He may be gone, but he lives on in my heart....
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I will always love you.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Today is Bob's Birthday
He would've turned 59 years old, today.
He may be gone, but he lives on in my heart....
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I will always love you.
He may be gone, but he lives on in my heart....
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I will always love you.
Friday, January 5, 2018
New Years Resolutions
I usually don't make New Years Resolutions, because I normally don't keep them as I set my standards too high --- (you know, lose weight, stop smoking -- blah)
But this year, I have two:
1. Write at least one hour (or more) a day -- five days a week.
2. Swim everyday, when schedule permits -- unless it's raining.
I have started (and then trashed the whole thing) and restarted writing a memoir. I know many readers here have suggested I turn this blog into a book, but this memoir will be a bit different than this blog.
Though some parts of the blog will be included and I want to include Bob's drawings in the book.
But basically, the focus of this memoir will be the medical mistakes that ultimately ended Bob's life. And the lawsuit. Stuff I couldn't really blog about (the inside scoop, as it were) while the lawsuit was in process -- (and, yes, I signed a "confidentiality" agreement, but the "confidentiality" applies only to the settlement amount, I made sure of this with my lawyer -- though, I am thinking, names will have to be changed to "protect the guilty").
It has come to my attention, through my research in preparing to write this memoir, that "medical errors" are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States. Right after heart disease and cancer. A statistic that I didn't believe at first, didn't seem possible, but found (after much research) to be true. Various studies show that between 210,000 up to 444,000 patients die each year from preventable medical errors in the USA and these numbers could easily be higher due to undocumented cases and cover-ups. The AMA, of course, doesn't include "medical errors" in its list of leading causes of death -- wonder why? hmmmm
I believe the world needs to know not only these facts, but also the poor quality of our health care system and how difficult it is to even find an attorney because of legislation that has passed in many states capping monetary settlements, and how vehemently victims are persecuted and re-victimized (by insurance companies & defense lawyers) when they do find an attorney and pursue a lawsuit, and lastly, how incompetent and/or negligent health providers are never held accountable for their acts even after a lawsuit is settled and/or won by the injured party. In fact, most health care providers continue to practice, they do not lose their license to practice medicine, and perhaps their next "medical error" will happen to you or someone you love.
It will be a time-consuming project, and for sure a difficult and emotional project for me, but I feel the time is right for me to begin. And surely, will take more than one year.
But as this will a memoir, a personal story about Bob and what happened to him (and me), my hope is that it will be the type of book to inspire people not only to pursue their own lawsuits, but to perhaps change "torte reform" laws that damage the victims of medical errors and their families, to take away the stigma of those who file malpractice lawsuits, debunk the myth that there are "frivolous malpractice lawsuits" and to justly punish the proven incompetent practitioners in our midst.
It also seems such a paradox that doctors and nurses and other medical practitioners are not held accountable for making mistakes that result in severe injury or death because, as they say, "doctors/nurses are human and humans make mistakes" whereas -- we, who are not protected by the law, if we make a mistake, for example: have a traffic accident while distracted which injures or kills someone, we face charges of "negligent homicide" or "manslaughter", or if someone slips on our steps and is injured or drowns in our pool -- we can be jailed or put in prison for this and sued with no "caps" on monetary settlements. Why are doctors/hospitals/hospital employees exempt from "mistakes" while others are not? I tell you -- because it's all about politics and lobbyists and insurance companies and money.... don't me going... but it is not fair or right.
And also, this book will be a tribute to Bob. That he won't be forgotten.... and his legacy will live on.
I know, I'm setting my goal rather lofty. But I think I'm up to it.
Happy New Year.
Time to jump into the pool.
But this year, I have two:
1. Write at least one hour (or more) a day -- five days a week.
2. Swim everyday, when schedule permits -- unless it's raining.
I have started (and then trashed the whole thing) and restarted writing a memoir. I know many readers here have suggested I turn this blog into a book, but this memoir will be a bit different than this blog.
Though some parts of the blog will be included and I want to include Bob's drawings in the book.
But basically, the focus of this memoir will be the medical mistakes that ultimately ended Bob's life. And the lawsuit. Stuff I couldn't really blog about (the inside scoop, as it were) while the lawsuit was in process -- (and, yes, I signed a "confidentiality" agreement, but the "confidentiality" applies only to the settlement amount, I made sure of this with my lawyer -- though, I am thinking, names will have to be changed to "protect the guilty").
It has come to my attention, through my research in preparing to write this memoir, that "medical errors" are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States. Right after heart disease and cancer. A statistic that I didn't believe at first, didn't seem possible, but found (after much research) to be true. Various studies show that between 210,000 up to 444,000 patients die each year from preventable medical errors in the USA and these numbers could easily be higher due to undocumented cases and cover-ups. The AMA, of course, doesn't include "medical errors" in its list of leading causes of death -- wonder why? hmmmm
I believe the world needs to know not only these facts, but also the poor quality of our health care system and how difficult it is to even find an attorney because of legislation that has passed in many states capping monetary settlements, and how vehemently victims are persecuted and re-victimized (by insurance companies & defense lawyers) when they do find an attorney and pursue a lawsuit, and lastly, how incompetent and/or negligent health providers are never held accountable for their acts even after a lawsuit is settled and/or won by the injured party. In fact, most health care providers continue to practice, they do not lose their license to practice medicine, and perhaps their next "medical error" will happen to you or someone you love.
It will be a time-consuming project, and for sure a difficult and emotional project for me, but I feel the time is right for me to begin. And surely, will take more than one year.
But as this will a memoir, a personal story about Bob and what happened to him (and me), my hope is that it will be the type of book to inspire people not only to pursue their own lawsuits, but to perhaps change "torte reform" laws that damage the victims of medical errors and their families, to take away the stigma of those who file malpractice lawsuits, debunk the myth that there are "frivolous malpractice lawsuits" and to justly punish the proven incompetent practitioners in our midst.
It also seems such a paradox that doctors and nurses and other medical practitioners are not held accountable for making mistakes that result in severe injury or death because, as they say, "doctors/nurses are human and humans make mistakes" whereas -- we, who are not protected by the law, if we make a mistake, for example: have a traffic accident while distracted which injures or kills someone, we face charges of "negligent homicide" or "manslaughter", or if someone slips on our steps and is injured or drowns in our pool -- we can be jailed or put in prison for this and sued with no "caps" on monetary settlements. Why are doctors/hospitals/hospital employees exempt from "mistakes" while others are not? I tell you -- because it's all about politics and lobbyists and insurance companies and money.... don't me going... but it is not fair or right.
And also, this book will be a tribute to Bob. That he won't be forgotten.... and his legacy will live on.
I know, I'm setting my goal rather lofty. But I think I'm up to it.
Happy New Year.
Time to jump into the pool.
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