Saturday, June 6, 2009

The charges...so far.

I don't know if they'll add more charges for lack of insurance or reckless endangerment or resisting arrest or fleeing the scene of an accident...I sure hope so!


Rude Awakening by a guy who was NOT sober at any party!


Keith's PCA Ken knocked on our door at 6:30 this morning and said "I think my truck has been stolen and Ruth's car is totaled" I went outside and I was speechless. Apparently, a drunk driver had jumpe d the curb, hit the back of my car and rammed into Ken's truck with such force that it was knocked into the street. His truck wasn't stolen, it had been towed by APD. With the insulation of the house and the noise of the machines back here in bedroom, we didn't hear a thing. Here's the story from the neighbors: This guy was speeding down the street, jumped the curb, lost control and wiped out the cars. After he saw what happened, he jumped out of his car, ran down the street taking his clothes off and tried to get into his house which is just around the corner. Our neighber down the street, chased after him, grabbed him and held him for the police. The driver is booked into Travis County Jail. He has a whole slew of charges including possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated and failure to stop and give information. Oh, yeah, he also doesn't seem to have insurance. We're waiting for Progressive to call back. Here are some photos of the damage, thank God none of us was hurt.




Friday, June 5, 2009

Oxygen deprivation

Keith got a call from Walgreen's Home Healthcare yesterday. Apparently Medicare has informed Walgreen's that only one delivery of oxygen per month will be covered. Currently, the liquid oxygen is delivered weekly.

Yeah, you heard me right, Medicare has declared that Keith can only get oxygen once a month.

Some solutions:
  • Get a detailed explanation & prescription from the doctor as to why Keith needs an average of 3L/minute of liquid oxygen. [Um, because it's the only way to stay alive on this planet?]
  • Fill the garage with oxygen canisters and store a highly flammable liquid during the hot Texas summer.
  • Find a spare $2000/month to pay for the other 3 weeks of oxygen
Naturally we're working towards the first choice, lol.

I'll let you know what happens!

Ruth

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thank you for shopping at Mayo...

My friend Margaret  just got back from the Mayo Clinic. You can learn more about why she went on her facebook group page To Find the True Cause of My Crippling Fatigue Crazy.

Here's her report on what happened:

just prior to going to the mayo clinic, my symptoms exacerbated: i had a mylar rash, felt like i had a fever (sometimes chills, too), and once experienced warmth in my legs.

Mayo reminded me of that movie Gattica. There were no sick-looking people, or people w/ oxygen or no hair; just old people. The first physician I saw promptly told me he would not accept my saliva or other samples, indicating low sIga, b/c they were not deemed accurate. He then interrupted me as I began my symptom list and told me neither chronic fatigue or another new bodily symptom I cited "would be addressed." He then handed me a 2-year old printed-off-the-internet article (not even the Mayo article) on Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome (really!?). Then he made me an appointment with the psychiatrist. Due to an emergency, he was unable to meet w/ me the following day, but a different, and very kind physician did. I asked if my new & weird symptoms had an explanation (shogren's, as my current doctor thought, Lupus, due to the rash, etc.), and he said, "yes, chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome." I asked if this meant my immune system was more susceptible, and he said, "no." I asked how I was supposed to take care of my children if I can't lift my head, and he said, "I'm so sorry." I get that there's little interest in helping tired women, but 10 vials of blood later, armed with only a high iron content and possibly a low Vitamin D level (again), they were content to send me home (kick me out). They didn't even have the results of my circadian pee test (everyone holds a GAP drawstring-looking bag w/ a jug that holds their pee in it). That was the highlight: the nurse who handed me the bag with the jug said, "Thank you for shopping at Mayo."