x-sender: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by IQ12 with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Tue, 6 Jan 2015 14:14:10 -0500 thread-index: AdAp5PMxmmMfAyZCTZOHMnBRnlnH4g== Thread-Topic: Our last resort. From: To: Subject: Our last resort. Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 14:14:10 -0500 Message-ID: <44C32FC809004D74B74DABF3163A7711@IQ12> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000 Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Importance: normal Priority: normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 06 Jan 2015 19:14:10.0499 (UTC) FILETIME=[F34DD130:01D029E4] CUSTOM Ms. Amber D Tracy Westberry 20888 Augusta Hwy Cottageville SC 29435 pebbles881@yahoo.com 8438353767 8438353767 HEAL Our last resort. Dear Nikki R. Haley, I Amber Tracy am writing you on behalf of my mother Emily Ann Westberry. My mother was diagnosed with diabetes in 2005 since then her health has been deteriorating. When she was first diagnosed with diabetes she was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic which only is prescribed oral medications. Seven years later she was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic, which means that she now had to take oral medication along with an insulin shot. Not only is my mother a type 2 diabetic she has cholesterol, thyroid, neuropathy (caused by diabetes), high blood pressure, anemia, bulging disc(lower back) and anxiety/depression. My step father became disabled in 2009 due to a car accident that crushed three discs in his neck. This left our family of four to survive off of a fixed monthly income of $1,453. With that being said it is hard to make ends meet on a monthly basis. My mother has tried several times for disability and for Medicaid, with no successful attempts. We have even tried looking for different types of insurances, but there is no way possible for us to pay out of pocket. There have been many times that she has had to do without medicine because she was not able to pay for it, which is what lead to her hospital trip on September 20, 2014. What we thought would be just a quick hospital trip turned into a three week stay, a week of which she was in the Intensive Care Unit. When she was admitted she was diagnosed with DKA (diabetes ketoacidosis) which was caused from her not being able to afford her medications that she needed. She was also diagnosed with MRSA, infection in the bone and Sepsis. After spending three long weeks in the hospital she was allowed to come home with a Picc line in her right arm, where IV antibiotics were administered to her every 24 hours for the next 8 weeks. Luckily, the antibiotics were donated because there would have been no way possible that we would have been able to pay for this out of pocket. Doctor bills have been piling up and it does not stop there because she still has her health now to worry about. She has to make at least one monthly appointment to see here family doctor which she has to pay out of pocket for. Then she has to try and get what medications she can afford every month. There are some months that she has to do without one medication and then she will switch with a different one the next month. Although it is very vital that she takes all of her medication prescribed, we cannot afford to buy them all. Also, she has a bulging disc that she just has to live with and take pain killers to dull the pain because she cannot afford to even see about having something done for it. The "just" of this letter is that we are seeking help. She needs some kind of help so that she can visit the doctor when needed and to get all the medications that she needs. She is my mother and I hate to see in her in agonizing pain, discomfort, and feeling sick because she is not able to get her medication or even get the treatment that she needs. Also, we do not want this to lead to another stay in the hospital or even worse it could be the cause of her death. We have tried everything that we know possible and we feel like this is our last resort. Thank you so much for your time.