a lady asked me if I was ok and offered me some of her food. I took the food and assured her I would be ok if I could just get home. I remember meeting a cab driver at the station. He took me back to my studio apartment in Louisiana. I had lain in my bed for awhile, maybe a few days. The apartment complex manager came by to check on me. One of my co workers from Customs came by and took me to the local hospital. They admitted me and did a blood patch which alleviated the spinal headaches for good. I told them about how well the Zpack worked and they gave me the medicine via IV. I was released with a diagnosis of meningitis. Although the labs they did not indicate so. The director of Customs said I would not be allowed back until a medical review was done by their doctors. He knew I wouldn’t have any income. I did not have any sick time because I was so new. My only other option was to resign my post. It was a sad day. Packing my things and breaking my lease my boyfriend came and I returned to Arizona with him.We lived in old town Scottsdale in an apartment. In September 2003 I started working at Scottsdale Healthcare. After going to part time from on call I started receiving medical benefits. My dad had seen Dr. Shawn Sullivan and seemed to like him. Dr. Sullivan was a primary care or IM (Internal medicine) doctor. I thought I would start there. After doing numerous tests we determined that I had a positive history of EB (Epstein Barr). I had a full allergy panel done which showed the only local thing I was allergic to was Bermuda grass. I was starting to cut things out of my diet that made me sicker. Starbucks, Tylenol and alcohol were the first to go. I had to stop driving on any freeway because of balance. As for my balance he asked me if I felt like I was floating when my balanced acted up. I said yes sometimes and that I also felt more pulled to the left. I told him there was a lot of fluid and crackling in my ears. He said I must be depressed. I took my messed up balance, infected tonsils and re root canaled infected tooth and never went back.I finally decided to have my tonsils removed. My Mom always told me to keep them if I could because they helped fight infection off. Whatever was going on was screwing up my life and this was the only thing I figured I could do. I had them removed on Feb 4th or 5th of 2004. Dr. Mariel Stroschein the ENT (Ear Nose Throat) doctor who completed the work. She said they were really badly infected. I went back in for a second surgery because I started bleeding and it would not stop. I was sent home afterwards. Now it was just a waiting game. As the weeks went by I went to one or two follow up appointments. Nothing was changing. At my last appointment I told her I was having abdominal pain and nausea. Thinking it was an allergy she gave me a book about food allergies. I followed a diet ritually to see if anything would change. It didn’t and I would think that would come up in the allergy panel Dr. Sullivan did. She also ordered a pyloric test on me for ulcers which came back negative. I am not sure if I saw her again to get that info or if her office called me. Reflecting back on some comments I had made in March of 2004 I had also started swelling. Not just in my feet but all over my body. I almost wished I had listened to my Mom about my tonsils because things after this did not get better.I decided it was time to get a new IM (Internal Medicine) doctor. It was the end of April or beginning of May 2004 now. Things were getting worse. I was starting to realize that my symptoms were worse in the warmer months. Balance being number one. One of my co-workers recommended Dr. Farooqui. I went in and saw him. His office was very busy and I noticed the Best of Phoenix Award from Phoenix Magazine in a frame at his front desk. My ears and the back of my head hurt badly. My head felt full. Kind of like when your ears are popping when changing elevation while traveling. I was swelling all over. The first few visits were with his wife but then I started seeing him.During my time with him he referred me to Dr. Heiland an ENT who looked in my ears and said he did not see anything but prescribed me some drops. About 5 hours after I had taken the drops in my ears I started spinning. This went on for about a day. The doctor did not have a very good attitude to begin with so I did not go back to see him and he never scheduled me for follow up.Along with the abdominal pain the labs the doctor ran had the first signs of elevated liver levels. The elevated levels show up in a July 2004 lab report. Dr. Farooqui had sent me in for a CT scan of my abdomen. This is when we found the cyst. I saw 2 surgeons. Dr. Gilles and Dr. Rosenthal. At the appointment for Dr. Gilles I had my Mom go with me for support. Dr. Gilles criticized me for my weight and lectured me on my diet. My Mom was upset and the appointment went well past the typical time for an appointment. In the end he said