Support resources for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses

Lisa White54 said:Please accept my sincere condolences.

Regarding the Durogesic... When my brother-in-law passed away (about a year ago now), my sister gave me some leftover 75mcg Durogesic patches because my husband uses them too. However, our local community health clinic actually demanded that I return them TO THEM... Unbelievable! I was completely bewildered, as if we had committed some kind of felony! They claimed we aren't allowed to possess more patches than what was specifically issued on the prescription. I have no idea who they are handing them out to without a script... or how even that is possible?? We can only obtain Durogesic at a pharmacy, certainly not at the clinic!!!

So, we ended up with no supply left, yet the pharmacies have nothing in stock (the paradox!), and even when I bring in a valid prescription, I have to wait two days just to pick it up.

thanks.
Yes, you are correct; the patches have to be returned, and we did indeed return them.

One question: is there a three-year limit on disability benefits?

ironsailor22 said:Rose44 the whole situation regarding the patches remains quite baffling to me as well, given that I was also required to return mine to the clinic...
When you pick up a prescription for these patches, they issue two copies—one goes to the pharmacist and the other to the police, where they record your driver's license number so that whoever collected them is held strictly accountable for their usage or any potential misuse. It truly makes one wonder what the clinic actually does with returned patches, and precisely who they are being handed over to...

It stands to reason that because their effects could be easily abused, there is a mandate to return them; it is much like how if we had vials of morphine sitting around at home, we would surely have to return those too...
And one can only hope that the patches are being redistributed among hospitals, at least...

ironsailor22 said:I totally get where you're coming from—I went through something almost identical with my own mother recently.
She had bone metastases, which are just incredibly painful, and it honestly drove me to despair because I felt so helpless trying to support her. It felt like everyone was just passing us around from department to department without actually doing anything meaningful to help. I’m still feeling pretty bitter and angry about our healthcare system—it feels like patients in those situations are just left to fend for themselves along with their families. No one should have to die in that kind of agony when modern medicine clearly has the tools to manage it; it just feels like nobody cares. It's heartbreaking!
You didn't mention what they've been giving her for the pain—my mom was on Durogesic patches the entire time, but even then, the pain was still unbearable. From the moment things took a turn for the worse until the very end, it was about two months of pure agony.
I am sending so much love to your mom—I hope she finds some relief from the pain—and wishing you and your dad all the strength and courage in the world! Hang in there!

ironsailor22, I just wanted to ask—did your mom only have the bone metastases, or did it eventually spread somewhere else too?

My boyfriend's father suffered a gallbladder attack last November. They treated him for inflammation for about two months, letting him come home briefly before he'd have another attack, until he finally underwent surgery in mid-January.
The doctor mentioned finding a tumor within the gallbladder, with suspected metastases in the liver and duodenum, though nothing is certain yet. It’s March 24th, and even his hospital discharge papers don't list a specific diagnosis—just that malignant cells were found. Ultimately, the surgery removed everything, and he was referred to an oncology center in Indianapolis. However, the doctor (who is actually a family friend) whispered to the rest of the family that he might only have a year left at most.
It has been exactly one month since the surgery, and here in Indianapolis, the oncologist looks at the ultrasound results quite contentedly, saying he wouldn't touch anything else because the surgery was such a success. After that, I suggested getting a second opinion in Chicago, because it feels wrong that they haven't prescribed any therapy despite the presence of malignant cells—but then again, I'm just a layperson and don't understand these diseases or their treatments... In Chicago, the doctor practically kicked him out of the office because he didn't have fresh test results handy. He did mention, based on the old files, that chemotherapy should be the next step, but noted it's unlikely he could endure it given he's 73. Just to be clear, despite his age, this man looks and feels at least 20 years younger; he's still working and has no other health issues. I honestly don't know what kind of person needs to be built to withstand chemo—maybe a 450-pound stallion?
I am incredibly frustrated. Is this kind of uncertainty normal, or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill? I find it impossible to believe that he still doesn't have a definitive diagnosis. It seems like none of the doctors he's seen—and he has clearly seen many—will give him a straight answer regarding his illness or what kind of treatment to expect. So, for now, we are stuck with a discharge summary that says nothing. We have all these old and new scans that should provide answers, but we haven't found a doctor willing to interpret them for us. We've heard from four different doctors now, and all four opinions are completely different. No one offers a solution, and no one suggests who else we should consult.
We are currently waiting on a fifth opinion.
I refuse to let it reach a point where he simply collapses one day, leaving everyone wondering what more we could have done. Once we get this final opinion, I hope things become a bit clearer.
And if they don't, what then?

