1/16/07 - Cold weather and more people dying.
This morning the weather wasn't that bad when I went out. However within a small amount of time the temperature had dropped and it became very windy, not 'good breathin weather' as it turns out. But then I get an email from a friend of mine that makes me stop and realize how some other people are far worse off than I am.
The email is a link to an article about a retired NYPD officer who is in Mt. Sinai hospital in a medically induced coma with one shot to live, getting a lung transplant. The officer, who retired after his 20 years of service, began to have problems right around the time he retired in 2003. At first he was diagnosed as being asthmatic, then when he registered to be treated by the Mt. Sinai program, he was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. A condition that is caused by the lungs reaction to foreign particles by making scar tissue. This scar tissue then chokes the person little by little and will lead to either death of the need for a lung transplant to prolong life.
So this officer sits in the hospital bed, waiting. Waiting for a transplant that more than likey will not come. He retired on a normal half-pay pension that his family is attempting to get changed to reflect 3/4 WTC disability and to make matters worse, the hospital that he is in is not able to use WTC funds to treat him. The article states that he didn't wear his respirator while working the 16 hour shifts at Ground Zero because he "because he believed the Environmental Protection Agency's assurances that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe".
I feel the need to go over this man's case point by point from my point of view. First: this man and what is happening to him and so many others scares the shit out of me. Every time I am short of breath, my mind wanders to some illness like this. I am terrified that this is in my future. Second: I am not sure why the article mentions that he didn't wear his respirator while at Ground Zero. I know and met a great many people who were there and while I do not know anyone who wore the masks all of the time - I also do not know anyone that never wore it. At best (and at worst) the information that we received was conflicting. One moment someone would walk by and say that the air testing was fine and we could take the masks off, and then shortly after someone would come by and yell at us to put the masks back on. So I don't know what part of the pile that this officer was supposed to be working on, but unless he escaped the notice of all the officers running the scene - he would have had to have worn his mask some of the time. To write, matter-of-factly that he never wore his mask is more than likely not true, but I can't see why and how this can help this man and his family get the services that they desperately need. Lastly, before last week, I would have been very dubious that Mt.Sinai, the program that has received massive amounts of funding - is unable to treat this man. However - it was last week that a representative of our very own charity sat down with the medical director and spoke to her about us funding them.
Even when the idea of us funding a mammoth program like Mt. Sinai was introduced to the charity, I had serious reservations because the amount of funding they receive is very public knowledge. In speaking to the other programs we wish to fund, the comment; "why are you going to give Sinai money? they just got so-and-so million dollars??" However, after seeing this woman speak at that disaster of a medical conference in NJ, there was something very sincere about her plea for funding. To make a long story short, we were informed that the funding that they receive comes with guidelines as to exactly what illnesses they can and can not treat. Right now, there are four things that the money has been set aside to treat. Needless to say, pulmonary fibrosis is not one of them. So, even though the article points out that his physicians are linking this to his time at Ground Zero (because there are other people who were there and are getting the same thing) they are not treating him with the funds allocated for WTC illnesses. I find all of this maddening.
One of the reasons that we want to fund this program (after this interview especially!) is how shameful would it be that 9/11 first responders have to raise their own money to be treated? If (no, when) we raise enough money to make a substantial donation to the WTC monitoring program at Mt. Sinai - they will be able to use these 'flexible dollars' to treat people like this detective who lies there waiting for a lung transplant that may never come. The question that has plagued me all day is; "will it be in enough time to make a difference?"
The email is a link to an article about a retired NYPD officer who is in Mt. Sinai hospital in a medically induced coma with one shot to live, getting a lung transplant. The officer, who retired after his 20 years of service, began to have problems right around the time he retired in 2003. At first he was diagnosed as being asthmatic, then when he registered to be treated by the Mt. Sinai program, he was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. A condition that is caused by the lungs reaction to foreign particles by making scar tissue. This scar tissue then chokes the person little by little and will lead to either death of the need for a lung transplant to prolong life.
So this officer sits in the hospital bed, waiting. Waiting for a transplant that more than likey will not come. He retired on a normal half-pay pension that his family is attempting to get changed to reflect 3/4 WTC disability and to make matters worse, the hospital that he is in is not able to use WTC funds to treat him. The article states that he didn't wear his respirator while working the 16 hour shifts at Ground Zero because he "because he believed the Environmental Protection Agency's assurances that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe".
I feel the need to go over this man's case point by point from my point of view. First: this man and what is happening to him and so many others scares the shit out of me. Every time I am short of breath, my mind wanders to some illness like this. I am terrified that this is in my future. Second: I am not sure why the article mentions that he didn't wear his respirator while at Ground Zero. I know and met a great many people who were there and while I do not know anyone who wore the masks all of the time - I also do not know anyone that never wore it. At best (and at worst) the information that we received was conflicting. One moment someone would walk by and say that the air testing was fine and we could take the masks off, and then shortly after someone would come by and yell at us to put the masks back on. So I don't know what part of the pile that this officer was supposed to be working on, but unless he escaped the notice of all the officers running the scene - he would have had to have worn his mask some of the time. To write, matter-of-factly that he never wore his mask is more than likely not true, but I can't see why and how this can help this man and his family get the services that they desperately need. Lastly, before last week, I would have been very dubious that Mt.Sinai, the program that has received massive amounts of funding - is unable to treat this man. However - it was last week that a representative of our very own charity sat down with the medical director and spoke to her about us funding them.
Even when the idea of us funding a mammoth program like Mt. Sinai was introduced to the charity, I had serious reservations because the amount of funding they receive is very public knowledge. In speaking to the other programs we wish to fund, the comment; "why are you going to give Sinai money? they just got so-and-so million dollars??" However, after seeing this woman speak at that disaster of a medical conference in NJ, there was something very sincere about her plea for funding. To make a long story short, we were informed that the funding that they receive comes with guidelines as to exactly what illnesses they can and can not treat. Right now, there are four things that the money has been set aside to treat. Needless to say, pulmonary fibrosis is not one of them. So, even though the article points out that his physicians are linking this to his time at Ground Zero (because there are other people who were there and are getting the same thing) they are not treating him with the funds allocated for WTC illnesses. I find all of this maddening.
One of the reasons that we want to fund this program (after this interview especially!) is how shameful would it be that 9/11 first responders have to raise their own money to be treated? If (no, when) we raise enough money to make a substantial donation to the WTC monitoring program at Mt. Sinai - they will be able to use these 'flexible dollars' to treat people like this detective who lies there waiting for a lung transplant that may never come. The question that has plagued me all day is; "will it be in enough time to make a difference?"
posted by Iloveny_marf @ 1:00 PM
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