Andy's medical horror story 4 years ago is all you need to know about how effed up Health Care is..

[elehhhhna]

Just Du search "Andy Stephenson surgery" and be horrified. Over and over and over again.

He died 4 years ago this week.

Still think about you, Andy. Always will.

[proud patriot]

1. Still very fresh in my memory

:grr: I hate freepers

[LWolf]

2. Excellent point.

I don't have to wonder where Andy stood on health care, even before his diagnosis.

[Horse with no Name]

3. Has it really been that long?

:(

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Doesn't seem that way, does it. :^(

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Excellent example

Most of us either know someone personally whose had bad expierences with our health care system, or we know someone else who does. Andy's was a horrible case, but it wasn't by any means isolated. Which is why we so desperately need our health care fixed.

[elehhhhna]

5. On the Greatest page, this has 21 recs. On this page, it says 19 recs.

I would like to ALERT on the two freepers who unrec'd this post.

I hope they are ashamed.

[blm]

6. I agree - admins can see WHO recs and unrecs... whoever unrec should be considered a troll. PERIOD

.

[elehhhhna]

7. now it's 33 & 32. Someone unrec'd their unrec?

this is disasterous imo.

[lindisfarne]

12. How do you justify your view that a difference of opinion makes someone a troll? How Democratic is

that? How do you know that someone didn't feel the OP should have been more informative? Or simply hit the wrong button by accident (it happens).

I understand people are emotional over this. But is it worth sacrificing values such as freedom of speech?

I'm sure I'm going to be attacked over this reply, but frankly, that would be the undemocratic (and more the freeper) thing to do.

[elehhhhna]

14. If they feel it's not enough info, they should post about it.

& since when is quashing information "freedom of speech"?

[provis99]

16. Flamebait. n/t

[mod mom]

8. Why would anyone who truly belongs here unrecommend this thread?

I don't remember anymore, I've been here so long, but can anyone who comes to this site vote?

[elehhhhna]

9. lurkers, if they register.

[mod mom]

10. well lets hope the mods are on this. How could anyone who knows about Andy's hx

be so coldhearted as to keep this from ascending up the greatest? You have to wonder :mad: This is my 1st comment since this feature was installed, and I'm not liking too much right now. Maybe we should have to earn the ability to unrecommend.

[elehhhhna]

13. they delayed his surgery! WHY NOT UNREC it? They frikkin wrecked HIM.

I need to calm down.

[rudy23]

47. One could be that coldhearted if they were paid enough to

This tool gives people who work for lobbies like insurance a way to team up in ways individuals can't.

[Soylent Brice]

11. i posted something earlier about school staff forcing

handicapped children to fight and i had a couple of people unrec it.

this feature is gonna take a nose dive.

[mod mom]

15. Here's Andy's story assholes who unrecommended...you should be ashamed!

A Fight to the End
Voting-rights activist Andy Stephenson, 43, dies.
George Howland Jr.
Published on July 13, 2005
Karen Steichen

Andy Stephenson in March 2004.
Voting-rights activist Andy Stephenson was so full of life it seems impossible that he is dead. Surrounded by his life partner, Ted Edmondson, and members of his family, Stephenson passed away on Thursday, July 7, at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center. The Seattle resident was 43.

Walter Andrew Stephenson was born in El Paso, Texas. He worked as a telemarketer and was a Subway shop owner before he became concerned about issues surrounding electronic voting and ballot security in 2004. He quickly decided to run as a Democratic candidate for Washington secretary of state opposing Republican incumbent Sam Reed, on a platform calling for a voter-verified paper ballot. But Stephenson dropped out of the race to work full time with prominent election-integrity advocate Bev Harris of Renton, who leads Black Box Voting (www.blackboxvoting.org). The two activists later parted on bad terms, but Stephenson's work with Black Box Voting raised his national profile, and after he left the organization he continued grassroots lobbying with a loosely affiliated network of like-minded people over the Internet.

In person, Stephenson was a red-headed, crackerjack live wire, full of ideas and energy, chasing after every hint of impropriety by election administrators and the corporations that make voting software and hardware. During an interview, he would simultaneously smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, take phone calls, assign tasks to volunteers, condemn elected officials, and rail against Election Systems & Software, Diebold, and other voting-equipment corporations. He was a heartfelt advocate for his cause and didn't shy from confrontation with government officials and corporate officers. His passion and affability attracted a following here and on the World Wide Web, particularly among the frequenters of the progressive Web site Democratic Underground (www.democraticunderground.com).