he would do the surgery and take out the cyst along with my spleen. He explained why he would not do a partial splenectomy or leave the spleen. I know that the spleen helps the immune system and after having my tonsils removed I was worried about that. My health had really deteriorated and I did not want it to get worse. Dr. Rosenthal wanted to remove everything too. I was seeing a pattern. They all just wanted to take everything out and move on. I declined.Dr. Farrouqui sent me to Dr. Block for neurology for my balance problems. He prescribed me Effexor. He thought the drug would help the brain to stop recognizing the pain I was having. After taking the medicine I was bouncing off the walls. I was shaking, unable to sleep. My balance got really bad and I had to stop the medicine. He tried another medicine called Nortriptyline which did not do any better. I stopped seeing Dr. Block after this. Nagging at me was the fact that he was just giving me pills to treat something he did not know the cause of.My time with Dr. Farooqui was intermittent was because I had started working at the State of Arizona. Their benefits at the time offered me the opportunity to go to Mayo Clinic. I thought this would do it. They know everything, right? My first visit in October 2004 was with Dr. Usha Tatini. She was their RIM (Regional Internal Medicine) doctor. At my first visit she told me things would happen very quickly. The second visit with her in December 2004 she came into the appointment and plopped down at her desk and told me she did not have time to read my chart. The third visit she asked me what I was still doing there. She ordered a battery of tests and consults initially. Abnormal tests included IGM deficiency, C4, TSH, Bact. Urine culture and a duodenal aspiration with moderate levels of strep. Radiology and procedures consisted of cyst aspirations; CT scans of my sinuses and abdomen, EGD, Sigmoidoscopy just to name a few. I had been retested for balance and sent to Physical therapy to try to get my brain to learn how to refocus on my balance. That was a mistake, my balance was so screwed up I was unable to drive myself to work for about 2 weeks. At the time my daughter had her learners permit and went to school near my office. So she drove. I had been before a panel of Dermatologist who ruled out nail fungus and porsicis. The cyst aspiration showed nothing but going to the bathroom improved and I slept better for awhile. I now had thyroid problems. There were no solutions. In May 2005 my boyfriend and I had moved to Avondale, AZ where we bought a house. The drive for me to Mayo Clinic is almost forty miles one way. I cannot drive on the freeway because of my balance issues and going there took me about an hour and a half on surface streets. It took its toll. One of my last visits was to a Dr. Kim. He was an ENT doctor. He had an oral surgeon Dr. DeLeeuw come in to talk with me about my abscesses in my mouth. They laughed at me and said there was nothing there. If I brought films in they would look at them. I was not happy. These guys are supposed to be professionals. I went to the Mayo Clinic administration office after the appointment. I gave the lady my name and number for someone to get back to me. I wanted to say something. She knew I was not happy. I never heard from them. I went back a few times more to see the dermatology and to the dizzy doctor Dr. Barrs. As far as I knew my liver levels were still up, I was swollen all over, I still had balance, ear and nail problems and now my thyroid. This is what I left Mayo Clinic with.By this time it was spring/summer of 2005. I did a few more things while under Dr. Farroqui’s care. He did a sleep apnea test which came out normal. He also referred me to an oral surgeon. I had the root cannel redone by a local dentist and the abscesses were still there. I saw a Dr. Allard. He did a film and dictated a letter to Dr. Farooqui about the findings. The abscesses were seen. Dr. Allard also thought that I should see someone about TMJ. I did this but it turned out to be a waste of time and almost a lot of money I did not have. I did have the tooth removed by a root cannel specialist but the abscesses are still there to this day. I can feel them.In fall of 2005 Dr. Farooqui helped me get into Dr. Crowe infectious disease. I have always thought that I had some underlying infection left over from my tonsils. There is a lot of ear pain and the base of my skull hurts. Dr. Crowe did a bunch of tests. Dr. Crowe sent me into SMIL for CT scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. All of the results were normal. As I look back on this now I had the same abdominal studies done 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004. The cysts were always there even after having them aspirated. This study was done in November 2005 the second time this year. I did not realize it at the time but these films needed to be reread.Dr. Crowe sent me to Dr. Manning