owclaw’s blog

Doug Dearth: China: A Stroke Survivor’s Alternative to U.S. Health Care

My sister-in-law opened a letter from the insurance company today. It appears they have denied her husband’s $20,000.00 life-flight claim. Apparently he should have taken an ambulance instead of the helicopter to the Intensive Care Unit. Or maybe after suffering a massive stroke, caused by a bleed in his brain stem, Devin and his wife should have asked the Emergency Medical Professionals to wait before putting him on a respirator and loading him into the waiting chopper. Understanding of course, that while his very life is at risk, they should call the insurance company, navigate their complex automated, answering system and make sure they can get pre-approval for this fancy helicopter tour of Louisville, Kentucky.

It was 4:45am when my 40-year-old brother, Devin, was working out in the gym and began feeling numbness in his right arm. Next came the blurred vision and slurred speech. From there his conditioned deteriorated rapidly. Eventually, he was put on life-support and flown from Central City, Kentucky to the University Of Cincinnati Medical Center where he spent three weeks in intensive care. While fighting for his life, he endured the insertion of a brain stint, a tracheotomy and a stomach feeding tube. He was also put on and off a respirator until his body was able to safely manage breathing on its own.

To date, all of these procedures have been reversed. And although Devin is still incapacitated; unable to walk, unable to stand, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking, double and bouncing vision, and numbness on his right side, doctors remain optimistic. Given Devin’s relatively young age and his extremely healthy condition prior to the stroke, they feel that he is a good candidate for recovery given the proper rehabilitation and care.

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints …
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is a religious group. It broke from the Church of the Latter Day Saints (more commonly …

And proper rehabilitation and care was exactly what he would get at the Frazier Rehabilitation Center in Louisville, Kentucky. While staying at the rehab facility, Devin worked extremely hard with the very talented and compassionate staff of physical therapists, occupational therapists and the speech therapists. He was beginning to make strides towards recovery. He was now able to eat solid foods and speak enough to communicate. Walking twice a day at the parallel bars was starting to take hold. Then another limit was reached. Six weeks was all of the in-patient care his insurance would cover. Just when things were starting to move forward, Devin found himself going home and entrusted to his family’s care. His insurance would cover some outpatient care. Not a day nurse or anything like that, but they would cover 20 days of physical therapy. So, his family figured they would spread it out by scheduling two days a week, as opposed to the two times a day, five days a week he was receiving. This would give him ten more weeks to try and get better. Unfortunately, the decrease in the frequency of therapy had the family fighting to keep Devin’s condition from slipping backwards, when he should be pushing forward.

Mormon Fundamentalism
The most prominent difference between Mormon fundamentalists and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon …

Zubaz

Needless to say, we found ourselves extremely frustrated and feeling like helpless victims of a broken health care system. A system you hear about every day of this election season. A system that seems to move you from healing to a maintenance program as quickly as possible. And a system, that in just over 6 months time, has reached its limits in giving my brother a real, fighting chance at recovery. A recovery that his medical professionals are saying is still very possible.

A brief history of the polygamists in Colorado City, Arizona and …
These men later formed the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (FLDS), which would be led by Barlow. The FLDS Church set up shop in …

Well, thank God this is America and we have a choice. And we have chosen China! On April 30, 2008, Devin, his wife, and two documentary filmmakers will board a plane heading for Beijing. From there they will be greeted by Ruth Lycke, an American stroke survivor and owner of the China Connection LLC, and driven to the First Teaching Hospital Of Tianjin, in Tianjin, China. Here Devin will be enrolled in a 90-day, in-patient, stroke rehabilitation program. A program that as been integrating Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine to successfully treat stroke victims from all over the world. A program that charges less for it’s medical care, than the roundtrip tickets it takes to get there. And a program that invites Devin to stay as long as he needs in order to recover.

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints …
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) is the largest Mormon fundamentalist denomination [1] [2] and one of America's …

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: News …
More than 200 women and children have been removed from a Texas ranch that's home to members of a polygamist sect, but authorities have not identified the …

As one of the filmmaker’s traveling alongside my brother on his quest for survival, I am grateful to him for his courage in refusing to be a victim of the American Health Care Bureaucracy. And I am happy that he has agreed to share this intimate and courageous journey with our cameras, hence all of you. I look forward to keeping you updated on his progress, and to sharing with you, what I hope to be an adventure of healing and transformation and a successful alternative to a broken system.

We are currently fundraising for both his treatment/travel and the accompanying …