6 ms·

Their precarious living situation became a catch 22: while the truck allowed them to live near the hospital, when the social worker found out Isidoro was living

by Mz 9y ago

Their precarious living situation became a catch 22: while the truck allowed them to live near the hospital, when the social worker found out Isidoro was living in a truck, the hospital kicked Isidoro off the transplant list: he needed to live indoors to recover from a potential surgery to be eligible for a transplant. Luckily, after weeks of looking, Silvia’s sister in nearby Milpitas rented her a bedroom for $700/month this fall, where they’ve been staying since. The last she heard, they had to stay inside for a year for Isidoro to get back on the list. Well, I think I officially feel ashamed to be an American now. I slept in a tent for nearly six years to work on getting healthier, but I was not seeing a doctor. I was doing my own thing. That was frustrating enough, what with not getting taken seriously by a lot of people and facing classism online, etc. But, I kind of understand why I get given so much flak: people genuinely think what I am doing simply cannot be done. They have no mental framework for effectively engaging with me. But to have a specialty hospital someplace so expensive and a requirement to live near it to get treatment and no help for complying with this expectation, then delist them for sleeping in a truck, it just seems monstrous. The hospital has to know that normal, healthy people can't afford housing here. They should also be fully well aware that people with health problems face the double whammy of high medical expenses plus reduced earnings. America needs to fix both the medical system and affordable housing. It doesn't really deserve to be seen as a civilized, first world nation as things stand currently. I don't care what our GDP is. We are failing to take care of our people and it is monstrous.

walshemj 9y ago
Ouch - that's strange its not how its done in the UK I know that the royal free (one of the main transplant centres) has had people fly down from Aberdeen for a potential match. And I was approximately 2 hours away whilst being on the transplant list
jdavis703 9y ago
I agree with your premise, and don't know what your medical details are, or much about liver operations in general. But sleeping outdoors is tough on the body during rainy season. The immune system has to work extra hard to fight off internal fungal infections, so depending on the nature of the operations I could see why this would be a medical problem. Now my question is, could the hospital have tried to work something out, say with the Ronald McDonald House? Absolutely. And further, people in SV are so short-sighted they have no problem paying their workers so little and restricting new housing that their workers can't find a place to live. I've literally had executives at my Palo Alto company bragging about their NIMBY exploits -- which is at the least insensitive considering almost non of their employees could afford to live in Palo Alto and have a decent commute.
- Mz 9y ago
  He is back in housing, but has to wait an entire year to be relisted. Why? To me, that's just bs.
  - jdavis703 9y ago
    I'm not sure if that's a rhetorical question or not, but the hospital is trying to ensure they don't waste a liver. Not enough people donate their organs, so these really are precious resources. My assumption is they have a one year waiting requirement to ensure the patient doesn't wind up homeless again. Maintaining financial stability is tough. That said you'd think they'd be able to coordinate with the local shelters and housing organizations to work this all out, but my assumption is there's not enough budget for social workers that would do this.
    - Mz 9y ago
      I have had a class on Homelessness and Public Policy. I also spent 5.7 years homeless. It ends up partly being a chicken and egg problem or "the key is in the safe." I had trouble making as much money as I needed in part because of prejudice. If I could make more money, I could take better care of myself. Someone who has health issues as the root cause of their poverty needs health solutions to be better able to maintain financial stability. This policy is along the lines of "the beatings shall continue until morale improves." It is an all too common stance in American institutions.
      - jdavis703 9y ago
        Maybe this is a special case, but many people get frustrated with the rules for organ transplants. For example some lists forbid people over 80, those with morbid obesity, or those on long term medications from receiving transplants. There's a few arguments here, does it makes more sense to have organs go to the highest bidder, have a list of restrictions with prioritized recipients, or just accept everyone in on chronological and have them hope for the best?
ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
How did sleeping in a tent help you get healthier? Did you have access to an electric grid? I love camping, and could see doing it for long periods if I had a solution for powering my laptop/cellphone and a solid connection to the internet.
