In Memory: Aunt Sylvia (age 3); Uncle Gordon (age 11 months)
I never met them. They died decades before I was born back in 1941 and 1939 (or thereabouts).
According to family lore (from my mother, who was born in the early 1940s), Uncle Gordon got pneumonia. They rushed him to the hospital, but were turned away because they couldn't afford to pay. He died while they were begging money from the relatives.
Aunt Sylvia had the same thing happen, only with her it was appendicitis (or so my mother was told). Same situation - rushed to the hospital, refused surgery because of lack of funds, and dead before money could be raised.
I've seen the pictures; they were beautiful babies.
Of the four children born in that period, only two survived to adulthood - my mother, and another aunt.
It is one of the reasons I find "Libertarians" extremely offensive - no one should bury people they love because they can't access medical care. The pain of it echoes for decades....and the frantic tales of young parents begging the aunts and uncles to help pay so their children wouldn't die haunts me to this day.
Who the hell wants to go back to that time of barbarism?
I am watching this fight over "Obamacare" quite closely. My twins (now age 6 years) spent time in the NICU after they were born (13 days for my son, 19 for my daughter who came home on oxygen and a heart monitor), and my pregnancy was "difficult" / ending with pre-eclampsia. I have never had the nerve to look at the "grand total" spent on medical care for all of us, and the idea my children might someday be denied life saving medical care because of hitting a "lifetime spending cap" (as currently exists/stops with Obamacare) appalls me at a level I simply cannot explain.
Realistically, I spent a lot of time in the hospital, too, during that pregnancy. I could probably hit some insurance company's limit pretty easily. Other than my high-risk pregnancy and infertility issues, I have been blessed with generally good health, as have my children, but everyone gets sick sometimes. I am currently recovering from bronchitis with a lingering nasty cough - in another time, another place, I would be dead; fortunately, I have access to affordable medical care and appropriate medications. And even with "good health" normal life stuff happens: my son was four when he slipped on a slide at school, and ended up with three stitches in his forehead - that was a couple of thousand dollars (yeah, insurance!), and my daughter was also four when she swallowed a penny at school, which ended up getting stuck in her throat such that she had to be anesthetized for its removal - again, thousands of dollars worth of care, and yeah, insurance!
Which nurse would I have penny pinched, if I hadn't had good insurance? Which x-ray would I have skipped? Would I have taped his forehead shut, and hoped the scar wouldn't be big? Would I have walked from the hospital, praying the penny would "easily pass" (note: it wasn't going to) and chanced her airway being obstructed? In the eyes of millions all over the world, I am rich beyond comprehension because I didn't even have to think about those choices. I am lucky: my husband and I handed them our insurance cards, my children were treated, and we didn't end up filing bankruptcy over the ensuing medical bills.
In the middle of the moment, I didn't worry about a "lifetime cap" - and thank heavens we get insurance through my husband's job! But anyone who has lived through the ups and downs of this economy knows that can change at any time, and it doesn't matter how good you are at your job, nothing in life is guaranteed except death and taxes.
Wise people hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. I think Obamacare does those things. Frankly, it should have happened a long time ago.
In my family, we buried children from my mother's generation who didn't need to die.
Didn't these Republicans listen to the family stories? Don't they go to their family cemeteries, and notice the dates on the gravestones? Or notice where there is no headstone, because it cost too much for the little ones? 
To my sorrow, my family stories are not unique.
Rest in peace, Aunt Sylvia. Rest in peace, Uncle Gordon. I never met you, but in your memory, I hugged my children closer when I thought of you when they were your age. You have not been forgotten.
We remember. And now, everyone at DU knows about you, too.
For Aunt Sylvia (age 3): 
For Uncle Gordon (age 11 months):
= new reply since forum marked as read
I am told that one of the uncles rushed to the hospital for my Aunt Sylvia, but by the time he got word, it was too late.
He was always my mother's favorite because of that. She talked about it whenever we walked by his grave, even all of these decades later.
and forgot to say "thank you" for finding this.
I did not know this. I really didn't.
and the people who loved him.
We cannot return to those times of darkness!
Don't know how I missed replying to you -- your kind words are much appreciated!
And thank you for sharing. So many were lost for lack of care and what's worse is when it's for lack of money.
Our people shouldn't die for lack of care.
Hold on!
In tears....
I never knew her, born 10 years later. I do remember my mother quietly weeping for her fifty years later. The wound may heal; the scar remains.
For your uncle and aunt and dreams unfulfilled
for another poster), penicillin was discovered in the 1920s, but it was another 20 years before it was widely used. It would have been in the right time frame for them to access it, if their rural hospitals were "up to snuff" (which obviously I have no way of knowing at this point in time). But with the hospital refusing care, it really became a moot point; money was spent on their burials instead.
It also seems odd that a 3 year old could get appendicitis, but that is what is on her death certificate.
In the pictures, they were so little.... 
...war on healthcare reform!
My sister died of cancer at age 32 because insurance company profits took priority over lifesaving treatment. She was victimized in particular by lifetime/annual benefit caps and pre-existing condition rules. She died trying to declare bankruptcy and qualify for Medicaid.
. 
. 
Thank you!