Stephenson became ill in January, and months of treatment followed. In April, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Like the fighter he was, Stephenson was determined to beat the disease and decided to have surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. But he was out of work and without insurance, and Hopkins requires payment in full for out-of-state, uninsured patients. So Stephenson's online community raised $50,000 for him over the Internet. San Francisco's Elisabeth Ferrari led the effort, raising the money in just 12 days. It was a tribute to his political work and another demonstration of the power of the Internet. But it also spawned a bizarre Web campaign that accused Stephenson of faking his illness to scam money (see "Cancerous Campaign," July 6). In response, a page (homepage.mac.com/benburch/Andy) was created to document his treatment.

-snip

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2005-07-13/news/a-fight-to-the-end/

READ THE REST AND THEN SEE IF YOU STIL FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELVES!

[elehhhhna]

17. thank you, mod

[mod mom]

18. and read Will Pitt's thread:

Say hello to a bottomless rage

Edited on Fri Jul-08-05 01:56 PM by WilliamPitt
The cork is out of the bottle, and I am putting a few people on notice. You know who you are, you know what you did, and a good man has gone down in no small part because of you.

Throwing sand into the gears of the PayPal donations blew Andy off the surgery rotation, casusing him to have to wait a lot longer for his operation.

Spewing the claim time and again that the whole sickness was a fraud, very publicly and on as many blogs and boards as you could find, robbed Andy of the hope and will he needed to overcome this thing.

I think you fuckers should be forced to dig his grave. I think you should be buried with him.

I kept my mouth shut about you these last weeks because every time I said something about you or to you, you got a stiffy from the attention and ramped up your viciousness again. That's over with now.

I am going to make you famous in all the worst kinds of ways. I know your names, I know your addresses, I know your IP numbers, I have screen shots and copies of every vile statement and threat you ever made. I know everything I need to know. Get ready for the ram.

You are graveyard rats. I am going to grind you under my bootheel, scrape you off with a blade, and feed you to my cat.

One note to my fellow DUers: Leave off attacking the mods and admins at that "other" site. They were as disgusted by this as we were, but were hamstrung by the rules of their board which they take as seriously as the admins and mods here. They allowed me to post the documentary evidence over there, in no small part because they wanted the ugliness to stop. You may disagree with them, but they are good people.

They are not the ones who are on my list of things to do. Those on the list know who they are. Bad days are ahead for them. I promise.

We mourn for the next few days. We sing the songs of our friend.

And then we work.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4049596

DON'T FORGET THE COMMENTS SCUMBAG!

[elehhhhna]

19. that sums up my feelings. Thanks again.

[EFerrari]

24. The Stalking of Andy Stephenson

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=383284&mesg_id=383284

[mod mom]

25. Thanks Beth. These folks remind me of that John Prine song "Some Humans Ain't Human"

:mad:

Andy fought for democracy and died at the hands of those who attempted to subvert it. Fuckers all of them.

[EFerrari]

26. I emailed Thom and Mike and Termite that night.

Andy's memory is going strong and no idiot with an unrec option can change that. They already tried, remember?

This is still DU and no matter how ruffled we get or how many trolls show up to share their stupidity, we're still the same people that stood with Andy no matter what. :hug:

:grouphug:

[mod mom]

29. and Andy stood up for their votes as well (all of our votes). Too bad they're too stupid

to realize that.

:hi:

BTW thinking of Andy, Susan T is a new facebook friend of mine and is doing very well (as a brunette;)

[KaryninMiami]

40. Yes we are- no matter what.

So happy you checked in with them - did you send the thread from the other night? It was pretty wonderful...

[EFerrari]

43. Stephanie might have.

It was wonderful. :)

[malmapus]

33. I remember that thread =/

Sorting out the feelings it brings back. Doesn't help that my wife lost a friend today..

[EFerrari]

36. Hug her for me, malmapus.

:hug:

[malmapus]

44. Thanks, I will.

She was only 27 too, and recently married so it's all the more tragic for her husband. She had fallen asleep Monday night, didn't wake up Tuesday. Her husband called 911 and they took her in to ICU and she was in a coma. Died late yesterday from heart failure. So sudden and from what I saw of her she so full of life, was very interested to hear about the organic farm my wife and I have been trying to get off the ground.

[EFerrari]

45. Oh my lord. 27. Not even old enough to raise enough hell yet.

Thoughts and wishes with your family. :grouphug:

[PopSixSquish]

23. Sweet Jeebus!

I'd forgotten about this.

There is a special place in hell for these people...

