Sara R and several others of us are trying to help Rachel. racheltracks is one of the most generous people on this site and in such dire need. Thank you Sara for giving me the opportunity to try and help with these diaries.
THIS IS A COMMUNITY FUNDRAISING DIARY FOR RACHELTRACKS.
She is truly a Dear Heart. You all are truly Dear heart and Gentle people who go out of your way to help those in need. We need a bit more for racheltracks. We are not there yet.
I just talked to Rachel again ...The teeth have to be pulled. All she can eat is yogurt and mushy cereal as her tongue is being cut by those jagged teeth. Take you finger
if you are unfortunate to have a broken tooth and see the mark it leaves in your finger and then try to imagine that a mouth full of sharp jagged teeth cutting into your tongue and lip.. It hurts like Hell. I know.. I have just one tooth like that, where just a filling fell out. She was in bed and can't get to the computer very easily. Her daughter was crying because all of this medication is causing this kidney failure and the valve cannot be operated on until she has the teeth done and the kidneys operate more than 30 percent. The inflammation is full blown requiring antibiotics. I cannot even imagine a BP reading as high as she has without having a stroke. I feel we need to do what we can to help her as this in itself is so stressful without the pain, pain which she has more than her share.
I get very upset with the people thumbing their high and mighty attitudes about the ACA. People like Rachel just want to live and have some quality of life but the conservatives and special interests just want us to go away. Well I am proud to be part of a community that has an agenda of caring more than an agenda of "Not my problem..you are on your own kid"! Talk about killing Grandma...and our most vulnerable!!!!!
rachetracks@aol.com (IMPORTANT) this email had the l left out and hope you all went to the clickable link.. Sorry... It is racheltracks@aol.com
I thank a fellow Kossack for pointing this out to me.. I could not see it last night to save my life. I guess all used the clickable link below because we met the goal with the snail mail. Thanks to all !
Most people must have gone to the downthread clickable link because with snail mail we made our goal I believe. I thank a Kossack for pointing this typo error at the top..
This is an excerpt from Sara R's diary dated July 21 ..Vigil for Rachel
As you may recall, we made a community quilt for racheltracks because she had not bounced back well from knee surgery. Since then:
She's developed a serious problem with her aortic valve. It's leaking. The situation requires surgery but she's not in any condition for this.
Her kidneys are also struggling -- this is a large part of her current health problem and something that is preventing the heart surgery. Her kidney function is far too low.
And her remaining teeth are infected and need to be removed. But she doesn't have the money for this ($1600). I'm going to overstep here and give her PayPal address in case anyone wants to help racheltracks with this (go to PayPal and send to racheltracks AT aol DOT com). Infections of the mouth are so bad for the heart...
Racheltracks daughter, son-in-law, and two adopted grandchildren are all devoted to her -- and it is easy to see why. She is kindness and sunshine personified.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I know personally that Rachel is suffering with many serious ailments. She has been hospitalized and near death's door more than once lately. Rachel is a senior and is approaching 70. She is no spring chick but always young at heart even with only 30 percent of her kidneys functioning and a heart valve problem.
I was talking to Rachel when we spoke of her extreme abcessed teeth needing to be pulled. As Sara wrote in a previous diary, oral problems have a direct impact on other areas of the body such as the heart .
I lived in the area of Georgia Rachel survives. Notice that I said , survives and not lives. Trust me, the area she is in is so red in color, Nancy Reagan would kill for a dress that red. When I say red, many do not grasp the meaning of southern red with mostly tea party types who will smile at you on the street corner, ask you to church or the shooting range and then say they will ask the pastor to pray for you next Sunday. They will never ever open their hearts or pocketbooks or extend a payment arrangement for something so frivilous as a tooth or abscessed teeth to a senior citizen with faiing kidneys and leaky heart valve. Oh no...she must want all those problems !!!! This is why I say she is surviving and not living,
These kind of neighbors for the most part are the kind who spend all of their time giving to the wingnuts and their causes to Support the Tea party want to deny the citizens who could really use Obamacare. I know these people. We can expect no help for Rachel from these folks. A liberal is more than a shout away and they are having issues in the new color of red as well.