Check out www.webmd.com. They have great forums and solid support there. You'll get excellent advice based on actual experience, and they can point you in the right direction. Plus, there's an oncologist on the forum who regularly responds—she’s a shining example of excellence within an otherwise pretty broken American healthcare system.

stormynomad20 said:Zlatica, I just wanted to ask—did your mother have metastases only in her bones, or did it spread elsewhere eventually?

It was breast cancer that metastasized solely to the bone. By the time the diagnosis was even made, there were already metastases on the ribs—but as the illness progressed, they spread throughout the entire skeleton. She underwent palliative radiation; for about a month, the pain was somewhat managed, but then it returned with even greater intensity. In the end, it was absolute hell—for her, and for us. She became delirious, hallucinating and screaming from the pain... and there was nothing I could do except pray for her suffering to finally come to an end.

ironsailor22 said:She had breast cancer that had already spread specifically to her bones. By the time she got the diagnosis, there were already metastases in her ribs—though over the course of the illness, they eventually spread through her entire skeleton. She actually underwent some palliative radiation, which helped manage the pain for maybe a month or so, but then things just took a turn for the worse and the pain intensified. In the end, it was a total nightmare—not just for her, but for us too. She was confused, hallucinating, and screaming from the agony... and I felt so helpless, just praying that her suffering would finally come to an end.

I know how incredibly hard it is to look back on those moments, so thank you so much for sharing that with me. It’s tough. My mom was actually at her palliative radiation session today, and right now, she’s in a terrible amount of pain and can't keep any food down. The Doctor promised he’d work closely with the palliative care team to figure out a better way to manage the pain. To top it all off, another mass has appeared on her head.

I haven't been following this whole thread closely, but I think providing strong sedatives during this stage is incredibly important. My primary care physician prescribed some Durogesic patches, and I have to say, they were honestly really effective at managing the pain. There are different strengths available, so maybe check in with your family doctor about it. It’s also vital to apply and remove them exactly as directed, without skipping doses, to ensure the effect stays continuous. The patient does seem a bit drowsy and prone to slight hallucinations, but nothing extreme. The pain is gone. I'd definitely suggest looking into getting these.

I’m asking for some help and information... I haven't been able to find anyone else who has dealt with a PNET brain tumor. Most of what I see is for other types, so I’m wondering if anyone here knows more about this specific diagnosis. Has anyone managed to beat it? I know every fight is an uphill battle, but it's worth fighting, so I have to ask—is there anything at all that can be done? Anything that helped someone else? Please, if you have any info, let me know. We are ready to go to the other side of the world if it means finding something that might help...😢Thank you so much in advance...

www.zanovidan.com, just post your question on the forum and I'm sure you'll get some feedback. Good luck.

ironsailor22 said:I understand you far too well, because I went through something almost identical with my mother recently.
She had bone metastases that were incredibly painful, and it honestly drove me to despair because there was nothing I could do to help her. Everyone just kept passing me around from one department to another, yet nobody actually did anything concrete to assist her. I feel bitter and frankly furious at a healthcare system where patients like this are essentially left to fend for themselves and their families. No one should ever have to die in that kind of agony when modern medicine clearly has the tools to prevent it, but it feels like nobody actually cares. It’s just awful.

this whole situation is driving me to the brink of madness, too.
just listen to what my primary care physician told me when I asked if there was any way to get my mom admitted for hospital treatment.
'Do you want the honest truth? Would you really want your mother taking up a hospital bed from someone who can actually be helped? For instance, if you got sick and needed a bed, would you want it to be unavailable because someone like your mother is occupying it?'
😲
that’s what a doctor tells me—someone who swore an oath to provide equal medical care to everyone🙄 🙂
suggesting that my mother has less right to that bed, or that easing her suffering is somehow less important than helping someone else? didn't she pay into this system just like everyone else did? shouldn't she receive help precisely when she needs it most? why is it considered acceptable to prioritize certain groups while leaving terminal patients behind? who even gets to decide whose care is worth the cost and whose isn't?
it’s just disgraceful.🤮
I keep telling them that Mom isn't eating anything because of the pain—absolutely nothing. In the 21st century, my mother is going to end up dying from malnutrition.😢

for now, we are juggling Durogesic patches, Tramadol drops, and having a home health nurse come by once a day to give her a Tramal injection. that Tramal is the only thing providing even a modicum of relief, but I can sense over these last few days that even that isn't enough anymore, and there's simply no option to have a nurse visit twice a day.
where do we go from here? 🤷

Kimberly Wright said:Reading this drives me crazy too...