[flyarm]

37. No one should have to bear the ugliness Andy had heaped on him at the end of his life!

I miss my wonderful friend Andy. I mourn him today as I always will.He took a part of my heart with him to heaven.
I keep a picture of Andy, Ms Waverly and myself at his bedside when he came out of surgery in Recovery, in my kitchen so i can always see his smiling face, and always remember his smiling heart!

For all the nastiness heaped upon Andy , never forget the love he got from so many here at DU..Love that tried to save his life, so unselfishly.. from a disease he had no chance of surviving.

Andy knew how precious the love was he recieved from so many here. He knew it and he cherished it to the end.

So many here gave him a gift so few ever recieve..and it was a chance to try to save his life. But the disease he had was the most awful of all.

The kind of pancreatic cancer Andy had was very rare, and the worst of all Pancreatic cancers.

If you give to any charity in the future..please think of Pancan http://www.pancan.org/

There are so many families in need of help and support with this cancer, and much research needed to find a cure.


I miss my friend, and like a son to me...



My special angel


You are my special angel
Sent from up above
The Lord smiled down on me
And sent an angel to love (to love)

You are my special angel
Right from paradise
I know you're an angel
Heaven is in your eyes

The smile from your lips brings the summer sunshine
Tears from your eyes bring the rain
I feel your touch, your warm embrace
And I'm in heaven again

You are my special angel
Through eternity
I'll have my special angel
Here to watch over me

(A smile from your lips brings the summer sunshine)
(The tears from your eyes bring the rain)
I feel your touch, your warm embrace
And I'm in heaven again

You are my special angel
Through eternity
I'll have my special angel
Here to watch over me (watch over me)

Here to watch over me


I love you Andy.......and always will.
fly

[KaryninMiami]

66. Thanks, Fly- that's a beautiful post- really lovely.

I miss him too- and will never forget the astounding way DU jumped into action to try to save our friend- what an inspiring experience that was for all of us- and for Andy as well. And you are indeed correct- he did know how much he was loved and he cherished that until the end. Wherever he is, he knows we are thinking about him this week and once again, sending him love and he's beaming that love right back at us- that's for sure.

[EFerrari]

58. I'm glad you posted that because it reminds me of what a sweet man

George Howland was. He tried to report this story when everyone was already so upset that we could barely tell the story.

To George, a good reporter and a very fine human bean. :toast:

[Wizard777]

60. I remember Andy and this tragic ordeal. I have just one question.

Why didn't anyone file a criminal complaint and sue these assholes for libel? Considering their attempts to deny his medical care could have resulted in his death. Attempted Murder also. Libel is rarely if ever pursued criminally. Considering the circumstances. I don't think you would have had much problems convincing a prosecutor to take up the cause. This was beyond malicious. It was homicidal. Once word got around that these cyber attacks upon Andy were resulting in arrests and civil suites. They would have stopped like flipping a switch. The only thing your claims and proof of them would face in court is a reasonable person test. The courts don't have a psychotic asshole test. They refer people to psychiatrists for that. When they first started trying to raise funds for Andy here. I was confused about the legitimacy of it. But I think you reasonably proved the veracity of your claims. I think a court would agree and decide in your favor.

I'm glad Andy came to Baltimore for treatment. We have some of the best Hospitals in the world. I can assure you that if we couldn't save Andy It couldn't be done. God had made up His mind it was time for Andy to come home. God bless you Andy. We love you and will miss you until we meet again in Heaven.

[progressoid]

20. How many of us scraped together a few bucks to try to save Andy's life?

It shouldn't have happened. Sadly it still happens every day in America.

k/r

[malmapus]

31. As wrong it was that it was needed, it was a proud

moment for the DU to come together like that and do what it did. Even though we still lost Andy in the end, I couldn't of been prouder to of been a part of the DU for those days of hope and community.

[progressoid]

41. It definitely was a proud moment.

I really felt like part of a community then.

[Ladyhawk]

56. Yeah it did. It doesn't for me anymore. DU is a place to dodge flamewars. nt

[EFerrari]

21. At least now we'll know how infiltrated DU is.

And I hadn't seen your thread. K&R

[shireen]

22. wow ... that brings back really sad memories.

Andy was amazing.

[butterfly77]

27. That's right..

we haven't forgotten.

[Blaze Diem]

28. Wonderful post & am Recc'ing to cancel out one of the freeps recent unrecs

Doesn't seem that long a time since his passing.
My heart goes out to you & those who hold him near each day.

[orleans]

30. so true. k&r n/t

[YOY]

32. Wish I knew him.

Well we won Andy. We won. At least, I think we won.