Have you ever had a toothache? Jeeze Louise, it feels like an explosion in your whole head. An abscess feels like a migrane would be a welcome relief in my opinion. The mouth gets swollen and the glands swell while a throbbing pain rips through your mouth and throat and extends to your neck and the top of your head. You can feel your heart pounding in that bad tooth and you will be crying if more than one is abcessed.. I think one will send many into tears and it feels so bad that you want to take a hammer and just knock it out. The gums are swollen and you cannot open your mouth and many have died from the poison alone before any damage gets to the rest of the body from the infection in the bloodstream.
Now you would think a hospital would provide relief if it is that bad. Nope. They will see you in an ER. YOU will always be referred to the dentist and even though your whole body is suffering, it is still considered a dental problem. They will give you some antibiotics and send you to the dentist. They may even keep you to clear an infection. They won't pull teeth unless you have been in an accident of some sort. They do not pull teeth or solve the problem of the inflammation if it is a tooth or teeth problem. That is where the problem comes in. The dentist will ask you right off the bat if you have dental insurance and I personally have been refused treatment in a shape similiar without cash on the barrel at the dentist office. Even in life threatning positions ...hospitals do not pull teeth. For some strange reason in the medical field, your entire body is just disconnected from the teeth . I always found that cruel.
When one is referred and has to see the dentist, and are in pain and need teeth removed to stop these sources of inflamation secondary problems..nothing gets done until that old familiar "Show me the money" comes into the discussion.
You have to have the money paid in advance before a receptionist will walk you to see the first dental hygeinist who throws that little napkin around your neck and says " We need some x-rays or the dentist will say "Open please".
If you have never experienced this kind of ordeal, I hope and pray you never do. This is where Rachel is. Rachel is in severe pain and suffering with abscessed teeth that are decaying into the gum line. She needs extractions and dentures. She also needs specialized observation with her age and health problems. She needs not just a dentist but an oral surgeon who will monitor her during this procedure. She needs a financial lift for those dentures after the teeth come out and trust me a procedure such as this can cost plenty for just one tooth. I believe she told me she needed 9 out.
I received this from Sara R today and said I would be happy to help fundraise for Rachel.
$1055 has been raised so far. She needs $545 more for the most inexpensive dentures -- or $805 more for better dentures (they cost $260 more than the cheap set).
I really hope she does not get the cheap set as they tend to be ill fitting and hard to align.
Can we try and get at least another 1000.00 to help Rachel. I know how she feels as I am putting off some lower extractions but mine are not this bad but I do have upper dentures and I paid more than 700 for mine in 05 and they still are not that great of a fit.
I do understand why she wants the better fitting denture especially for the lower set. She needs to count on more pain at first with cheap teeth. They can rub your gums and really folks, doesn't Rachel have enough pain and this is just the first step to getting the heart problem fixed? Can't we dig a little deeper? I have faith in you all and I pay forward as much as I can and know you all have kind hearts and are generous beyond belief. Rachel pays forward, too. She even offered a kidney to Kitsap River before she herself started having problems.
Sara and me discussed her Blood pressure at this time which is at stroke level. Her level of 200/100 is dangerous. Very dangerous.
peregrine kate and Sara and me are all trying to fundraise this money for Rachel because if we don't have us in these hard times, we are left at the mercy of the world.
Kossacks are dear hearts and gentle people.
There will be two links to donate.. One at the top and one at the bottom.
You can Kosmail me for her snailmail addy.
You can give at her paypal addy listed here or at Sara R's Vigil for Racheltracks
or Preginine Kate's diary but please, give a dollar or two on behalf of someone who loves to smile even when it hurts and we can help solve that problem. Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and blessings and donated .
Go to Paypal and send to racheltracks@aol.com
paypal.com
and type in her email addy to send some change
for racheltracks
7:24 PM PT: We have gone a little past half of our goal...Sara posted that we have reached 650.00. Let us keep posting to hit that goal of 1000.00