and Dr. LaLani. Dr. Manning dealt with Allergy and Immunology. He did an open MRI of the neck. Most of the tests were normal except an enlarged lymph node in the left parotid gland and the left submandibular node was greater than the right. There wasn’t anything found in Dr. Crowes lab results so things did not go any further with Dr. Manning. I saw Dr. La Lani for my thyroid. Dr. Crowe said he sent his Dad to him and that he was a good doctor. I felt good about this. Dr. La Lani did an ultrasound in his office and biopsied my thyroid. Nothing came of this. My liver, glucose, TSH, microsomal and IGF-I test came out abnormal. In the end he told me “I needed to find my center”. The audacity of saying something like that. Once again I wasn’t getting anywhere. So I moved on.In April of 2006 I started seeing Dr. Greg Celaya another internal medicine doctor. I went to him for a year. During that time he injected Novocain into my head and sent me to a surgeon who wasn’t on my insurance. He ordered a MRI of the C spine. This test came back abnormal. There was bulging seen at C6-7 disc level. Disc desiccation at all cervical levels and straightened cervical lordosis. He dictated in a later report that “Ct’s and MRI’s of this region have returned completely normal”. He also referred me to an oral surgeon named Dr. Day. I went to his office to see about the abscesses in my mouth from the root cannel. He had just gotten a new CT machine and had hardly used it. He took pictures of my mouth and said that he did not see anything. I know he looked around inside my mouth and did not see anything. I told him I could feel them. I brought the film with me and I told him that Dr. Allard said it was there. Dr. Day wanted me to show him where on the film it was. I got frustrated. I am not a doctor and do not know how to read films. It was very humiliating. While under Dr. Celaya’s care I did go to the ER once at St. Luke’s once. I was having such abdominal pain. If I drove over a bump it hurt. I sat up most of the night because lying down was out of the question. They did call a consult with Dr. Feng another general surgeon. He came in and told me I could be admitted but it would be a few days before he could do anything because he had to get all of my medical records or I could follow up with him. I thought that was ridiculous so I followed up with him. He wanted to do the same thing as the other surgeons and by this time my abdomen wasn’t hurting nearly as bad as it did. He wanted to take my spleen, part of my pancreas, and the cysts. By this time I knew there were options. Like a partial splenectomy just to mention one. So I went on.I was under the care of Dr. Celaya until June of 2007. At the time my boyfriend Barrie was seeing him also. Barrie had started a new job and needed records sent to Blue Cross Blue Shield before they would cover him. After about six weeks of trying to get Dr. Celaya’s office to send the records to the insurance company my boyfriend got upset. He wasn’t feeling well and wanted his coverage. After weeks of waiting he sent a third fax to Dr. Celaya’s office stating that if they were not sent over to BCBS that day he would have his attorney contact them. On Friday June 8th 2007 I spoke with Dan at Dr. Celaya’s office. We were in the process of setting up another cyst aspiration for me when Dan mentioned he had received a disturbing fax from Barrie. When I talked to Dan I did not know what the fax had said. This was the first I had heard of it. Dan said the receptionist said she had one number and was unable to get through. Dan told me that he believed Sally and that they would be contacting me for the aspiration. On June 27th 2007 I spoke with Dan again. Barrie had received a letter of being discharged from Dr. Celaya’s care. He was not unhappy with the doctor, just the office not doing its job getting records sent. How does all of this relate to me??? Dan told me I was discharged also. I told him he would have to send a separate letter saying so. He tried to argue this with me and I told him that I am no way related to Barrie and am a separate case. I wanted a letter addressed to me and stating why. He said they have a generic letter and that was all I would get. I could not believe this. I was very disappointed.I waited a few months to select another doctor. I was angry and I think I have lost all of my respect for them. My new doctor is the one I see now. Dr. Garred. She referred me to an ENT for my balance issues. On January 24th 2008 I arrived at an appointment at Dr. Daspit’s office. He is an ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) doctor. The appointment was made by Dr. Garred’s office and facilitated by Dr. Glading. They thought maybe I had mastoiditis. At the office visit we reviewed the CT reports that I had from VR (Valley Radiology) and he told me they said the test result was unremarkable. A term meaning that no abnormalities were found. I told him that can’t