[KoKo]

35. Thanks for posting this...it's important!

:thumbsup:

[kevsters]

38. Should food be a basic human right?

Dems just need to push it through and not worry about bringing Republicans along. Honestly, how are you going to get Republicans to accept a public option when some do not even think food should be a basic human right, let alone health care.

This is a pretty awesome clip. Jane Hamsher from FDL gets fired up.

http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2109

[Seldona]

39. K&R

It sure is, and a whole lot more. Like the character, or lack thereof, of the people who interfered with the funds, delaying his surgery. I am sure they are still just as self-righteous and smug, the murderous bastards.

[Richard Steele]

42. Wasn't it also a GAY thing? IIRC, didn't that delay/preclude his treatment?

IIRC, he could have had surgery SOONER,
(and SOONER is always better with pancreatic cancer)
if he and his life-partner had been a HETERO couple?

Something about using their home as COLLATERAL
for the surgery costs got sent "sideways" because they
were a same-gender couple?

Am I remembering it wrong, or did that actually happen?

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

54. NO, it was called evil assholes getting his medial paypal account frozen

That delayed his surgery by two weeks while friends worked to get the account
unfrozen.

Andy's former colleague had publicized on her website that Andy was
not really sick but was scamming the public.

That led to right wingers setting up a website called Scamdy.com
and freepers even harassed Andy's caregivers.

No, it was all about some sick assholes who got Andy killed.

[Senator]

46. K&+R

[chatnoir]

48. K&R

Were any legal channels pursued to hold these evil bastards accountable?

[Divine Discontent]

49. yep, it was within a year after I joined & I could tell how much he was loved

I never understood why some very rich person didn't just step right up... I know how much he posted and was helpful to the DU community.

My millionaire aunt told me she gives to charities NOT to individual needs - and thus why she let her nephew suffer knowing all along that even a few grand would have paid for some very important doctor bills. She's 'smart', so that reasoning of her's was weak. I'll never understand some people... they don't understand themselves, so I guess I shouldn't be too mad at them.

[quidam56]

50. In TN & VA, "horrifying" health care = acceptable standards of health care.

As a former health care giver, I am shocked to see what is called quality health care now in Tennessee and Virginia. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 Clearly profit care is more important than patient care.

[Born_A_Truman]

51. I hope my rec went through

I remember this well. I hadn't been a DUer very long, I think I joined in '04 before the election, and didn't know Andy personally. I lost my own mother to pancreatic cancer in 1991 and spent the last five weeks, along with my sister, helping my father care for her. I prayed somehow the surgery my mother couldn't have would save Andy.

I also remember the nasty attacks and accusations and it made me sick. Still does. I hope the cowards who inteferred with the paypal donations to get Andy's surgery know what lowlifes they are.

RIP Andy
RIP Millie Truman

[Rhiannon12866]

52. Amen! K&R.

I miss him, too... ;(

[midnight]

53. I too still think about Andy. Mine is primarily the stolen election

story, but you can't not remember Andy and know how wrong health care delivery is in America.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

55. really, what asshats unrecommended this thread? I guess it gives an idea of

how many jerkwad sabateurs there are here.

[question everything]

57. I remember it because it was DU finest hour

collecting all that money in such a short time.

It was also a dark hour among fellow human beings, when freeper deliberately lied to the hospital and to Medicare and thus delayed his medical treatment which could have hastened his end.

R.I.P Andy. I did not know you but you brought up the best among DUers.

[Pooka Fey]

59. I remember too. RIP Andy.

[Vinca]

61. I always wondered what might have happened if he had been able

to access immediate surgical intervention. Instead, we essentially held a high tech bake sale/car wash for cancer so he could get through the door at Johns Hopkins. Makes you sick. He was a great man.

[supernova]

65. It might have made Andy more comfortable

but it probably wouldn't have changed the outcome.

Pancreatic cancer has abysmal survival rates, mostly because by the time you get a proper diagnosis, it's already too late. It's just very hard to diagnose right now.

I donated twice for Andy's surgery and care even though I was, as I am now, unemployed. And I was happy to do it. Having worked in a cancer center, I knew what he was in store for and I tried to be as supportive as I could even as I wept for him while I was away from the computer. :-(

We still miss you Andy and you are still very much a part of DU.



O8) O8)

[lindisfarne]

69. Many pancreatic patients refuse surgery. Unless the cancer is only in the pancreas, which is rarely

the case by the time it's diagnosed, there's very little medical professionals can do.

