Living in Arizona for a liberal is tough. Right now with the job market in the tank, I've been forced to go on state insurance (called AHCCCS) here, where Jan Brewer (R-Bowels of Hell) has decided that the most effective way to shore up our budget deficit is to cut back on life saving transplants and cut more than 250000 low-income adults from our state health insurance.
When this news came out, naturally, I was angry and frustrated. But little did I know that it could have cut much closer to home than I ever expected. Follow me below the jump.
Of course, we've already seen at least one (confirmed) death because of the lack of funding from transplants.
Patient dies due to lack of transplant funding
STATE CAPITOL, Phoenix – Today, University Medical Center in Tucson has confirmed that a UMC patient, who was awaiting a transplant, but was refused the life saving procedure because of Republican budget cuts, has died. [...]
There's also been another death that MAY have been related to the lack of transplant funding but there's a distinct possibility that the patient may not have been able to be saved so I'm not going to bring that into the discussion at the present time.
My personal story begins here. About 10 days ago, I began vomiting blood and complaining of general symptoms that may have resulted from an amount of tylenol (aceitomenphoen) in my system. Currently I'm prescribed a painkiller with tylenol for my ruptured disc and often have trouble with insomnia, so I would occasionally take NyQuil to assist in sleeping.
When I was admitted to the ER, the MD believed that it was possible that I may have accidentally overdosed on my medications due to the fact that my family has a history of a high liver count (although it's never caused us problems in the past). I was admitted and given an antidote---and over a course of about a week I began to feel better, although in the early stages there was a distinct possibility that I could have some type of major liver damage or acute liver failure, which would have put me on a transplant list for a new liver, leaving my life in the hands of a Republican governor who apparently thinks that the lives of the poor are less important than balancing the state budged and pandering to the tea party right in Arizona.
The reason why I posted this diary is a call to action: simply, while most of us are livid over this problem, it really hits home when there's a distinct possibly that the medical services we need will be denied when we need them the most.
Contact Jan Brewer
It probably won't help much if at all, but I just wish that someone who is as callous as her could at least relate to the fear that patients like myself felt when we knew our lives were at risk. I'm going to be okay, but there are 96 patients right now on that list that Jan Brewer is basically ready to pull the proverbial feeding tube on. Those 96 people have parents, partners, husbands, wives, and families that love them dearly and would have their lives destroyed if they were to be lost. But hey, apparently being "pro-life" on extends until you're out of the uterus here in Arizona. While my post may not help much, the terror of having to rely on a callous Republican governor for your survival brings these issues very close to home.
Thanks for your time in listening, and remember to never stop fighting the wrong that people like Gov. Brewer bring on not just Arizona, but our country.