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Good morning Gus. A few days ago I wrote in this space a short note telling you of my desire and intention of writing a story based on long ago memories of my life experiences back in Texas. A story that I had in mind would had taken me back some fifty years at the least, and I would`ve written it promptly. Writing such a story I insinuated, would had been a tonic for me as I battled with my inner angers due to politics. Now that has changed.
Before anything else I want to thank Homers24 for the prompt response to my note and accepting that I write anytime I pleased. Secondly, I chose you guys to write because no matter the anger or what caused it I will always write. Politics is not permitted and forbidden here so that is why I come to you. I merely wanted to soothe my conscious. I promised you `no politics, or rants`and this is my word.
However, as unfortunate as I find being unable to write that story from my mind’s script that far back in time I will write on a new and troubling topic that I am well prepared to bring to you. Not that I was not prepared to write on my original choice by memory alone, but this story, well documented here at Daily Kos has added new informational dimension that has shocked me. I want to share it with you.
If you are located in Texas, and in particular in San Antonio this story is written as a heads up to you. That is, if you are poor and by no faults of your own fall into this Texas health trap, it is an educational piece of recorded facts about the rancid treatment our poor sick Texans receive at the hands of Texas health providers.
Butt Can
Ugggh, I think I ate the thing, gulp
A bit of background to my story. I begin documenting this tragic health issue way back when
I wrote this first diary on February of 2013, on my nephew Tony`s mysterious head injury that resulted in brain surgery at a San Antonio hospital. I continued to write
here, and
here, and, well you get the picture as information got to me from San Antonio as I am in Wisconsin.
Today my nephew continues to breathe, camotose and in deep unconsciousness minus the chunk taken from his skull to ease the swelling leaving a sickening hole in that side of his head and my sister has yet to miss a day by his side. She insists and gets annoyed with me when I say the word camotose. According to her, he responds to her by signs from his eye lids when she asks or say something to him. Being more than a thousand miles away I guess I have to believe her despite all the time involved being in his own little world.
It was settled during discussions back in 2013 that hospitals only cared for patients for a specific portion of time based on the need for a bed. Other patients had to have a bed and therefore a different place was found for Tony. He landed at Casa Rio Heath Care & Rehabilitation center in San Antonio.
It is here that the scoop for this diary came to me by phone.
Perhaps, just maybe, you may recall that I wrote about my sister telling me the horrors she was witnessing at Case Rio. Over the phone, she used to tell me how folks with loved ones being treated at Casa Rio were threatened by staff members if they complained about the treatment their loved one were getting at this health center. They were threatened of having their loved ones moved away far from San Antonio if they complained to the state, making it very difficult to reach those loved ones.
She told me of one parent with a son at Casa Rio that had some very nasty bed sores all over his back that staff members neglected to attend to. My sister was horrified when she learned of another death at Casa Rio due to negligence by the staff, after several others had met the same fate, death.
She wanted to take Tony out of Casa Rio and arrange her own home to have him transported there for her. She was threatened that Tony would eventually be taken out of San Antonio to another facility ran by the state of Texas. She was told that Medicaid did not cover her request to have Tony moved into her house.
What I have written during documentation of Tony`s case is not an isolated incident. I now have to think that others rose up in arms against Casa Rio and the state of Texas for its criminal neglect of its patients. Folks here who read my original diaries on Tony told me to advise my sister to contact a lawyer.
Poor folks always get this type of advise and unfortunately, ignorance and the inability to communicate on legal issues, my sister rested on her hope that perhaps one day she could take her son home. If he has to die she told me, I want him to die at home. I did my best to convince her that help was out there for her. She is just like me, stubborn resting on her faith, whatever that is, to get Tony home.
And then it happened!
Nursing home accused of 7 wrongful deaths
Case Rio accused in 7 deaths
After state investigators stormed into Casa Rio following numerous complaints of heath care negligence and deaths at the nursing home two lady lawyers, whom I contacted immediately, filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the nursing home of gross negligence resulting in the deaths of at least seven people.
You can read about this lawsuit here to compare with what my sister has been telling me since Tony landed at this nursing home. The bed sores story is now verified by these lawyers and the deaths are probably true as well.
I was trying to find another images of this nursing home that I viewed earlier showing the actually maggots inside of a patients ear. Perhaps if you are interested you may find it. It is some horrifying and nasty thing to see.
I wrote a long email to the offices of Marynellmaloney after learning that these lawyers got involved in the lawsuit, explaining to them my sister`s situation and the threats she experienced when she wanted to take Tony home and away from Case Rio after learning the things I have written about. I provided them with all information and asked that my sister and Tony be added as plaintiffs in what has turned out to be a class action lawsuit. Click on the link if you are in San Antonio with a family member or loved one in Case Rio. You can learn as I did, what can be done to help.
As we all know, September 1st was Labor Day. I wrote the email the day earlier I believe and everything went quiet, I did not get a response. I could not track back that email in my computer so I wrongly thought that it never reach the lawyer`s office.
Then I got a call on my phone from San Antonio and it was Marynell. She did read my email and wanted to speak with my sister. I had made it clear in my email that I was in Wisconsin and was writing in my sister`s behalf. Everything I told her in the email is verified by what my sister has told me.
I put my sister in contact with Marynell and they spent some time discussing the many things I have written about with respect to Casa Rio, the threats of retaliation if my sister complained like so many other had been threatened.
As I understand this lawsuit, Casa Rio would not disclose who specifically ran and operated the nursing home. These lawyers found that the state of Texas was the sole and principle owner and employers of those who acted as staff members at the nursing home.
My sister immediately following the lawsuit filings, got a call from someone speaking on behalf of Casa Rio. She was told that she would now be able to take Tony home. I am not familiar with the lawsuit but I think the state, or whoever runs Casa Rio was served with a copy -- but I don`t know.
My sister was told that it would cost her nothing, the state would provide the necessary tools and labor needed to fix her home so that Tony can live there. The state would pay for everything. All machines used to keep Tony alive and breathing would be provided free of charge to her. Wooden ramps would be built so that Tony could be moved when it was necessary. All for free. Medicaid was not mentioned on this offer.
Oh if that is not enough. A professional nurse would be with Tony day and night once he is at home - paid by the state I would imagine.
I told my sister it was no coincidence. At this point as I understand Tony has been added as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He has laid on his back since 2013 in February after his brain surgery, missing a large part of his skull and have not even been given the protective helmet that my sister kept begging for. My sister tells me that the part of missing skull is rather large and makes her very nervous that something might crawl in there. She tells me that the absence of any bedsores on Tony`s body is because she lives by his bedside, and among many things that she does for her son she spends her days by his side guarding and feeding him.
She bathes him, changes his linen which she bought herself and feed him. My sister insists that Tony communicate with her. she even sing to him and turn on a radio that she has brought to the nursery home. She got angry with me the other day when I told her to take care of her mind, that I thought she is starting to miss some reasoning with respect to her waiting for Tony to one day wake up. I still think that might never happen.
On the other hand, I am finally apologizing to her because she has soundly and clearly vindicated herself on everything she told me about Casa Rio. Everything she told me last year about this horror chamber and stuff I wrote about is true.
It was a good day for the poor patients that still live and escaped death at Casa Rio. Again, if you live in San Antonio, you may want to add to this diary. And finally, I am hoping that justice is done for the families that lost loved ones. I am grieving for them.