Exactly. That’s how it works in our supposedly humane, Catholic nation. If you’re seen as an extra burden or taking up a bed, they just tell you to go home and suffer along with everyone else. When I read things like this, I find small comfort in knowing my mother passed away before she reached that stage. Even then, they tried to send her home because she was occupying a hospital bed. We see luxury estates and massive mansions being built everywhere, yet for people simply seeking a dignified death without agony, there is nothing provided. It’s pure hypocrisy.
I am so sorry you have to deal with all of this. The worst part is watching that suffering when you feel so powerless to ease their pain. Unfortunately, it seems this country is only designed for the elite, while the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves.

Kimberly Wright said:By what standard does my mother have less right to that bed—to having this suffering eased—than anyone else? Hasn't she paid her share into the healthcare system just like everyone else? Shouldn't help be available when it's actually needed? Why is it acceptable to provide aid to addicts, yet not to terminal patients? Who even has the authority to decide whose health deserves care and whose doesn't?
It’s appalling. 🤮
I am telling you, Mom isn't eating because of the pain—no one can eat. In the 21st century, my mother is going to die of malnutrition. 😢

Right now, we are combining Durogesic patches, Tramadol drops, and once a day a home health nurse comes to give her a Tramal injection. That Tramal is the only thing still somewhat managing the pain. But I can see from the last few days that even that isn't enough anymore, and there is simply no option for a nurse to visit twice a day.
Where do we go from here? 🤷

Those are exactly the questions someone in this country ought to be answering!
Of course, those responsible for our healthcare system—and indeed the entire nation—have brought us to this state, and they choose to play dumb and deaf. I fail to understand why none of the major patient advocacy groups are reacting or launching a more aggressive campaign to correct this disgrace. It seems obvious they’ve become too comfortable within the system; they benefit from the status quo more than anyone else.
All this talk about hospice has resulted in nothing more than opening a center at the Mayo Clinic designed to train medical staff, while providing zero actual relief to terminal patients. And all of that happened merely to satisfy a requirement for joining the European Union. It is a disgrace that we have private hospice facilities charging $110 per day, while the government is incapable of opening a single public hospice in the entire country.
Since it feels like everyone in this country just does whatever they want, I couldn't even get a nurse to come for my mother's Tramal injections; I had to call emergency services and argue with them just to get them to show up and do something. When the pain spikes, they are the only option left—and they have to respond, regardless of how hard they try to brush you off over the phone.

I was just scrolling through the Medikol policy issue threads, and it’s honestly fascinating how some people still seem to worship at the altar of our healthcare system.
It’s a system that works perfectly fine right up until the moment you actually fall ill and find you don't have the strength left to spend your days chasing down doctors.

It’s only those facing debilitating, terminal illnesses—and the families caught in their orbit—who truly see how dehumanizing this whole medical structure can be when things get heavy.
For instance, my mother is just utterly spent from the constant, unrelenting pain; she can barely eat anything at all, just sipping on water while her body wastes away until there's nothing left but skin and bone.
If you showed someone a photo of a prisoner from Auschwitz, they’d be horrified and filled with pity, yet here is someone who looks exactly the same, receiving virtually no attention or genuine concern from the medical staff.

