This is a post from my cousin and I didn't really know how to cut it so you get it in its entirety. This is not really a political plea but one of humanity! I ask for your prayers on her behalf!
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This is a note I've been wanting to write for quite some time, but I've never been able to talk myself into doing it. I'm doing it now because I'm angry. And I'm sad. And there's a big, strong boy up here that needs your prayers.
On November 28, my boyfriend's oldest son, Alex, was a happy, healthy, active 15 year-old boy. Tipping the scales at 6'1" and 203 pounds, he was a star defenseman on his hockey team; a hockey team that was runner-up in the Provincials just the season before. On November 29, Alex spiked a fever so high that he actually became delusional, to the point of yelling obscenities at his mom and sister that should never escape the mouth of a 15 year-old. He went to the Emergency Room, where he was given some fluids, told he had the flu and sent home. "Free" Healthcare Fail #1. By Thursday of that week, he was still feverish, had started vomiting, and was complaining of a pain in his side. So off to the the ER again, this time with a request to check his appendix. Same fluids. Same story about the flu. Same result. "Free" Healthcare Fail #2. Another week later, a trip to his pediatrician. "It can't be appendicitis, he's had the symptoms for too long." No appendicitis, just the same flu. "Free" Healtcare Fail #3. Repeat this scenario. Three trips to the ER, one trip to Urgent Care and two trips to the Pediatrician... landing with the final trip to the ER on December 18.
On December 18, Alex was a very ill 15 year-old boy. He was vomiting blood. He had a raging fever. His kidneys were shutting down. After a million tests, the doctors finally ordered an ultrasound. And what they found was shocking. Alex did, in fact, have appendicitis. But, unfortunately, it went undiagnosed during SIX visits to healthcare facilities. His appendix had ruptured nearly two weeks prior. He was toxic. His body was literally killing itself. And we almost lost him. He was too weak for an operation to remove the pieces of his appendix or the pockets of infections that had formed in his abdomen. He had three abscesses; one the size of a golf ball, one the size of a baseball and one the size of a grapefruit. Because he was too weak for major surgery, the doctors inserted drainage tubes into the abscesses and started him on the strongest antibiotics known to man.
On December 24, Christmas Eve, Alex was released from the hospital. He was our Christmas Miracle. And we honestly couldn't have been more excited to have him back home. He was weak and tired, but he was home. And we were able to share Christmas together, outside of the dark walls of the hospital.
Fast forward to December 27. Alex had a fever, which meant an automatic trip to the hospital. So back he went. To the same place he had just lived in for a week and left a mere three days earlier. And what did they do? They told him his case was now too complicated and they could no longer treat him. Alex's case was forwarded to The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) in Toronto. It's a state-of-the-art, best-of-the-best hospital. At Sick Kids, two more abscesses were found. Again drains were inserted. And again he was put on antibiotics. He continued to lose weight. He continued to be in great pain. And the abscesses continued to gain on him. He had good days. And he had bad days. But he fought through it. He came home to us, once again, on January 7. He was 43 pounds lighter. But he was home. For good.
Until May 25, when a "routine" surgery changed everything. Because Alex was so weak when he was first admitted to the hospital, they couldn't operate to remove the pieces of his appendix. So a surgery was scheduled for May 25. It was expected to be routine, with only a day or two spent in the hospital. Unfortunately, a pesky abscess was hiding behind all of the scar tissue. An abscess that had been building up strength in his body for five months. So the doctors removed it. And that's when the nightmare started again. Two days after the surgery, on Friday, the doctors removed Alex from his antibiotics. Within an hour, he had a fever so out of control that they had to pack him in ice to bring it down. The infection was back. With a vengeance. Another ultrasound revealed five more abscesses. As before, drains were inserted to drain the abscesses and he was put back on powerful antibiotics. Antibiotics that, unfortunately, resulted in a nasty case of C.diff. And C.diff meant Alex had to be put on yet another antibiotic to treat that. Alex's planned 2-day stay in the hospital turned into a 12-day stay. But he came home to us last Sunday.
Fast forward a week. My, how life can change in a week! Alex is no longer home with us. He spiked a fever yesterday afternoon after two hours of shopping at the mall. The fever was controlled with some Tylenol, but he headed to the ER this morning just to be safe. We had convinced ourselves that the C.diff had just reared its ugly head again and figured he'd get some antibiotics and be on his way. Unfortunately, an ultrasound showed differently. The infection is back. In full force. His abdomen is, once again, filled with abscesses. They will likely try to drain the abscesses tomorrow, but the doctors aren't sure they're drainable. The second option is a massive surgery in which they'd open him up and flush his abdomen to completely remove the infection. Whatever ends up happening, enough is enough.
Why do I share this? Because, in light of Obamacare, so many of you have asked me what I think of Canada's "free" healthcare. My response has traditionally been that I don't really have an opinion because I haven't had to deal with it. Until now. We asked 4 different doctors on 5 different occassions to check his appendix. Why? Because his grandmother had appendicitis. And his uncle had appendicits. And his dad's appendix ruptured. And nobody ever checked it. He never had an ultrasound until he was vomiting blood in the ER. Never. It's so easy. And it's not that expensive. But in a "free" healthcare system, even the smallest of expenses is a big deal. An ultrasound could've stopped all this. You know what else could've stopped this? Not sending him home on December 24th, just because you have to hire staff nurses to work on the holiday. What else? Doing an ultrasound before releasing the boy from the hospital las week, to make sure you really did get all of the infection. What else? If you're not going to do an ultrasound before releasing him, at least send him home with antibiotics. Yes, they sent a kid with two different infections home without a single antibiotic. "Free", in the Canadian healthcare system, clearly means "cheap"... and not cheap in a good way.
Why else do I share this? As I sit on the couch in my quiet house, I am in tears. This boy - this 15 year-old kid - has been through enough. Alex will be turning 16 on the 30th of this month. I don't want him to spend that day in the hospital. I don't want him to ever see the inside of that hospital again. I'm not his mother, but I so want to take this pain away from him. And I want to take the weight of this situation away from his dad. I want the nightmare to end. We need your prayers. Prayers of strength and courage for Alex. Prayers of knowledge and guidance for the doctors. Prayers of strength and love for the man I so adore.
If you're the praying type, please say big prayers for Alex tonight. And if you're not the praying type, please just remember us over the next few days as we fight this battle yet again. It's like a bad dream that you can't wake from... a nightmare that keeps coming back no matter what you do to rid your mind of it.
And, please, no matter what you do, just say 'no' to Obamacare. Keep some integrity in your health system. Please.
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As of June 15th he is back in the hospital "We need big prayers, y'all. Alex is crashing. In x-ray and ultrasound right now to figure it all out..." quoted from my cousin Aleesha!
