Lost another patient last night.

[Aristus]

Cardiogenic shock. I just got the notice from the hospital. He was admitted ten days ago, and then put on comfort measures. He was only fifty.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that life on the streets is some kind of picnic; that homeless people "choose" to be homeless, and that they're living it easy, no job, no rent, no responsibilities. It's heartless blame-the-victim bullshit.

[blm]

1. 😢🕯

[cilla4progress]

2. Sorry, Aristus!

What can you share with us about this person?

[Aristus]

6. Well, he'd been out of his cardiac medications for a month because he couldn't pay the co-pays.

That's a crime. Billionaires get tax cuts from the government, and sick and dying people can't get the medication they need.

Canada is looking better and better all the time...

[cilla4progress]

8. Jeezus krist...

This country is so fucked up.

Unfortunately, Canada won't take us unless there is something in it for them - needed professional, for example.

Otherwise, you can live there 6 mos. a year minus a day, if you own a place there.

Last I researched it.

And NZ way too open-eyed about what they got, to take ex-pats.

But Mexico, Portugal and others - maybe?

[LoisB]

14. This is so wrong. Lack of money should not equal death penalty. I am sorry for both your

patient and you. I hope I live long enough to see universal healthcare in this country.

[Evolve Dammit]

28. "Health Care" in US is a misnomer. It's all about profits. Sorry to hear the loss and reason.

[Duncanpup]

33. That is criminal

Greed murders

[Marthe48]

3. sorry for this sad news

It sounds like you give people compassion and a break from their reality.

[2naSalit]

4. ...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. For those who, like me, had never heard of cardiogenic shock:

Cardiogenic shock, also known as cardiac shock, happens when your heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to the brain and other vital organs. This is a life-threatening emergency. It is treatable if diagnosed right away, so it's important to know the warning signs.

[Aristus]

7. He had a history of congestive heart failure, and was taking beta-blockers as a result.

See above. He wasn't able to make his co-pay for his medication, so was going without. Deny some trout-mouth 'Real Housewife' of her little pick-me-ups, and there's a national scandal. A human being in need can't get life-saving medication, and it gets ignored by everyone who can do something about it.

[bahboo]

9. this is a national disgrace....

[whathehell]

25. I'm curious about one of your references..

but before mentioning it, let me state that I share your grief and disgust over our lousy health care system.

Having said that, I.must ask what "trout mouth Real Housewife" has caused a national scandal by being denied her "little pick me up"?

Is this an actual person, or are you just lashing out?

[Aristus]

26. Just lashing out.

There's no specific incident appended to it. Although it does remind me why I dislike mainstream medicine and mainstream patients so much. About six years ago or so, when I was working at our mainstream clinic, I had a patient come in demanding a refill of a highly-addictive medication that had been prescribed by another provider, and should have been managed by that provider only. To make matters worse, the patient was someone I had known in high school, and was not a terribly pleasant person. I told her I didn't feel comfortable prescribing this medication, as it is addictive, and intended for short-term use only. She pitched the biggest fit you can imagine and flounced out.

I love my homeless patients for a number of reasons, but certainly because they have a sense of perspective, which not all mainstream patients have. A patient with nearly every advantage and privilege imaginable, and certainly at least a roof over her head and plenty to eat raging out on me when I have homeless patients who are dying because they're being denied medication because they can't afford the co-pay; well, that seems mighty like injustice to me. And injustice is the one thing I hate most of all in this world.

[70sEraVet]

10. Not just the homeless.

This country is full of people trying to skimp on vital medications because they can't afford them.
Sorry, Aristus. It must be devastating to loose a patient, especially to a preventable disease.

[TygrBright]

11. Holding you in my heart, Aristus. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being there for him. n/t

[Upthevibe]

12. Aristus.....

I'm so sorry. My heart is with you.

[hay rick]

13. My area in Florida is a Mecca for the homeless.

The homeless try to stay in the shadows but are highly visible (to me, anyway). Our schools serve 20,000 students and about 500 of those students do not have a home address. Between inflation, an over-priced housing market, the lack of publicly supported low-income housing, and DeSantis and his obsequious one-party government that views empathy as weakness- it's only going to get worse.

Thank you for the care and service that you provide.

[maxsolomon]

15. No one around here tells me that, and we're swimming in the homeless.

I gave a woman a buck at an I-5 on-ramp light yesterday. She looked pretty rough - Latino, maybe 40. None of the cars in front of me gave her anything, but that's typical. Maybe 1/100 do. "Begging on the Freeway's 'bout as hard as it gets" - T. Waits

What I hear more frequently are objections to the squalor of their camps and RVs, and that they're drug addict/criminals. Certainly some are (a lot, from what I observe directly on the streets of downtown Seattle), but they're more likely to be victims of that element. Many are driven to the street by poor choices, poor planning, and rising rents.

Serious mental illness (Schizophrenia) is a major contributing factor as well. I see 1-2 raving lunatics every day.

The homeless die on the streets every day; from violence, from exposure, from ODs, from medical conditions. Seattle has a memorial to them in the Pike Place Market park: ?ssl=1

https://homelessremembrance.org/tree-of-life-2/

[liberalla]

21. What a beautiful memorial! Thank you for posting the photo and link. It's mesmerizing...

(especially the night time pictures)... If I'm ever in Seattle again, I will make a point of visiting there.

Also impressed that they built a memorial to homeless people.

[Akoto]

16. So sorry, Aristus. You've committed to a very noble, painful path. n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

18. So very sorry.

[Wounded Bear]

19. I know that has to suck...

[SWBTATTReg]

20. This is a tragedy for the Ages. In a time of so much owned by so few, no wonder we have problems.

The gift of charity, giving, etc. can only go so far when the vast majority of us are struggling to make ends meet, and then we have the top 1% in this Country who own roughly 60% of everything. So much for the land of opportunity, the land of the free. It's only free if you have enough money.

[niyad]

22. Just sending vibes for peace and healing, my friend. Yours is a hard mission

indeed.

[Aristus]

23. Thank you, niyad.

[Ziggysmom]

24. The news headlines recently about the three biggest credit reporting bureaus

TransUnion, Equifax and Experian removing cleared medical debts from consumers credit reports beginning July 1 made me sick. It was announced like it was the cure of our health care cost problems. People should not go into debt or bankruptcy because of bills accrued trying to get medical treatment. And worse yet, as your post so sadly notes, people should not DIE because they cannot afford treatment! I left my career as a RN back in the late 80s after an accident injured my spine. I think it would kill me now to see people like your poor patient, who die needlessly.

Thank you for caring and sharing your story here.

[malthaussen]

27. That sucks.

[denbot]

29. Sorry man.Thank you for doing what you do.

[onecaliberal]

30. :

[MLAA]

31. Sending you ❤️

You do good work. I’ll keep voting, contributing and hoping that one day everyone single person will have free physical and mental healthcare, homes and free education.

[majdrfrtim]

32. My sincerest condolences, Aristus.

Thank you for who you are and for all that you do.