ironsailor22 said:That’s exactly it—those are the real questions that someone in this country actually needs to step up and answer!
It’s blindingly obvious that everyone responsible for driving our healthcare system—and honestly, this entire country—into the gutter is playing dumb and turning a deaf ear. I just don't get how none of those powerful patient advocacy groups are stepping up. Where is the outrage? Why aren't they launching some aggressive, real-world movement to fix this absolute disgrace? It's clear as day that these organizations have become too cozy with the establishment; they've integrated themselves so deeply into the system that they benefit more from the status quo than they ever would from actually fighting for the people.
All this talk about hospice care turned out to be nothing but hot air. All we got was some new center opening up at the Mayo Clinic designed to train medical staff, while the actual terminal patients still aren't getting any real, hands-on help. It’s a complete joke—this whole push only happened because it was a requirement for joining the European Union. It's honestly shameful that the only way to get actual support is through a private hospice that charges an arm and a leg. $110 It’s honestly pathetic how the government can’t manage to open a single hospice in this entire country.
It feels like in this country, nobody follows the rules anymore and everyone just does whatever they feel like. When my mom’s pain spiked and she needed her Tramal injections, I couldn't even get a nurse to come out to the house. Instead, I had to call 911 and practically get into a shouting match with the dispatchers just to get them to actually show up and do their jobs. When the pain hits that hard, those emergency responders are your only lifeline, and they need to be there—no matter how much they try to brush you off over the phone.

I'll address your bolded points directly, since I actually represent an association like that:
It’s because people like you stay quiet. You refuse to stand up and back those "aggressive" stances when they happen. We’ve been branded as some scandalous "mercenary industry group" countless times just because we had the nerve to lobby for patients to get access to the best possible therapy available for their diagnoses. Usually, the patients—or their families—just keep their mouths shut because they don't want to ruffle any feathers. People need to wake up and realize that an association is made up of civil society, and civil society consists of all those "little guys" who get trampled by the system. An association is an organization, a channel, designed specifically to use its structure to make securing rights and driving change actually possible.
That’s just the way we’re wired. Once an issue blows over, most people are happy to turn their backs on anyone else caught in the same mess. There's this pervasive "not my problem" mentality—people look at someone struggling and think, "Well, nobody lifted a finger when I was drowning, so why should I bother reaching out now?" It’s a cycle of indifference that we just can't seem to break.
Personally, when it comes to myself and my own people. Three. Listen up, you intergalactic idiots. I’ve been lying here in the hospital for two months now with my premature baby, handing out brochures to oncology patients even though my own battle ended a long time ago. It's clear as day that in your eyes, we’re just a bunch of passive, inert masses of people actually dealing with the problem.
Here’s the link to the association on my Sig. Don't just sit there—reach out, throw your ideas on the table, join up, and let's start organizing some actual, boots-on-the-ground action. My colleagues and I are waiting for you like a heatwave in the middle of July.
Look, you’ve clearly got it wrong when it comes to setting up a Hospice. You can't just flip a switch and expect it to work. Opening an institution like that requires training a specialized workforce specifically for palliative care. It isn't some side project; palliative medicine is a legitimate medical specialty, standing right alongside curative and preventive medicine. Having a medical degree is a start, sure, but without specific specialization, you aren't ready to run a facility like this. That expertise is the absolute prerequisite for establishing such an institution. Buying land and putting up a building? That’s the easy part. You can pull funding from various grants or access capital to get the construction done, but you can't just buy expertise—you have to earn it through education.

Angela Wright Asks:
Since I represent an association of this kind, I will respond specifically to your bolded point:
It’s because people like you stay silent—refusing to stand behind these "aggressive" outbursts. We were branded a scandalous association, a mere "mercenary for Big Pharma," time and again, simply because we lobbied for the right to access the best available therapies for specific diagnoses. Usually, the patients—or rather, their family members—just kept quiet to avoid making waves. People need to grasp that an association is made up of civil society; and civil society consists of all those "little guys" being trampled by the system. An association is an organization—a channel—that uses its structure to facilitate the realization of rights and actual change.
That’s just the mindset we have here. Once a situation blows over, people rarely step up to help someone else facing the exact same struggle—mostly because they figure if nobody was there for them when they were down, why should they bother being there for anyone else?
Just me and my own. Three. To my active colleagues—and by the way, I’ve been stuck in the hospital for two months now with my preemie, handing out brochures to oncology patients even though my own ordeal ended a long time ago—you intergalactic fools... it's clear we are nothing more than a passive, inert mass of people in their eyes. A bunch of slugs, essentially.
Here is the link to our association's site—feel free to reach out with suggestions on how we should proceed, sign up, and help organize some actual, concrete action. My colleagues and I are waiting for you—and believe me, we’re eager to get moving.
Regarding the Hospice situation—you seem to be misinformed. Opening a facility like that isn't just about laying bricks. You have to actually educate the people who will staff a palliative care unit. Palliative medicine is its own distinct medical specialty—just like curative or preventive medicine—and a mere medical degree isn't enough; you need specific specialization. That is the absolute prerequisite for establishing such an institution. Buying land and building a house? That’s the easy part. You can secure funding for construction through various grants, but expertise—that's something you actually have to acquire.

