Re: Blessed be the Memory of Christine Buelteman - a victim of AR
From: LNewman@milbank.com
Thu Jan 6 08:53:07 2000
I am just reading for the first time, about one of our own, Christine
Buelteman, a woman I have never spoken with, but know just the same, because
she was one of us. I wish I had had the chance to chatter with her. Again,
the medical community has let us down! No, we do not have Cancer; sorry, no
kidney or liver disease nor do we have Parkinson's; therefore, we are an
invisible congregation -- nothing more -- nothing less. NO DOG GONE IT!!!
It stops right here, right now! We can e-mail our miseries to each other,
share helpful tips and web sites, now we can do something for a fallen
comrade ALL of us e-mail our stories to either Dateline or 60 Minutes like
it was suggested by Helen. We all need to coordinate our choice to either
Bev, Helen or myself. We will add up the tally for which show we will shoot
for (or better yet, put them in competition with each other) by sending each
of them ALL of our stories (and I am sure IAS is pretty large by now) but it
MUST BE ALL OF US TO BE SUCCESSFUL!!! Don't procrastinate!! This will be
for Christine, keep that in mind as you write your story or just copy it
from the forum if you want. One of the three of us will get the e-mail
address and coordinate a date in which we all send our stories. I
wholeheartedly agree with Bev and Helen that we must make our move NOW!!!
We have waited too long to get a hand out into the public and say "look over
here, there are alot of silent sufferers that need some help now, don't
leave us behind.". You know what your primary care doctors said: "It's all
in your head, here, take this Prozac and call me in a month." Doctor to
doctor: "Yeah Charlie, I have this patient that comes in or calls at least
once a month complaining of sharp, radiant pains in her abdomen and pelvic
area. I checked her over and there is nothing wrong with her. She is just
neurotic. I tell you, you run the tests already knowing there is nothing
wrong but you have to satisfy their urge to prove to you they are sick, in
the meantime they are taking up my valuable time." Just a little sample of
doctor-speak -- not meant to attack ALL doctors but enough of them to leave
a bad taste in the mouths of adhesion sufferers the world over. We are
FINALLY getting a handful of doctors that actually believe us and are trying
their hardest to get us help. For them I thank God but still ask Him to put
us in the spotlight so all of the other adhesion sufferers know we are here
and they can join us and take their rightful place beside hundreds of
thousands of us that suffer in silence. I know, it is time I climb down
from my soapbox but I just could not stand by and not respond to Bev and
Helen's wonderful words about Christine and not be moved to join them in
their idea to really unite like we should have a while ago and demand to be
heard! Dr. Wiseman if you are reading this, please do not take my words to
mean that you are not doing enough to get us out into the public; that is
not my intention. If it were not for you, we wouldn't even have an IAS much
less be able to unite like this and share stories with each other and for
that, I will be grateful for life. It is just that meeting among ourselves
without some time of real accomplishment is fruitless and we do not have the
kind of money to make trips like this without there being an end result. I
have suggested many times over that we could actually turn this into a
membership organization and maybe even be a nonprofit organization with
special perks. I do not know how that works but it would be something to
look into. Anyway, everybody, please think over all that I have said. Pray
on it and let the Lord lead you. Step up to the plate and take your swing.
We need to band together now more than ever before.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bernie and Beverly Doucette [SMTP:bnb@cybrzn.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2000 8:09 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS
> Subject: Re: Blessed be the Memory of Christine Buelteman - a victim
> of ARD
>
> Helen.
> I am so sad. A part of me went to heaven yesterday! It hurts so bad!
> I will give your message to her family! They said she was so excited since
> joining the group. So full of hope and happiness. Excited for her
> future...talking about it all the time! This is so tragic, so useless, so
> frustrating!
>
> Chris told me several times that once she had that disability behind her,
> her next step will be to send her operative reports and information on ARD
> to all those DR's who " slapped ' her in the face for so amny years! So
> will vindicate herself at last! Well, she will be vindicated as I intend
> to finish that for her! And we both know that the end result of her
> treatment by them is a lot different then if Chris would have done
> it...the difference of life and death!
>
> Thank-you for your kind words and I would like to add her to the quilt as
> that to will keep her memory alive!
>
> And thank you for the info in GERD! Never thought so many suffered it and
> now i am glad that I was miffed and spoke out as many of us need that info
> your providing on it! Your an angel.. it is a very hard day helen!
> pray for her family! Chris is home now.
> Love Bev
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Helen Dynda <mailto:olddad66@runestone.net>
> To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS
> <mailto:adhesions@forum.obgyn.net>
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2000 1:49 AM
> Subject: Blessed be the Memory of Christine Buelteman - a victim of
> ARD
>
> Bev, I just finished reading your touching account of Christine's
> fruitless attempts to get help for herself and her family through Social
> Security Disability.
>
> I am really saddened by all of the detours that were placed in
> Christine's way as she reached out for medical care - detours which
> prevented her from getting the proper medical and surgical care at a time
> when she would've been in better physical condition for surgery.
>
> The memory of Christine will always be with us!! The sadness of
> her untimely death from adhesions could be the impetus which could spur
> others, who also suffer from adhesions, to write their stories - with the
> hope that eventually a television program, such as Dateline, would agree
> to air a special program about adhesions. Perhaps, if International
> Adhesion Society members would truely unite, Christine's death could make
> more of an impact on the medical community than we realize!!
>
> I have updated my story; and I hope that many of you, who read the
> messages at the Adhesions Forum, will feel motivated to do the same.
>
> My deepest sympathy to her family!
>
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