be so because I had bone scan done at West Valley Hospital that indicated that there was something behind my left ear. He told me he would have the films sent over from Valley Radiology and have them read at St. Josephs Hospital. Meanwhile he would schedule me for another balance test at Balance Research Center and a follow up appointment with him.After the appointment on January 24th I went back to VR. I had made arrangements to get the films on disk. I was mad. I had asked for Roberta. She was the manager I had worked with the last time there was a problem but she had left for the day. It was late in the day. I told the girl I spoke to that the reports were read incorrectly. I told her that when I went in for the CT scan I gave the techs a copy of the report for West Valley Hospital bone scan and the disk to copy for comparison. They said they would do this and give me back everything at the end of my test. Which they did. I don’t really understand how they got nothing out of this. I asked the girl if she had the CT scan disc. She told me they had the films for me. I told her I did not ask for the films. (Where am I going to store them?) I wanted the CD and she said we have the films here. I told her to send the films to Dr. Daspit's office since he was going to have radiology re-read them at St. Josephs. I waited while she burned a disc for me. When I went back to follow up on the reports they gave me a new one. This confirmed West Valley Hospitals findings. However, rather than admitting a correction on the report as in the past they called it an addendum. Saying that and I quote “Bone scan done at West Valley Hospital is now available for comparison.” They had ALL of this information on my visit for the test on 01/07/2008. No one was sending info on me other than me. No releases were signed. I was the only way they could have got the info.On January 25 Nicole from Dr. Daspit’s office called me to schedule the balance and follow up appointment. The balance test was scheduled for 02/04/2008 at 1000 at the Balance Research Center and the follow up appointment was scheduled on 02/12/2008 at 1615.I arrived at my appointment on time at the Balance Research Center and went to check in. They had no record of my appointment. They sent me back to Dr. Daspit's office across the hall. I waited in line. When I got to the receptionist I told her that the balance people did not have my appointment scheduled. The doctor’s office called across the hall to the balance place. They said they would take me. So I went back across the hall. I remember the guy at the check in desk telling me that his office does this all the time. The testing was done by Dana Day. I had told her about the ct test and that they were recommending an MRI. At the end of the testing I asked her how I did. All she would say was the Dr. Daspit will probably want to do that MRI. I have a copy of that report in my medical book.At my second appointment for Dr. Daspit I arrived at 1530 for my 1615 appointment. I went to the front desk and spoke with Nicole. She had no record of my appointment in the computer. She could not find me on the patient list at her desk either. Did this doctor really have time to prepare for my appointment? He had no idea I was coming. It wasn’t until she opened my chart and found the infamous orange post-it that she did realize I did have an appointment at least scheduled on my end. I told her that I had went through the same thing last week with the appointment they were suppose to schedule me with at the Balance Research Center. I asked her if I had to make another appointment. She said no.I was not happy. Dr. Daspit called me in. I went into his office and he showed me a model of the area where the problem is and said it was not an issue. Dr. Daspit said he had read the films on the disk and that he saw nothing. The only disk he had was from West Valley Hospital where the abnormality was discovered. He was looking at the wrong media and images. He told me that he could do nothing else for me. I’ll admit by this time my voice was slightly elevated. Sensing my frustration he said he could cut the balance nerves in my head. I said something about doing the MRI for follow up. I thought that he said he wasn’t going to do it. At a later phone call with him he told me that he said that Dr. Garred could follow up with the MRI. I know that there was also a call with the office manager that I had. I was already upset because of all I had been thorough that I don’t remember the details of the call.Dr. Garred rescheduled me with another ENT and went I to see her again I went in apologizing profusely because I had tried to meet with a second ENT that she referred me to. This was in August 2008. My doctor looked at me with a blank expression on her face as I explained why the appointment did not take place. Seeing her expression I immediately said to her “you referred me to Dr. Taffet for my balance issues”. She said “Ohh”. As the discussion moved on I started talking about how after having my tonsils out my symptoms got worse. She said to me, “you sound really good until you start talking about your tonsils.” She told me I did not sound very smart when I started associating my problems with them. She asked me where I got my information about secondary infections from tonsils. I told her on the internet. The doctor dismissed it saying I could find info like that anywhere (I guess Merck Manual and Mayo Clinic are wrong). I was not happy. I started questioning her about these things and she told me I sounded suspicious. It has been a long time with no results. I wanted answers to my problems. I had worked late the night before and did not get much sleep. I left the appointment in tears. What I got out of this visit was a doctor who clearly did not read my chart before coming in to see me. I was told I wasn’t very smart and that I was suspicious. She got paid and I got nothing. This has been the history of things for me.In addition to this as of April 2008 my finger tips and nails on my right ring and little fingers started becoming very swollen. Dr. Garred had put me on a couple of Z-packs which improved my symptoms but after a few weeks my fingers went right back to the infected state they had been in. My little finger was draining puss. When it didn’t clear up Dr. Garred said she didn’t really know what it was. Dr. Garred referred me to a hand surgeon named Dr. Chou. I saw Dr. Chou and we scheduled a date for surgery on my hand for May 20th, 2008. He had me stop any antibiotics I was taking so they could have a better chance of confirming what kind of infection this was. His preoperative diagnosis was an Eponychial infection of the right small finger and Paronychial infection of the right ring finger. His postoperative diagnoses were the same. My own research of these infections told me that they were usually caused by strep or staph which are common forms of infections. I remember the day I went in. They were going to make incisions and drain the fingers. They found additional pus and decided to remove the whole nail on my little finger. I remember waking up and asking how it was going and the doctor said that we were we almost done. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. I came to fairly quick and was talking to the staff. I started telling one of the nurses about my problems and she could not believe that I had not been in a Starbucks for coffee in the last 5 years. The things we take for granted.My fingers were wrapped in bandages. I believe they stayed on for at least a week after the surgery. I went for a follow up appointment at the surgeon’s office. We took the bandages off. The air burned the skin. He told me to do dressing changes and equipped me with the necessary items to get me started doing this. I was to rinse my fingers in peroxide and keep them wrapped. I did this twice every day. The skin kind of healed. The nails that grew back still looked bad. My little finger started contracting looking deformed. The doctor had done fungal, gram stain, and AFB cultures. All were negative except for the gram stain which came back with light growth of flora including three types of coag neg staph. Which I was told that it is nothing more than what most people have on their bodies. Dr. Chou decided to send me to a rehumatory doctor. He said he would not release me from his care until I was seeing someone. By this time my hands had healed in their deformed state. I waited awhile to go to this doctor. I am so tired of seeing them. In the end I decided to go to a ruhumatory doctor I had already seen. I did not want to drag another one into the picture. After seeing Dr. Chou I had to make about 3 return trips because I owed them for co pays that the billing staff said I wouldn’t have to pay. On the first of those trips I left a message with the receptionist that I was going to see Dr. Jajoo instead of who he had referred me to. She already knew me.In August of 2008 my middle finger on my right hand started to do the same thing. In October of 2008 my middle toe on my left foot started doing the same thing. In August my IM doctor wanted to send me to an ID (infectious disease) doctor. They gave me a referral but I decided to see Dr. C. Crowe. I had been to see him before. On September 22nd 2008 I went to see him and he could not believe I was still having problems. I saw him at the hospital occasionally because we both worked there but had not been to see him in an office visit since 2005. I shared the surgery reports and lab results that came back negative. We talked about how when you’re local medical community cannot figure out what is wrong maybe it is better to go somewhere else. We talked about University Care in Tucson. He thought I should see a dermatologist down there. He asked me to research the doctors under my health care plan. At my next appointment on 10/22/2008 I did this providing