I don't normally do this, but I feel this is an important issue going on, especially with what's happening with Obama and the Health Care Plan. This is a picture of my friend Francine, or "Frankie" as she's called. Frankie is on dialysis, as you can see; she's been on it since October of 2008, and unfortunately she's not on a transplant list yet. Why? Because she's 5'9, and weighs 447 lbs. The doctors have said that until she gets down to less than 200 lbs she will not be put on the list. (Which to me is ridiculous, but that's my opinion and another story.) In order to lose that much weight, she needs to have gastric bypass surgery. Now, she does have Medicare, which will pay for the surgery; however, and this is the crazy part, there is $500.00 in administrative costs which Medicare WILL NOT PAY!! She is on SSI, which is very limited, and has rent, utilities, and transportation to pay out of that, so where is she supposed to get $500.00? Why does her insurance not pay for that too? They're paying thousands of dollars for not just the bypass surgery but also for the surgeries she will need afterward to move the excess skin, so why not pay a measly $500.00 administrative costs? Grrrr, it makes me so angry....
Anyway; $200.00 of the $500.00 has already been paid, and an organization has already pledged to pay at least $100.00 of the remaining $300.00. That just leaves $200.00 to be raised by August 20, 2009. I want so much to help Frankie; she's a very good friend of mine who right now can't work, or swim, or do any of the physical things she loves to do. She wants to work with homeless addicts helping them to recover and get jobs and permanent housing, and there's a place willing to give her a job, but with her going for dialysis 3 times a week and then the fact that she can't walk very far or stay on her feet long is really going to get in her way. Please, I'm asking for help. Anything that you can do will be appreciated; even if it's only a dollar, every penny helps. Frankie has PayPal; please send it to her at Frankielm@yahoo.com on
PayPal. Please, I'm asking for a friend, but I'm also asking for a human being; a citizen of this country who needs help, and who, if this country had the Health Care Plan it should have, would not have to be online asking for help. Please, help her get her surgery, get off dialysis, and back to doing what she's always done, being a productive member of society.
Thanks!!
After Being Denied Simple Diagnostic Test, 19-Year-Old Dies of Cervical Cancer (via Americans Against The Tea Party)