First off— Angela Wright Congratulations on the little one—wishing you both a smooth trip back home as soon as possible!
Regarding the claims you made in this post—I won't even bother debating them, as they simply aren't true.
I am all too familiar with the tactics used by you and various other advocacy groups. I’ll take this moment to commend one of your earliest efforts—that petition demanding equal treatment rights for those suffering from rare diseases. In my view, that was the right direction. However, since then, you haven't truly challenged the system itself. You have simply become like every other organizer out there—hosting galas and fashion shows to raise funds rather than actually working to change the status quo.
When it comes to hospice care, I happen to be far too well-informed to sit through any fairy tales regarding specialization requirements for these facilities. Seriously—what kind of palliative medicine credentials does the staff actually hold at that private hospice in Villi Brezovica, or even in various sanatoriums and nursing homes? Who exactly issued their operating licenses? And why has a major hospital in Chicago repeatedly backed out of converting a wing into a dedicated hospice unit? Furthermore, why does Medicare hire people from private sanatoriums for home healthcare—people who can barely manage half the job they are being handsomely paid to do?
It’s obvious to everyone here what’s actually going on.

@Angela Wright/">@@Angela Wright
bebot 😍 goodness, I truly hope you both can get discharged from the hospital soon so you can finally settle back into your own home together and just enjoy being in each other's company 🙂

ironsailor22 said:First off, Angela Wright Huge congrats on the little one! I’m rooting for you guys to get back home as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Regarding the claims you made in this post, I’m not even going to bother arguing with you because they simply aren't true.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, they’re still standing right where they always were. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach having to admit that, and I mean that with absolute certainty. That’s been my experience from the very moment I kicked off this thread and decided, alongside slyseal28, to stop playing nice and finally bite the bullet.

Look, I’ve seen enough to know exactly how you and the other advocacy groups operate. I want to take a second to give credit where it's due, though—that early petition you guys pushed for equal treatment rights for rare disease patients was spot on. That was the right move, the real deal. But since then? You haven't actually taken a swing at the system itself. Instead, you've drifted into that same loop as everyone else, organizing galas and fashion shows just to raise funds rather than actually fighting to fix the broken status quo.

Forty years of grinding finally paid off. We successfully pushed for a new kidney cancer drug, Sutent, to be added to the approved list, which means 200 newly diagnosed patients every year now have a fighting chance at extending their lives. Along with Sutent, we also secured Tarceva for lung cancer. This wasn't some fluke; it happened because people stepped up spontaneously. It wasn't just our group, either—the CDC joined forces with fifty other organizations, ranging from oncology groups to others fighting uphill battles against the system. Regarding those fashion shows you mentioned: they’re nothing more than a marketing hook to grab media attention and fuel the Dark campaign. The whole point is to get people to respond to initiatives aimed at prevention—especially for the types of malignancies that still claim the most lives in this country. We spend a fortune treating these diseases when they could be prevented or, if caught early, treated successfully in over 90% of cases. If you think running a campaign is free, you're dead wrong. Printing brochures, distribution, educating high schoolers, travel costs, producing commercials, paying for airtime—even if it serves the greater good—it all costs money, dear. And just because the media doesn't always play by the rules doesn't mean we aren't setting precedents and forcing change. For instance, because we have a handful of stubborn, tech-savvy enthusiasts in our association, we’re building a registry for rare tumors. That registry is the essential prerequisite for actually conducting clinical studies here. It’s what will give people whose medications aren't typically registered in the US—meds that can cost tens of thousands of dollars per dose—a real shot at survival. So, if you honestly believe none of this matters... well, look around. People showed up and did exactly what they do best.

