Fw: Crippled by Breast Reconstruction

[Guest guest]

From: " Pam Young (by way of ilena rose) " <pamyoung73@...>

Sent: Monday, April 16, 2001 12:19 PM

Subject: Crippled by Breast Reconstruction

> > Dear Ilena and Eileen:

> I am forwarding a copy of an email I sent to President W. Bush

> at the White House. I invite other women who have been hurt by breast

> reconstruction to join me in contacting the President about our concerns.

> If we don't speak out, more women will be hurt and guideline

> suggestions for PL 105-277, The Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act of

1998,

> won't be written by women who know the truth about breast reconstruction.

> Thank you, Pam

>

>

> >From: " Pam Young " <pamyoung73@...>

> >president@...

> >CC: vice.president@..., first.lady@...,

> >mrs.cheney@..., pamyoung73@...

> >Subject: Crippled by Breast Reconstruction

> >Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 18:36:03 -0000

> >

> >Dear President W. Bush:

> >

> >There is a law that President Clinton signed into office: PL 105-277, The

> >Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act of 1998. This law forces insurance

> >companies to pay for disabling breast reconstruction surgeries. I have

been

> >disabled due to one of these surgeries. I have written to many members of

> >congress, including Oxley & Mike Dewine (OH Rep.), but they won't

> >answer.

> >

> >There needs to be strict guidelines to PL 105-277 to prevent other women

> >from being crippled. Hearings before congress should be held so that

women

> >can tell their stories, instead of the BIG INTERESTS GROUPS making the

laws

> >and the plastic surgeons deciding the guidelines.

> >

> >Women in the United States who have been crippled and mutilated by these

> >breast reconstructive surgeries, such as Saline Implants and TRAM FLAPS,

> >deserve the right to speak before congress about the deceptive medical

> >practices that are becoming a Human Rights Issue.

> >

> >Thank you, Pam Young

> >

> >P.S. I have enclosed my story. I hope the White House will respond.

> >

> >>From: " Pam Young " <pamyoung73@...>

> >>SOSalines@...

> >>CC: pamyoung73@...

> >>Subject: A Tram Flap Story

> >>Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 19:02:04 -0000

> >>

>

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> Wed, 28 Mar 2001 19:02:04 GMT

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> From: " Pam Young " <pamyoung73@...>

> SOSalines@...

> Cc: pamyoung73@...

> Subject: A Tram Flap Story

> Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 19:02:04 -0000

> Mime-Version: 1.0

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> X-Stn-Info:

>

> Dear Readers: I am disabled because of a Tram Flap breast reconstructive

> surgery I had at Moffitt Cancer Hospital in Tampa, Florida in 1997 at age

> 42. In this type of surgery, plastic surgeons cut open the abdomen from

hip

> to hip and sever the abdominal rectus muscle, just above the pelvic bone,

> tunnel it up under the abdomen and attach it to the chest (where the

> cancerous breast has been removed). I can no longer sit up without help,

> and must roll to get off a bed. I cannot stand for an length of time or

> carry groceries. I can no longer participate in sexual relations or wear

> jeans. My abdomen is distorted with my intestines pushing forward on my

> left side and my quarter-sized belly button off to the right. After I was

> diagnosed with breast cancer, I was encouraged by the leader of a local

> breast cancer support group to go to Moffitt. At Moffitt, Dr.

pressured

> me during a 2 hr. session to agree to see a plastic surgeon. Dr. ig!

> nored my objections and made an appointment with Dr. Kearney at Moffitt.

> Dr. Kearney pinched my nipple, photographed my breasts, and told me no

> details of reconstruction. Dr. Kearney scheduled me for surgery without my

> knowledge or consent. I went back to Moffitt for a second opinion from Dr.

> Wells. She said she had no photos of a completed Tram Flap. Dr. Wells

> neglected to inquire about my chronic bowel and back problems, which

should

> have disqualified me from the Tram. Dr. Wells neglected to enlighten me

> about complications such as hernias. Dr. Wells only gave me the name of a

> satisfied patient whose medical condition was different from mine. Dr.

> Wells did not give me a consent form until minutes before the operation.

> That generic form listed none of the complications specific to the Tram.

> Dr. Wells severed the wrong muscle, taking it from the same side as the

> reconstructed breast, rather than the opposite side. When I woke from

> surgery, I felt as if I had been hit by a! truck and shot in the gut with

> a shotgun. Dr. Wells prescribed a narcotic for the pain (keeping me in a

> euphoria for months). The narcotic caused constipation, but Dr.Wells

> neglected to prescribe a laxative (later causing me to herniate). Three

> months later, I had a bulging in my abdomen, but Dr. Wells refused to tell

> me it was a hernia. I had a nervous breakdown and had to take medication

> and go to a psychotherapist. Another doctor told me I had a hernia, and I

> returned to Dr. Wells who cut me open again and inserted mesh in my

> abdomen. The repair operation caused nerve damage in my pelvic and I had

to

> go for nerve blocks. When I complained to doctors in my Humana HMO group,

> they maintained a " Good Old Boy " attitude and treated me as if I was

> imagining the problems. I had 2 yrs. of continuous bleeding from the

> uterus, but no Florida doctor would help me. My only child moved away to

> live with relatives. I totalled my car in an accident. I was ! dismissed

> from my teaching job in Hillsborough Co. My husband told me to leave the

> house. I returned to my hometown in Ohio to live in a homeless shelter

> until I could receive disability. My credit was damaged and had to have

> someone sign for me to get a place to live. The only doctor with an

> objective viewpoint who would help me was a doctor of Natural Medicine.

> Lawyers say I cannot file a Malpratice suit after a year or two and that

> suing Moffitt is like suing God. I wish I would have never had

> reconstructive surgery. The Tram is reported to have originated in Nazi

> Germany for the construction of the abdomen. In a book, The Nazi Doctors,

> the author describes a surgery at Auschwitz which also horizontally severs

> the abdomen: " This was the operation performed by Dering, and the method

> often used--a horizontal incision above the pubic area.... " I didn't even

> receive the rights, listed in the Nuremberg Code o! f 1947, of free choice

> without deceit, duress, and knowlege to make an enlightened decision. I

> urge women to write law-makers and demand strict legal guidelines for the

> Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act of 1998. Thank you, Pam (USA).

>

>