him with a list. He said they would contact a Dr. Sara Curiel at Arizona Cancer Center UMC North in Tucson. He told me he would dictate a letter to a Dr. Curiel and asked me to ask my other doctors to do the same. He would also help me secure an appointment.The following week I saw Dr. Jajoo for the first time since 2005. Backing up some. This appointment was before Dr. Crowe had asked me to have my other doctors dictate a letter to help me obtain a visit in Tucson. I told her about how Dr. Crowe and I working were an appointment for me to see the doctor in Tucson. I told her that I had a list of doctors from Tucson for Dr. Crowes review. She said if we did not get something soon that she wanted me to see someone locally. I signed a request from Mayo Clinic for her to obtain dermatology reports from them. She wanted to give me cortisol shots for my hand but I told her no way. The last time I was on any type of steroid I started having bad effects from it. She said ok and we did some labs and x-rays of my hands, feet and lower back. I had been having some burning feeling in my lower back since March of 2007.On October 24th 2008 I got a call from the Arizona Cancer Center UMC North in Tucson. I had faxed a packet of records over there on 10/21/2008. Between working with Lyndy Johnston and Dr. Curiel we decided that I should see Dr. James Sligh. In a phone conversation with Dr. Curiel she said that she only handled dermatology problems involved with cancer and that Dr. Sligh worked with her at the center and he covered a broader range of diseases. She told me he was from Yale. I agreed with her assessment and had an appointment scheduled with him at the center.My appointment was December 2nd 2008. I was excited and had high hopes. I had heard that they sometimes send people to the University cancer center in Tucson when they do not know what is wrong with them. My mom got the days off from work to drive me there because I cannot drive myself due to my balance issues. My mom thought she should just drop me off and leave me there until they could figure me out. She said the half jokingly and half true. We got there and signed in. They gave you a pager and you went to registration where they collected your 20 bucks. After that we were called into another area and waited for a few minutes. After that we went back and the nurse checked the regular stuff. Blood pressure, temperature, and weight. We were shown in to an exam room. We waited and a nurse stuck her head in and said the doctor would be in soon. She was nice. Dr. Sligh came in. He was a young guy. I started telling him what was going on. He started drawing pictures of my hands. He said that he thought that I had psoriatic arthritis and that Dr. Jajoo would be my quarter back in this problem. I explained to him that this has been going on for some time. He said that he wanted to try some treatments but because of my liver enzymes he did not want to until I saw a GI doctor. I told him that doctor Garred had referred me to one but the doctor but the GI doctor was unable to see me until March 2009. Four months out. I told him that I hadn’t made the appointment yet. Dr. Sligh laughed and said when you have a really good doctor like that it can be harder to get in for an appointment. I thought to myself this GI doctor has too many patients and not enough time. Sounds more like an over worked doctor to me. I told him I would make the appointment. I did make the appointment and now it is in May of 2009. I left this appointment once again being pushed back into the medical community I had started with. We had hoped they would embrace me. Dr. Sligh did realize that we had driven from Phoenix and did make an effort to spend some extra time with us. In the end this visit went nowhere and was a waste of time. I came away with this appointment without a diagnosis and have to start right back where I started from. I have a letter to Dr. Jajoo dictated by Dr. Sligh telling her what he “thinks it is”. He never sent one to Dr. Crowe. The doctor who originally helped me get there.On December 12th I went in for my appointment with Dr. Crowe. I reviewed the discussion I had had with Dr. Sligh and that I was going to continue to see Dr. Jajoo. I told Dr. Crowe about my frustration with going all the way down to Tucson. I reminded him about our previous discussion. How we had hoped they would pass me around and filter me through their system. None of that happened. I asked him about facilitating a visit with another doctor outside of the local community. Maybe someone else in Tucson? He said that I should try to peruse this on my own. (I am not mad at him but I guess he forgot that I can’t just get in the car and drive where ever I want.). We talked about the visit to the GI doctor and how I had tried to secure prompt appointment. He told me that when Katie Couric became an advocate for colon cancer awareness everyone started flocking to the GI doctors for