Look, when it comes to hospice care, I’ve seen enough to know that nobody can feed me fairy tales about needing specific specializations as a prerequisite for running these facilities. It’s a joke. Just look at the staff working in private hospices out in places like Villi Brezovica, or those various nursing homes and sanitariums scattered around—what kind of actual palliative medicine specialization do they really have? Who exactly signed off on their licenses to operate? And don't even get me started on the big medical centers in major cities like Chicago or New York. How many times has a top-tier hospital backed out of converting a wing into a dedicated hospice unit? It's infuriating. Then you have Medicare hiring people from private clinics to handle home health care; they’re getting paid handsomely to do a job that half of them can't even manage halfway. It's a complete mess.
We all know exactly what’s going on here.

If you think you're well-informed, then you haven't actually grasped the reality of the situation. In America, there isn't even a legal framework defining how a palliative care facility should be structured. A true Hospice doesn't exist in the US as a standardized entity. Anyone claiming that title is just exploiting a loophole in the law. There is a massive, night-and-day difference between a legitimate professional institution providing specialized care and these private nursing homes. A real Hospice should be—and will be once we finally get the legislation right—accessible to everyone covered by Medicare. Nowhere else in the world does a Hospice take someone under their wing for longer than a week. You go there when you are terminally ill; we're talking about people who have only days left to live. The mission is to alleviate pain and provide psychosocial and spiritual support to both the patient and their family, extending that support to help loved ones grieve even after the passing. If you want a real example, look up how they run things in a place like Memphis. Do a little research and see how actual professionals operate.
Is the system rotten? Absolutely. But you don't fix a broken machine by typing "we should do this" on internet forums; you fix it through massive public outcry from the masses, not just one or two voices.
I'm inviting you to come by our association, see the work we actually do, and bring your ideas to the table so we can organize some real action.

Kimberly Wright said:@Angela Wright/">@@Angela Wright
bebot 😍 God, I really hope you guys can get discharged from the hospital together soon so you can finally just relax and enjoy being back in your own home. 🙂

Thanks, dear. I’m holding onto hope, though life has decided to throw me into the deep end yet again. My baby was born at just 28 weeks via emergency C-section because my preeclampsia hit a breaking point—my organs started failing, and there was simply no other choice. He weighed only about two pounds at birth. Since then, he’s fought through two massive infections, brain damage graded at level two or three, and seizures. But the kid is a fighter; fifty days later, he’s up to nearly four pounds and apparently doing okay for now. We’re praying he can come home by Easter, but we know the road to rehabilitation is going to be brutal and uphill. As of right now, we still don't know the full extent of the damage. I don't even need to spell out the nightmare I'm living through; one thought of my own mother's neurological episodes and I'm back there. I’ve always said that after everything I went through with her, nothing could ever break me—unless, God forbid, it happened to my child. Well, it looks like God decided I needed a lesson in that.

ironsailor22 said:Regarding the claims you've made in this post, I won't even bother debating them because they simply aren't true. Furthermore, I am all too familiar with the various initiatives taken by both you and other organizations. I’ll take this moment to commend one of your earliest efforts—that petition for equal treatment rights for those suffering from rare diseases. In my view, that was the correct path to take, but since then, you haven't directly challenged the system. You've become just like any other organizer of charity galas or fashion shows, focusing on fundraising rather than actually changing the status quo.

I feel compelled to weigh in here... reading this actually makes my heart ache, because we are out there working—mostly just the three of us—and we only have two hands and two legs each. We have some volunteers and activists who step up occasionally, but this organization is active every single day...

You can find some of our media appearances here on our YouTube channel, and you can read about our activities and featured projects right here.

I ended up in a heated debate with the official on the show *Open Forum* last year because all treatments for oncology patients were suddenly suspended at the hospital in Reno, and Professor Petković also spoke out publicly. That broadcast actually brought positive results for the Reno hospital, but for us, it resulted in three months of pure hell with the Department.

link 1

link 2

link =63230&tx_ttnews[backPid]=23&cHash=f1ad1cca92']to the Open Forum broadcast.

What you wrote truly stung, and I feel you don't realize how hard these organizations work (and I don't just mean ours), which is why I'm responding. Perhaps we are running out of ideas, or perhaps I just don't know... feel free to join us and suggest, for instance, how we might mobilize a mass patient uprising.

That petition was quite successful, but even then, we couldn't gather more than 50 patients in public spaces. Patients tended to mail their petitions in, while very few showed up at the booths... So, tell me, how exactly is one supposed to organize a patient revolt?