A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is pretty much a death sentence. I've personally known 2 people with it, who had very good insurance, and at most, they gained a few months (but also, lots of pain). I know 2 oncologists who have a friend who is also an oncologist whose father died of pancreatic cancer, and <1 year after diagnosis. Obviously, an oncologist has connections most don't, so they pulled out all the stops they felt could help (but they realized over-treating was pointless, and only lessened quality of life, so they didn't resort to unproven, alternative treatments).

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg was only diagnosed very early because she was being followed very closely due to a previous cancer.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pancreatic-cancer/DS00357
Pancreatic cancer often has a poor prognosis, even when diagnosed early. Pancreatic cancer typically spreads rapidly and is seldom detected in its early stages, which is a major reason why it's a leading cause of cancer death. Signs and symptoms may not appear until pancreatic cancer is quite advanced and surgical removal isn't possible.

Ovarian cancer is another cancer that is rarely caught early enough to have a good prognosis.
http://www.ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/earlydx.cfm
Conventional treatment has a poor success rate for disseminated stage IV disease. Conversely, the prospects of patients with early-stage ovarian cancer confined to the ovaries (Stage 1) are more optimistic; with treatment more than 80-90% survive five years after diagnosis. However, 70% of patients with ovarian cancer have already advanced disseminated disease at the time of initial diagnosis

(Many other cancers are far more treatable but people in the US still die from them, due to lack of access to medical care. Most cervical cancers are fully treatable if caught early - unfortunately, some women don't get checkups as often as they should.)

[supernova]

70. A typical patient story

I worked in a GI oncologist's office. He's the doc you don't want to see. He exclusively saw end-stage GI cancer patients because he was running clinical trials on new cancer drugs. Nearly everyone we saw went from chemo to hospice. Very sad.

A typical pancreatic patient for us usually had this story:

Had been feeling fine up until about 6-9 months ago. GI distress with seemingly no causes. Pancreatitis was common, again with no real cause discerned.

Went to the ER, got Maalox or whatever and it seemed to calm their GI tract down. This might go on for a couple of months.

OK, Maalox not working. Went through their local GP, nada,

Went to another private specialist, who perhaps caught the dx, Shock! Horror! (Who wouldn't be?)

Went to a second opinion who confirmed the first one. Yikes!

2nd and 1st specialists recommend big teaching hospital after surgery or surgery at big teaching hospital.

Have to wait for official pathology report and have to wait 6-8 weeks to start chemo. Oh, and you might wait a few weeks getting into the big teaching hospital too. Yes, we were just that busy.

Moral: If you don't know what's wrong with you and your doc doesn't either, high tail it to the nearest research facility. Even if you have to sit in the ER for five days. They are better equipped to sniff out a medical mystery.

[lindisfarne]

71. And then, once the research facility figures out the problem, if an uncommon cancer, high tail it to

whatever research facility has the best people specializing on it. In the case of the less common cancers, getting to the best specialists really does impact the likelihood of how long you will survive. Even if that means traveling quite a bit.

But right now, there are some cancers for which a diagnosis is essentially a death sentence. Pancreatic cancer diagnoses are about the worst.

If I were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread (as most have by the time they're diagnosed), I'm not sure I'd opt for treatment, unless treatment options & expected outcomes improve dramatically.

[LeftishBrit]

62. k&r

Utterly truly shocking.

The malice that was involved was disgusting. But in the UK or most Western countries - this just could not have happened. The surgery would have been his right, without any need to pay.

[suffragette]

63. It's still stunning to think about those who would purposefully

attempt to block someone receiving necessary health care out of spite and disagreement with a political view.

I think that people who hold that much hatred will eventually be consumed by it.

The other side is the love that poured out from so many people who came together here to help Andy. That is one of the most powerful actions I have ever seen.

And you're right elehhhhna, the whole situation does show how seriously flawed our health care system is here. Health care is a basic right and everyone should have access to it. But our system treats it as a privilege, which can be accorded or denied for completely capricious reasons. To put people through emotional and financial turmoil and stress at the moment of their greatest need is inhumane.

[ejbr]

64. I was out of the loop when all this happened.

How do people live with themselves? It's one thing to wish ill of or be indifferent to another, but to actively interfere in their ability to live?

Rest in peace Andy. pssst...thanks for helping to get Senator Franken into office from where you are now. Nice payback! ;)

[mzmolly]

67. RIP Andy.

Thanks elehhhhha for putting the struggle for health care into perspective.

[noiretextatique]

68. i'd almost forgotten the nastiness of those freepers and some others

as i recall, there were some assholes right here at DU as well...it was appalling.
but the majority of the DU community stepped up and did the right thing before and after Andy's death. :toast: you did good, andy.