Friday, September 10, 2010

To Live Or To Die

  Several months ago my cousin found out she had cervical cancer. She is in her mid forties and was uninsured. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center found a way for her to get medicaid to pay for the treatments. They consisted of about six weeks of direct radiation by inserting an irradiated rod into her uterus to kill the cancer cells. It was tough on her but she seemed to recover and was told by the doctors at UAB that she was cancer free. The medicaid payed for her stay and all drugs the oncologist used. Life was good.
  Then about three weeks ago she noticed her right leg begin to swell. Medicaid continued to pay for her blood thinner medicines, along with pain medication. Her leg kept growing much larger, day by day. She developed very large blood blisters on her leg and began having numbness in the affected leg. My wife called her an ambulance and she was transported to Gadsden Regional Medical Center to be seen by a vascular surgeon. After getting her history and physical the doctor was afraid that the cancer had returned and ordered a CAT scan and MRI. His fears were true. The test showed many tumors growing in her cervix and lymphatic system. A large tumor had pressed against the large leg vein not allowing the blood that was pumped via an artery to her leg and the blood could not go back to the heart/lungs for re oxygenation, therefore, her leg became one huge blood blister. She had been placed on blood thinners and would have to wait before she could have surgery for her blood to thicken. Here is where things started changing rapidly. One minute she was to have surgery and two days later they tell her that she was awarded social security disability, therefore, made too much money to be eligible for medicaid.. She would have a two year wait for medicare, the federally funded insurance. She was discharged with orders to take a certain medication that would keep her alive. The only problem; the medication was $4,000 dollars. She cleaned out her bank account and with $600 dollars bought less than a weeks worth of medicine. This is America, not a third world nation. She should have some way to get the medication to stay alive. Do you agree? I am going to send this letter to President Obama. I want to start up a fund for her to get the treatment that she needs. Her name is Patricia Wisinger Spaulding and she is family and needs our help. Please send donations in her name to Regions Bank in Glencoe, AL. 35905   You may also find her and talk with her on facebook.com/patriciaspaulding   Please talk with her and share your story and if you are in government, please do not let her die. Thank you, theblogmeister

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

'Draft Status'

I was informed that one of my postings did not meet the standards set forth by blogger.com. My post was taken off my site and placed on 'draft status'. I received an email from blogger.com explaining the reason for the 'draft status'. They did not tell me if someone complained about an article or a staff member initiated the 'draft status'. I did receive a comment from a reader blasting me for outright plagiarism. I should be ashamed of myself, he said. Apparently, this reader has not went back and read some of my earlier posts. He would then realize that shame is , or was, part of my psyche for over 30 years. He would also notice that it is a miracle I am sitting at this computer, today. I wish he would have been adult about what he thought of my plagiarism and opened up a dialogue with me instead of hurling insults. I calmly told this person that I will type, theblogmeister, after anything I write. Sometimes I will come across an article that I find interesting and will copy/paste in my blog. I generally will give the author his credit by naming him. At the end of everyone of my postings in the border of the website will be the date and posted by theblogmeister. That is not saying everything in that post was written by myself. I explained this and told the person that I would be more careful in the future so there will be no mistaking who wrote what.theblogmeister

Monday, September 6, 2010

Heroes Among Us

It is clear that the war in Afghanistan, nearly 9 years old, is becoming increasingly costly. 55 soldiers have been killed in the month of August, alone. Among the increasingly violent firefights we are hearing stories of amazing heroism.
Some soldiers recently received public recognition for their actions in Afghanistan. A Silver Star ceremony was held at Ft. Bragg, N.C. on Monday August 16, 2010.
The third highest award for valor in the Army was awarded to Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Gonzalez and Sgt. 1st Class Mark Roland, both part of Special Operational Detachment 732.
On June 11, 2010, their unit was sent to help an Afghan unit that was pinned down by Taliban fighters.As soon as they arrived they found themselves in the same predicament. Roland climbed out of the safety of his armored vehicle and engaged the enemy in a dry creek bed. They killed 2 Taliban and swept the rest of the dry creek bed. That action protected their rear flank. Gonzalez saw 4 Taliban pinned down, jumped from his vehicle, and ran through enemy fire.
The Army account read, "Without regard for his life over the course of three trips through enemy fire he rescued all 4 soldiers and brought them back to the safety of the armored vehicle." All this while under fire.
After clearing the creek bed and getting back into his vehicle he saw 8 Afghan soldiers pinned down by machine gun fire. Roland got 4 of the Afghans to his vehicle and directed the other 4 to another vehicle.
He and his fellow soldiers defeated an ambush that consisted of 60 Taliban including 2 Taliban Commanders.
Staff Sgts. Mario Pinella and Daniel Gould also had recieved a bronze star.Gould also received the Silver Star for past heroism.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

A Saga in the Making

Today,September 5,2010 we hear of another tragedy. Of another young man, who had hopes, plans, dreams, not unlike a lot of us. Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate was diving a LandRover when hit by an I.E.D. That acronym has become synonymous with death. Death of an American or our allies. I never even heard of an IED. The one's that introduced me to IED's were one of the tribal members of an Iraqi-an religion that is absolutely ridiculous. I wonder how many news anchors would love to say those very words to a world-wide audience . Hey, Diane Sawyer: How would you like telling millions of people that their belief in ALLAH, or whoever, is like being a member to a violent street gang of Chicago. Talk about Racism! WHEW!
I am sitting in this free world saying what I want to say because of people like Aircraftman Southgate. Mr. Southgate was a member of an Airfield Protection Wing conducting patrols to help protect the Kandahar Air field and all those who operated within it. All it took was one IED, to rip and hearts that can never ever be mended are destroyed. I am writing down here from Alabama. I've never been to Afghanistan however, I am a veteran. I feel some kinship, there. Like a fraternaty, almost.
Mr. Southgate was planning to stay for another 2 years then join the elite, the Special Forces.
Here is just a few of what his friends said:

He was passionate about machine guns and loved being part of Direct Weapons Fire Unit.

He showed great potential, was a superb soldier, and a loyal comrade.He was rightly, quietly, confident in his abilities.He was proud of what he had achieved and held high hopes for the future.
In closing.I ask myself is this all worth it? If it keeps al-queda form striking the US I am all for it. But, what if it does nothing to keep America safe. That is an answer that I simply do not have the answer to. It is up to each of us. Surely, our children did not die for nothing.For those who have lost a loved one, well, I'm here to say that you're family member did not die for nothing, they died protecting for the right I have to sit here and say what ever I want to say, To All of you say, God Bless America and the United Kingdom!