- Mz 9y ago
  I went to libraries, Starbuck's and public parks to plug in. I got internet access at libraries and Starbuck's. Initially, I had internet via Verizon, so I only needed to access electricity somehow. I did freelance writing, blogging and resume work (all online) to help cover expenses. Sleeping in a tent did several things for me. It got me out of cheap rentals with wall to wall carpeting and hidden mold problems. It helped me keep my possessions to a minimum. Because I was so sick, everything I touched got infected. The more stuff I had, the harder it was to exercise good germ control. It allowed me to sleep amidst oxygen producing plants, some of which were aromatic, so they sometimes had mild medicinal effects. It helped enforce a social quarantine. Being homeless makes it hard to make social connections and people are prejudiced. This helped with germ control, among other things. It meant I could throw my home out every one to three months and get a new one that wasn't gross from being exposed to me and my germs. Initially, I tried to replace the tent and bedding and my clothes all in one fell swoop every month. Being unplugged from society made it easier to eat what worked for my health. I was exposed to a lot less social pressure to consume foods at social events to be polite to somebody. There is probably more, but I think that's probably about all the obvious, easily explained things.
stcredzero 9y ago
Well, I think I officially feel ashamed to be an American now...America needs to fix both the medical system and affordable housing. It doesn't really deserve to be seen as a civilized, first world nation as things stand currently. California in particular is worse of in many of these regards. The imbalance of political power in California, skewed to the urban population centers, to the affluent, and to the left has resulted in policies that disadvantage the less educated, lower income, and rural populace. If you go out into the countryside, you can find an anger which can only be explained by people who have been beleaguered on a fundamental level, that of culture and livelihood. On top of that, there are definite non-governmental socio-cultural systems which further work against them. (It is much easier to see these things when you are outside them or have been cast out of them. Let's just say that I've had the misfortune of a broader point of view.) What I see happening in California is a cultural and political ascendancy of the left, which has become drunk on power which it is abusing. The political right aren't saints, but no faction of human beings are saints and the corruption of power is universal. While we nerds spend our attention on esoteric fripperies like IPAs and keyboards, our society is starting to resemble France when someone said, "after me, the deluge." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-xhFLkgiE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-xhFLkgiE http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/05/california-schools-earn-c-in-national-ranking/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/05/california-schools-ear...
- Mz 9y ago
  There are things I like about California and I lived there for a total of around 12 years. I recently left and I am shocked at how much nicer people are where I currently live. I don't know what California needs to do to get its head out of its butt. These are clearly systemic problems. I am incredibly concerned about the trend of tech giants who are, for example, pro Basic Income while they live in the San Francisco Bay Area and can't treat their own employees decently and can't solve problems locally. I am baffled as to why anyone takes their social theories at all seriously. They are, to some degree, the architects of the dire situation in the SFBA, but they think they can cure the country of its social woes by throwing money at the problem. This sounds to me like virtue signalling, not like they have any clue what they are talking about. It sounds like trying to deflect the justified anger of the masses with Good Intentions while continuing to be part of the problem. On the one hand, some of them make the news for how much they want to give to charity or whatever. On the other, some of the same names make the news for how badly they treat their own employees. Sometimes people point this out, but, more often, people debate the so called merits of their proposed solutions without going "Hey, isn't this the same guy who just did [shitty thing du jour] to their own employees?" I am pretty fed up. I have started fussing at the president via tweet. I am waiting for the FBI to show up at my door. Because silencing (or turning a deaf ear to) the people being crapped on in this country instead if taking their problems seriously seems to be par for the course for the rich, including our real estate mogul president. I wish someone would make me look like a fool by proving such assertions wrong. Sadly, I think that is increasingly unlikely.