colonoscopies and that appointments take a long time to get. There is something wrong with this. The media has just created a bunch of over worked doctors.The next day on the 13th I went in for an appointment with Dr. Jajoo. She was frustrated because there was no diagnosis from Tucson. She said she wasn’t sure what we were treating and that we could try putting me on Enbrel. This drug is a very expensive injection. She ordered labs, a chest x-ray and a TB skin test. In the meantime she wanted to try a low dose of steroids. I agreed. We felt that I needed to re-confirm that I had no tolerance for them and that I would react adversely. I made a follow up appointment for January 15th 2009. I later rescheduled for January 27th due to a conflict. I try the steroids but can only take them for about 3 days and then I need to stop. Things get really wound tight and my balance worsens.Seven years later, countless doctors, tests and drugs I am still sick and no better off than when I started. In fact I am worse. At my last visit with her I told her I had been losing sleep because of the abdominal pain. She told me to take more sleeping pills because I am not even taking a prescribed dose. I let her know that my husband was concerned. She said I was fine. We talked about how she referred me to a GI doctor that couldn’t see me for at least 4 months. She seemed to think that was ok until I told her I did not want to wait that long. I got an appointment with another GI doctor 2 days later. We also talked about how lucky we were to live in AZ because we could wear open toed shoes. Part of this was in reference to my disfigured toe nails and toe. Since I have been in her care things have happened to me that may or may not only be reversible by surgery. I have gotten worse. I would leave but I am not sure where to go anymore.
I’m starting to take it personally, after being declined again for health insurance. I want to pay for it, really, but apparently a tonsillectomy (which I had done to PREVENT further illness) and a few imperfections in my health history make me ineligible. Neither Blue Cross Blue Shield nor Aetna cared to ask what PREVENTATIVE measures I have taken (such as my daily walks, extremely healthy diet, and multivitamins). They didn’t give any consideration to the circumstances surrounding my imperfections. It doesn’t matter that I survived a tragic loss; and therefore, sought counseling and took antidepressants. Nor does it matter that I had a tonsillectomy to avoid going to the doctor for tonsillitis. I am just a reject.
So what am I, an employee at a non-profit that lacks funding to offer employee benefits, to do? I make too much for AHCCSS, yet too little to pay for a doctor’s appointment or a medical procedure. Here’s the solutions I’ve come up with:
¨ Find a job with benefits. Good luck in Flagstaff (let alone anywhere) these days.
¨ Keep on applying for coverage until someone accepts me. I’ve already fallen for one health insurance fraud, and had to close my bank account. Plus, the more I get rejected, the least likely someone is to accept me.
¨ Lie about my health history. Tried it and got caught.
¨ Stop working so I can get government help. Quite frankly, I like working and supporting myself, though money is tight.
I’m 28. I stay as healthy physically and mentally as possible. I have my master’s degree, and dedicate myself to helping disadvantaged youth in my community. I try as best I can to be a productive member of my community and of this country that I love so much, so why can’t billion dollar health insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna help me out a little? If something goes wrong, and I need a medical procedure or treatment, count me dead. In a sense, my entire existence is starting to feel rejected. Thanks a lot Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna. If I ever get a life-threatening illness, I know just what to do: quit working and count on your tax money to save me.
Alana M. Messinger
When we decided to live in San Martin 9 years ago, we had great dreams to realize here. It was the country life we wanted so much, yet it was very close to all the amenities of a big city life. We were in a booming economy with hundreds of jobs available, we had lots of friends who were happy, successful and active. Then, the "Silicon Valley Bubble" bursted.
With Barack Obama's election we started having a hope for the change to be happy and successful again, to be in peace again... That is why I joined this group to get involved in creating a strong community feeling, helping and supporting each other in every way possible.
Our friends are our support group in hard times. To make friends we need to get to know people, to get to know people we need to become friends with them. We must bring back the trust, tolerance, understanding and the gift of sharing. We must open our doors and build strong, safe, peaceful communities. I hope to find it with this network.
