Leola (Lee) Kinchen, the woman in the photograph, needs your help. She suffers from Neurofibromatosis-1 (Elephant Man’s Disease). She has a brain tumor (a result of her condition) and is in desperate need of about $200,000 which is needed to cover the cost of her hospitalization and surgery. For reasons passing all understanding she has been denied Social Security Disability (SSI/SDI), Medicare and Medicaid by the Louisiana officials responsible for making such determinations.
At present Lee is still working at her job at a discount retail store, even though she has collapsed on her feet. It is only through the herculean good samaritan efforts of her store manager, Susan, that Lee still has a job, and is being fed, clothed and housed. Many thanks should go to this kind and generous woman who has taken on her shoulders the burden of finding Lee doctors and nurses willing to perform her surgeries free of charge. Sadly, private hospital charges cannot be waived, nor is the sole remaining state (read charity) hospital able to accomodate Lee at this time, which is why she needs our help.
Please go to this webpage, For Lee: Blogging for Lee for more details about her situation. Many kudos to Anntichrist S. Coulter, a blogger living in Louisiana for helping to bringing Lee’s plight to our collective attention.
The upshot? You and I can help by making a contribution to a fund created in Lee’s name:
Snail mail address:
Fund For Leola Kinchen
Bank Of St. Francisville
P.O. Drawer 818
St. Francisville, LA 70775
PayPal Link:
If you’d link to make an online contribution to the Fund for Leola Kinchen using PayPal here is the LINK you need. The white “PayPal Donate” button should be easy enough to find there.
I was just saying the other day in the Cafe… It is nice to be able to Blog about whatever we want now without it having to be so “election specific” in our purpose.
Though the fact that she needs help to pay for this exposes a serious flaw in healthcare here.
This is absurd in my view. We have the world’s best health care if you are independently wealthy. Otherwise we have the worst.
Some states are just awful on helping people. It would help if she could move to a better one and is a lot cheaper and easier than raising $200k. Idaho is another state that is draconian on helping people. I hope what little I could afford to give helps.
She has kids and is simply too poor to take your advice I am afraid.
The fact that she fell out in the store from this tumor trying to keep it together…I will chant for her.
I have another cousin who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor and is permanently disabled and must take meds. She was one of the Katrina survivors along with my aunt and her brother, my cousin. Luckily, she is now living in Houston with her husband (I think he’s a vet, too) who has a job at the VA there and is taking care of her. They are getting better care.
She can only wear slippers, scuffs or shoes with no backs, because her feet unaccountably swell.
Has she appealed EVERY denial?
Probably has.
And where are these clinical trials you link to? She may not be able to go out of state and as you know, there are only two or three New Orleans hospitals open.
This is a long reply:
I am not familiar w/the NIH site and I have a busy day so I just posted the link, as opposed to digging into it. But, now its time for some reality–in some instances (and I believe this is one), leaving the state is necessary. (Members of my family were in clinical trials. My late sister had to leave the state to do so–in her instance, they were successful, as she outlived her life expectancy by several years.)
Harsh reality: What’s keeping her in LA when there are clinical trials in other states that may work? A retail job? Available everywhere. Friends to “provide emotional support”? Good people everywhere. Her kids? I’m sure if you asked her and her kids, they would rather move if there was a possibility of Mom staying alive, as opposed to the certainty of death. (Due to circumstances in my life, I have had to take off w/nothing and start over, more than once. Others have had to do the same. It is tough, but doable, and quite frankly, getting all worked up over moving is the last thing for her to do now. She needs to believe that there is a future.)
Postive view: The word “may” was used deliberately as there are no guarantees in medicine, BUT, more has been discovered re: neurosurgery/the brain in the last 10-15 years then in the past 50. Investigating the possibilities of what is being done elsewhere is worth a shot. (Contrary to some myths, getting into a clinical trial is not that difficult.)
Another thing: If she was denied and appealed everything in LA, it would be in her best interests to move and start everything over in another state. (Would take forever to explain the logic of the bureaucracy/reasoning behind that, but it does make perfect sense once you understand it.)
Also, there is the cost to consider. It would be cheaper for her to move to where she could get the medical care that she needs. Hell, she is entitled to the best (I believe quality health care is a right.), as opposed to waiting for a maybe that may never happen.
I’ll go one better–if there is a clinical trial in MI (w/in a reasonable distance from me, not at clear across the State), I know where she can get a place to live (If she has a Section 8 voucher, that’s one phone call.), transportation is a no-brainer, and I don’t have a problem walking her thru social services.
Annti will be here soon, she is very touched that this has been posted here as well. She worked her ass off after the hurricanes last year. For more about her check out not only her blog but also blondesense.
Nobody should ever have to go through something like this without help. I’m familiar with the SSI/SDI list of disabilities. I am told that my son is “on the list”. They made a big deal out of it so I figured that the list was being used more to exclude people than to make sure that those in need received services. My son doesn’t collect SDI though because our income excludes him while he lives with us.
Steven, Thanks for posting. I’ll send what I can.
I see posts like this and I try to rationalize not doing something by telling myself that I am just enabling a broken system. The system is broken. The system doesn’t give a crap about Lee Kinchen. However, my withholding help is going to neither fix the system nor help Lee.
