Charity & Fundraising Megathread
in Health ·
A few weeks back, I was reading some heartbreaking pieces in the *New York Times* and local news outlets about a young woman who passed away last July. She was only 30, full of life, just wanting to experience the world like anyone else her age... but she never got that chance because of the endless red tape from Medicare, the Department of Health, and incompetent doctors. That’s how her father, Stephen, told me through tears when I called him.
I spoke with Stephen again last week after a segment aired on a national news program covering their tragedy, and I asked him to walk me through everything.
Back in 2006, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had surgery at a major hospital in New York City. Everything seemed fine for six months until she started suffering from excruciating pain in her right leg and pelvis. The doctors just brushed her off, claiming it was "normal" post-surgery, refusing to even order an MRI or any real diagnostic imaging. By July 2007, the medical board was trying to send her back to work, forcing her primary physician to fudge the diagnosis just so she could stay on disability leave, because she truly couldn't stand to move. In August 2007, her parents took her to a specialist in Chicago on a doctor's recommendation for a PET scan. That finally revealed two tumors causing the agony. Only then—thirteen months after her initial surgery in NYC—did she start chemo, but it did nothing. She just kept getting worse, while doctors kept telling her parents everything was fine and there was no need to worry. By June 2008, her father couldn't bear seeing her suffer anymore, so he called his sister working at a clinic in Munich to see if they could get an emergency evaluation at a specialized oncology center.
The parents drove toward Germany early that morning on June 10th, hoping to be back in the States by the end of the day, but 44 miles before they even reached the border, her condition plummeted. Her father had to pull her off the highway and find the nearest emergency room. They were rushed into testing and found her in critical condition; her kidneys were failing, and her potassium levels were at a lethal threshold—something no one back home had bothered to monitor. She had to stay in that hospital for 15 days because she was too unstable to move. During that time, her father made two trips back to the city to deal with insurance, only to be told during the second visit that they wouldn't cover the costs. He had to scramble to borrow $17,000 with interest just to save his daughter's life and bring her back home. The bill alone was $16,000.
She passed away on July 26, 2008, at the hospital in New York due to pure bureaucracy and the lies of doctors who hid her true condition from her parents for nearly two years, robbing them of the chance to help her sooner. Stephen told me, sobbing, that the grief and pain will stay with them as long as they live, but they desperately need to clear this debt that grows every single day. Neither parent can work; they are both on unemployment, and $400 they're relying solely on his wife's income, all while they still have a younger son in high school to support.
He thanked me in advance, along with anyone willing to help alleviate this financial burden with a donation.
I’m asking everyone on this forum to please help these parents, just as we’ve stepped up for so many others in the past.
Account holder: Danica Bogadi - Chase Bank
Account #: 236000-1000000013
Routing #: 3218907802
Here are the links to the reports published in the papers back in early 2009:
Link from the *New York Times*: http://www.nytimes.com/home/open...4315425B5F34.1
Link from the local news: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/Default.aspx
I spoke with Stephen again last week after a segment aired on a national news program covering their tragedy, and I asked him to walk me through everything.
Back in 2006, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had surgery at a major hospital in New York City. Everything seemed fine for six months until she started suffering from excruciating pain in her right leg and pelvis. The doctors just brushed her off, claiming it was "normal" post-surgery, refusing to even order an MRI or any real diagnostic imaging. By July 2007, the medical board was trying to send her back to work, forcing her primary physician to fudge the diagnosis just so she could stay on disability leave, because she truly couldn't stand to move. In August 2007, her parents took her to a specialist in Chicago on a doctor's recommendation for a PET scan. That finally revealed two tumors causing the agony. Only then—thirteen months after her initial surgery in NYC—did she start chemo, but it did nothing. She just kept getting worse, while doctors kept telling her parents everything was fine and there was no need to worry. By June 2008, her father couldn't bear seeing her suffer anymore, so he called his sister working at a clinic in Munich to see if they could get an emergency evaluation at a specialized oncology center.
The parents drove toward Germany early that morning on June 10th, hoping to be back in the States by the end of the day, but 44 miles before they even reached the border, her condition plummeted. Her father had to pull her off the highway and find the nearest emergency room. They were rushed into testing and found her in critical condition; her kidneys were failing, and her potassium levels were at a lethal threshold—something no one back home had bothered to monitor. She had to stay in that hospital for 15 days because she was too unstable to move. During that time, her father made two trips back to the city to deal with insurance, only to be told during the second visit that they wouldn't cover the costs. He had to scramble to borrow $17,000 with interest just to save his daughter's life and bring her back home. The bill alone was $16,000.
She passed away on July 26, 2008, at the hospital in New York due to pure bureaucracy and the lies of doctors who hid her true condition from her parents for nearly two years, robbing them of the chance to help her sooner. Stephen told me, sobbing, that the grief and pain will stay with them as long as they live, but they desperately need to clear this debt that grows every single day. Neither parent can work; they are both on unemployment, and $400 they're relying solely on his wife's income, all while they still have a younger son in high school to support.
He thanked me in advance, along with anyone willing to help alleviate this financial burden with a donation.
I’m asking everyone on this forum to please help these parents, just as we’ve stepped up for so many others in the past.
Account holder: Danica Bogadi - Chase Bank
Account #: 236000-1000000013
Routing #: 3218907802
Here are the links to the reports published in the papers back in early 2009:
Link from the *New York Times*: http://www.nytimes.com/home/open...4315425B5F34.1
Link from the local news: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/Default.aspx