And for your sister,
For your cousin,
My grandparents' living room was a shrine to Aunt Agnes. Above the mantle hung a large portrait of a little girl. "That's you Aunt Agnes," my grandmother told me. It was a bit of a mystery. My other aunts and uncles were middle aged or older people and I had actually met them. Aunt Agnes didn't look any older than I was. She look something like Christine, the little girl from up the street I played with. How come I couldn't play with this little girl, who is my aunt? Why haven't I seen her? If I do see her, am I supposed to act toward her as I do toward Auntie Beth or Aunt Mary, or play with her like I do with Christine?
One day I asked Grandma where Aunt Agnes lived and if I would ever meet her. "You'll meet her someday, I hope," Grandma said. "She's in Heaven."
Aunt Agnes contracted a strep infection not long before she would have turned four. That was in 1918, when strep infections were fatal to children much more often than they are now.
Unfortunately, with the widening of the income gap between rich and poor, the determination of the rich to oppress the poor and middle class and the determination of the political stooges of the rich to suppress America's belated nascent move toward national health insurance, one can only ask if the kind of tragedies in Ida's grandparents' family or in my grandparents' family will again become common place.
Aunt Agnes
for Aunt Agnes
You always make me feel like I am "reaching" people - you have no idea how much I appreciate it!
The twins have been keeping me busy; they are in first grade now -- where is the time going? They are so OPINIONATED now - where did they get THAT from?
and
when we realize theoretical concepts have actually dramatically impacted our lives.
Your dad lost two brothers, and if what you suspect now is true, do you think he understood it at the time, or even later, in family lore?
My mom "got it" and it scares her to this day....
For your father's brothers:
and
Thank you!!!
and I certainly thank you for posting these stories.
It seems as though people back in the day, no matter where they lived, expected that one or some of their children would contract a life-threatening disease or illness and die. Medicine had not progressed to a point where more lives could be saved.
But in more modern times, I feel there has been a fatalistic resolution by too many people who think, "Well, I can't afford health insurance, so I guess I just can't have it." Kind of on the same level as "I'm priced out of the Mercedes-Benz market."
People must snap out of these doldrums and understand that being healthy and having access to health care is a human right. With fighters like you, it may happen in my lifetime.
Meanwhile, for Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Gordon
May she be one of the last....
Those are my theories; your mileage may vary.
I have a special place in my heart for the preemies, and I can't even go there.
I am so sorry for those losses.
For your aunts and uncles -
in a closet in the basement... They named them all..dressed them up & had their pictures taken before they buried them.. I found them listed in some old city directories/census stuff.. Some of the names I remembered: Irene, Edward, John, Rose, Mary, Frank, David
I had two preemies, but modern medicine made all the difference.. (Our first weight 4 lb 4 oz after 3 weeks in the nursery.. I still remember thinking that I was responsible for this little life, who weighed less than a bag of sugar in my pantry 
.. Our other preemie was HUGE..he weighed 5 lb 4 oz..
I know a couple of people who have been adopting from the Ukraine; did you know they let preemies 32 weeks and younger die because they don't have the medical equipment to take care of them?
MINE were 32 weekers!
If you want to see pictures, take a look at this link: http://www.preemiegrowthproject.org/Quick_Summary_with_Baby_Pictures_20120908.pdf
Yup, those are my babies.
But then I also wanted 3 girls & got 3 boys
Here's a pic of the three when they were little.. oldest & youngest were the preemies:
youngest-middle-oldest
my "baby"..soon to be 35
my oldest will be 40 in a few months
the middle will be 36
sheez-louise..where did the time go
Thank you for sharing!
your Uncle Gordon and Aunt Sylvia, Ida. How heartbreaking for your family back then who lost their babies so unnecessarily. Just from not having proper care at the hospitals because they couldn't afford to pay for it right then and there. Very sad.
May our new Health Care Law prevent that from happening to so many families from here on. 
And may yours become truth!
I call bullshit. [URL=
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The scary thing? I had a life threatening accident requiring surgery when I was young back in the early 80s. Fortunately my father was employed at GM. It didn't occurr to me until reading some of the posts here that if he hadn't had insurance, I would probably be dead now - or my parents would have been in deep financial distress.
Especially when they didn't have to be.
I can't imagine how heartless people who have sworn an oath to do no harm have to be, to turn away sick children.
My grandparents weren't wealthy, being textile mill workers. They lost two babies, both boys, for reasons I never knew. One is supposedly still preserved at Duke University, where there was research done that apparently was used to save their only male child, my mother's baby brother.
My mother was hit by a car, around 1943 or so, and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. She died and was revived three times before she made it to the hospital. My grandfather gave blood several times to save her life, she was hospitalized for weeks.
She has a metal plate in her head, and a scar behind her ear, but no other issues from the accident. Today, she is fairly healthy, other than slightly elevated blood pressure, and she is a one-year breast cancer survivor.
I don't know how it was paid for, but I imagine it was done bit by bit over years. That's how we used to pay for medical care if it was a lot of money. My dad still owes the hospital for when I was born (if they were still around, they'd probably be coming after him for it!).
My oldest son had pneumonia when he was about three (this would have been sometime in 1982). We were self-employed, no insurance. Luckily, he didn't need more than antibiotics. The bill wasn't all that much, and we paid it off. Up until HMOs came in, we mostly just paid out of pocket for most things, and we were far from well-off -- working poor, they call it.
I'll admit, I don't think much of the ACA, but it's better than nothing. I hope single-payer becomes a reality soon.
18 is too young.
And thank you for your kind words.
I shared the link with my mother and some other family. They have been unbelievably touched by the outpouring of goodwill.
DU is an awesome place.
It felt important to share. This is what we are fighting for - US!
(And the compliment - )