Thanks for posting this, Steven.
Thanks for posting this.
Some special reason Landrieau & Co. can’t do something about this?
here
Don’t anyone DARE to call me out as my needs are not being met either, yet I still do what I can for others.
If a job needs doing and you can’t do it all by yourself, Annti, who is not well herself, is the go to woman. The people on this blog and other like-minded sites, try to listen to and heed our better angels. She’ll kill me but that’s Annti whispering (um, maybe not whispering) in my ear.
I was so overjoyed and so grateful and so amazed when Blackdog brought your post to my attention, bright and early Tuesday, Steven. Thank you so much and to all of your readers/commenters for all of your help — the response has been amazing, and we are forever grateful.
There are a couple of misunderstandings floating around the internets at the moment about our mission here, and I’m hoping that the Booman Community will help me dispel them, as y’all travel the blogosphere.
1. Lee is not, nor has she ever been, a resident of New Orleans. She did not move to St. Francisville as an evacuee of Katrina. She had been screwed-over by the state agencies that determine SSI/SSDI/Medicare/Medicaid eligibility long before that hurricane ever hit. She has appealed, she has bent over backwards, but no matter what, she knew that she could still work her skinny little ass off.
Unfortunately, that is no longer completely true.
So, in closing, thank you all so much for your help, your links, and your care & concern. Even though I’d never been here before, I feel like y’all have enveloped Lee, Susan and me into your family just like we’d been here all along.
And special love to Blackdog, for bringing me to y’all, and Stinkeye knows the punishment that awaits her royal highness as soon as I find my riding crop…
Much gratitude, love, and peace to you all.
And please, PLEASE, do not stop spreading the good word for Lee.
My thanks to you for making a difference in her life. Booman Tribune is just a small conduit for your message. Please keep us updated would you?
I’m on SSD/I ($620.00 a month) and that Medicare D bullshit due to a traumatic brain injury Yet I still do what I can for others because I’VE BEEN THERE, INCLUDING REHAB, KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE, FEEL FOR PEOPLE AND KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHERS IN WORSE SITUATIONS. And despite my traumatic brain injury, I can STILL write, but it has to be on a computer–I no longer write legibly by hand due to the tbi. Here’s proof–just about everything I have written re: Medicare D is here. I’m talking a lengthy, in-depth, detailed series, not just a couple “nyah-nyah” posts.
And that is just a small portion of what I have done, which is repeatedly dismissed. (No matter what I do, it is never enough for people. And of course I can’t find a publisher.)
Here’s something else: I’ve done case management, but was not able to do the job, due to my traumatic brain injury, BUT THAT NOT MEAN THAT I AM STUPID AND DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO TALK DOWN TO ME AND AUTOMATICALLY DISMISS ALL OF MY SUGGESTIONS, BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU KNOW BEST WHEN YOU COULD BE WRONG. Yes, so could I, but I’ve given sound advice to quite a few people–some on this blog. That shows I have a track record. And NO ONE has ever had the decency to recognize the problems that a person w/a disability faces struggling on living below the poverty level, other than posting “I support you.” BFD!
Only two people have thanked me in emails. Why do I post here? Nothing else to do, so I surf the net for most of the day. And, I like to write. Did a few quick cut and pastes recently. As to more in depth re: Medicare D–there is nothing wrong with wanting to be recognized AND compensated for my writing. I’m striking out freelancing, but, after the way I have been treated, tell me why the hell should I bother posting it?
You don’t know the circumstances re: my family members getting into clinical trials–three of four were after my tbi. There was one unfortunate outcome that I still tear up thinking about–just did actually. And you have absolutely NO RIGHT to dis my late sister, or any member of my family, when you have NO idea of what each went thru.
Yeah, there is a lot of detail work involved, but it CAN be done. Setting up the other necessary details for a move? Another pain, but doable, even on a VERY tight budget. (I know, I’ve had to make a couple quick moves and start all over with NOTHING, also after my tbi!)
From an ex-case manager’s view, something about this situtation is definitely NOT right. Here’s something else–I have a good idea of what it is, from what little you posted. And I haven’t even seen any of the paperwork.
So, if someone else digs for clinical trials and finds one in MI (w/in a reasonable distance from me not clear across the state–Some people here have my email and know where I live.), my previous offer still stands. Transportation to another state? I find it difficult to believe that no one in the blogosphere has frequent flier miles available that would cover a flight–for both Lee and Susan. I’m fucking sick of doing everything and thinking of everything practical–it’s someone else’s turn. I’ve got to take care of me, as no one else will.
If you expect an apology because posting a link is not up to your high and mighty standards, what the hell else do you expect from me? My Food Stamps via Pay-Pal? Don’t hold your breath.
Thank all of you for your humanity. I guess I don’t know what else to say but thank you here at Booman. Annti is my friend, she worked her butt off during the aftermath of the hurricanes last year, delivering food, supplies and taking abandoned pets to hastily set up humane centers. After the government of the usa fell flat on it’s ass, it was people like her that picked up the ball. We could all learn a lesson from acts of compassion like this.
It’s all in the archives over at blondesense.
Again, thank all of you wonderful people here at Booman Tribune. My hat is off and I tip a cold one to you.