by Mz 9y ago

walshemj 9y ago

Ouch - that's strange its not how its done in the UK I know that the royal free (one of the main transplant centres) has had people fly down from Aberdeen for a potential match. And I was approximately 2 hours away whilst being on the transplant list

jdavis703 9y ago

I agree with your premise, and don't know what your medical details are, or much about liver operations in general. But sleeping outdoors is tough on the body during rainy season. The immune system has to work extra hard to fight off internal fungal infections, so depending on the nature of the operations I could see why this would be a medical problem. Now my question is, could the hospital have tried to work something out, say with the Ronald McDonald House? Absolutely. And further, people in SV are so short-sighted they have no problem paying their workers so little and restricting new housing that their workers can't find a place to live. I've literally had executives at my Palo Alto company bragging about their NIMBY exploits -- which is at the least insensitive considering almost non of their employees could afford to live in Palo Alto and have a decent commute.

Mz 9y ago
He is back in housing, but has to wait an entire year to be relisted. Why? To me, that's just bs.
- jdavis703 9y ago
  I'm not sure if that's a rhetorical question or not, but the hospital is trying to ensure they don't waste a liver. Not enough people donate their organs, so these really are precious resources. My assumption is they have a one year waiting requirement to ensure the patient doesn't wind up homeless again. Maintaining financial stability is tough. That said you'd think they'd be able to coordinate with the local shelters and housing organizations to work this all out, but my assumption is there's not enough budget for social workers that would do this.
  - Mz 9y ago
    I have had a class on Homelessness and Public Policy. I also spent 5.7 years homeless. It ends up partly being a chicken and egg problem or "the key is in the safe." I had trouble making as much money as I needed in part because of prejudice. If I could make more money, I could take better care of myself. Someone who has health issues as the root cause of their poverty needs health solutions to be better able to maintain financial stability. This policy is along the lines of "the beatings shall continue until morale improves." It is an all too common stance in American institutions.
    - jdavis703 9y ago
      Maybe this is a special case, but many people get frustrated with the rules for organ transplants. For example some lists forbid people over 80, those with morbid obesity, or those on long term medications from receiving transplants. There's a few arguments here, does it makes more sense to have organs go to the highest bidder, have a list of restrictions with prioritized recipients, or just accept everyone in on chronological and have them hope for the best?

ghostbrainalpha 9y ago

How did sleeping in a tent help you get healthier? Did you have access to an electric grid? I love camping, and could see doing it for long periods if I had a solution for powering my laptop/cellphone and a solid connection to the internet.

Mz 9y ago
I went to libraries, Starbuck's and public parks to plug in. I got internet access at libraries and Starbuck's. Initially, I had internet via Verizon, so I only needed to access electricity somehow. I did freelance writing, blogging and resume work (all online) to help cover expenses. Sleeping in a tent did several things for me. It got me out of cheap rentals with wall to wall carpeting and hidden mold problems. It helped me keep my possessions to a minimum. Because I was so sick, everything I touched got infected. The more stuff I had, the harder it was to exercise good germ control. It allowed me to sleep amidst oxygen producing plants, some of which were aromatic, so they sometimes had mild medicinal effects. It helped enforce a social quarantine. Being homeless makes it hard to make social connections and people are prejudiced. This helped with germ control, among other things. It meant I could throw my home out every one to three months and get a new one that wasn't gross from being exposed to me and my germs. Initially, I tried to replace the tent and bedding and my clothes all in one fell swoop every month. Being unplugged from society made it easier to eat what worked for my health. I was exposed to a lot less social pressure to consume foods at social events to be polite to somebody. There is probably more, but I think that's probably about all the obvious, easily explained things.

stcredzero 9y ago

Well, I think I officially feel ashamed to be an American now...America needs to fix both the medical system and affordable housing. It doesn't really deserve to be seen as a civilized, first world nation as things stand currently. California in particular is worse of in many of these regards. The imbalance of political power in California, skewed to the urban population centers, to the affluent, and to the left has resulted in policies that disadvantage the less educated, lower income, and rural populace. If you go out into the countryside, you can find an anger which can only be explained by people who have been beleaguered on a fundamental level, that of culture and livelihood. On top of that, there are definite non-governmental socio-cultural systems which further work against them. (It is much easier to see these things when you are outside them or have been cast out of them. Let's just say that I've had the misfortune of a broader point of view.) What I see happening in California is a cultural and political ascendancy of the left, which has become drunk on power which it is abusing. The political right aren't saints, but no faction of human beings are saints and the corruption of power is universal. While we nerds spend our attention on esoteric fripperies like IPAs and keyboards, our society is starting to resemble France when someone said, "after me, the deluge." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-xhFLkgiE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-xhFLkgiE http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/05/california-schools-earn-c-in-national-ranking/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/05/california-schools-ear...

Mz 9y ago
There are things I like about California and I lived there for a total of around 12 years. I recently left and I am shocked at how much nicer people are where I currently live. I don't know what California needs to do to get its head out of its butt. These are clearly systemic problems. I am incredibly concerned about the trend of tech giants who are, for example, pro Basic Income while they live in the San Francisco Bay Area and can't treat their own employees decently and can't solve problems locally. I am baffled as to why anyone takes their social theories at all seriously. They are, to some degree, the architects of the dire situation in the SFBA, but they think they can cure the country of its social woes by throwing money at the problem. This sounds to me like virtue signalling, not like they have any clue what they are talking about. It sounds like trying to deflect the justified anger of the masses with Good Intentions while continuing to be part of the problem. On the one hand, some of them make the news for how much they want to give to charity or whatever. On the other, some of the same names make the news for how badly they treat their own employees. Sometimes people point this out, but, more often, people debate the so called merits of their proposed solutions without going "Hey, isn't this the same guy who just did [shitty thing du jour] to their own employees?" I am pretty fed up. I have started fussing at the president via tweet. I am waiting for the FBI to show up at my door. Because silencing (or turning a deaf ear to) the people being crapped on in this country instead if taking their problems seriously seems to be par for the course for the rich, including our real estate mogul president. I wish someone would make me look like a fool by proving such assertions wrong. Sadly, I think that is increasingly unlikely.