Aloha Friends,
 I am in a dire situation, please read what I have just sent to as many newscasters and journalists that I can.
 
   I was in a swimming pool for a swim test for my employment and experienced an airway closure due to the pool being poorly cared for.  After 3 minutes without an airway my heart began to fail.  I was resuscitated after the use of an AED and CPR.  The individuals who saved my life were quite certain that the pool was the cause of the my airway closure.  Doctors at Queens Medical Center refused to listen and began to test my heart and never addressed my airway.  Nothing was found wrong with my heart but due to the AED being used out of hospital I was forced to put an AICD in my chest.  After the device was implanted the doctor who put it in refused to take workman's comp and I was left with no medical care for the situation.  I was told by the workman's comp insurance, 1st Insurance of Hawaii, that all would be taken care of and that all I had to do was provide them with and information pertaining to the case.  I was sent to an IME and the device was deemed unnecessary.  After that I was told that I would not have to go through a hearing or retain counsel.  Four months later I received a letter informing me that I would have to stand before the Labor Board and that I was going to be found non-compensible and that the hearing was in 10 days.  I called 1st Insurance of Hawaii and was told this was a formality.  Two days before the hearing I was told to retain a lawyer.  I have documented every email and every phone call. I was not able to hire a lawyer in time, but was more than prepared to represent myself, I had been building a case and documenting since day one.  1st Insurance of Hawaii would not allow me to represent myself, and asked for an extension so that I could hire a lawyer.  I did this, and presented all the information that I had been prepared to give at the hearing.  My lawyer used all the information that I gave him and we won the case 2 years ago. 1st Insurance of Hawaii went for an appeal and then withdrew it.  At this point in time I still had no doctor to care for the device or to find out what condition I had.  The defibrillator malfunctioned and began to shock me with 41J of energy.  I went to the ER at Pali Momi and the device was found to be broken and was shut off.  The doctor who implanted the device was contacted and he would not allow for me to be treated and I was discharged, and told I had to see him.  He refused to treat me as I wished "remove the device with no repeat implantation" he would not touch me. 1st Insurance of Hawaii claimed I was not taking care of myself and made claims that the decision should be overturned because of this.  Through out all of this, from day one I have been in an great amount of pain, but have dealt with it through exercise and healthy living, no drugs, no health plan.  I am a very active, athletic individual and this was unacceptable to me.  I went to occupational health service at Kaiser Permanente with the court decision and forced my way into a cardiologist.  I went through physiological evaluations, underwent a painful EP study without sedation, and finally got the clear to have the device removed.  The device was successfully removed on Monday, which was an extremely risky procedure.  I received word from my lawyer today not congratulating me on surviving all of this but to inform me that Kaiser did not go through the proper channels and 1st Insurance of Hawaii will not pay.  I double and triple checked at each appointment that all this was going through the proper channels.  I am so lost! I need a voice! I almost died twice, the test the doctors ran on me were to induce death, and I survived a nightmare situation.  I have no where else to turn.  I am a wife and mother of two children, as well as a graduate student in microbiology and a working marine biologist.  I am doing my best to juggle all of this, but my voice has been stolen from me.  If I could just get this story to the right person(s) I know that the right thing will be done.  I am not asking for any kind of award, just justice.  Through all of this I have been told by my attorney that this is the American way, but honestly I do not even feel as if I am being treated like an American citizen. What I have presented to you is just the tip of the iceberg and no where close to all that has happened.
 Share to all that will listen!

 

 

 

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