Posted on 02/28/2007 6:59:16 AM PST by montag813
...cannot for one second understand how this woman could let her child go through the pain (and death) because of the lack of $80.
Nor can I, however, I don't know her or the facts of her life - I don't don't have enough information to judge her.
1. the child had pain
2. The parent knew.
3. The parent didn't seek help because of the cost.
If you need more facts than those, you must be disingenuous.
"If his mother had gotten a job..."
How do you know his mother didn't have a job? Not every job provides you with dental insurance. Trust me, I know from experience.
"Why not just say a prayer of thanks that we don't live like that, and a prayer for peace for the boy's mother and his family?
Don't rip some lady apart after her kid just died.
If a kid needs help, a kid needs help. Regardless of status."
AMEN!!!! This lady just lost her son, and all everybody around here can seem to do is rip her to shreds. I'm glad somebody around here has some compassion. May God bless this woman and her family.
The hospital refused a prescription for antibiotics and pain meds? Did you even go to the hospital?
But at 10pm when my kids are in the bed, she is getting drunk and high with Tyrone while her kids are outside roaming the streets.
"And you know this how? What are you basing this on? Nothing like that was in this article, we don't know what her other habits were. We DO know this, her care of her children was substandard, to say the least. But the rest of your diatribe (getting drunk and high with Tyrone) is uncalled for."
Paradox,
He doesn't know. People like Hottieboy make comments like that to get a laugh at someone else's expense and it's pathetic. This boy's death is a serious matter and it's nothing to be joking about.
No, I made the whole thing up. I was bored.
I agree that not every job provides dental insurance. My own current employment doesn't provide it. I pay for necessary dental bills for myself and my family from income earned at my job. If she had a job, one would think that having a tooth pulled or filled would be near the top of priorities for that income. I have had the pain of a toothache like this boy had, and my mother had a hard time paying for dental work... she got the least help she could to deal with emergencies. When I first started working, dental work was among the things I got done first with my income. This woman could have done the same.
That said, I sympathize with her for her loss, because the loss is as painful to her whether it could have been avoided or not (and perhaps her loss is even more painful knowing that had she properly directed some of her income this tragedy could have been avoided.)
See? We really love you for your congeniality. Hahaha!
"That said, I sympathize with her for her loss, because the loss is as painful to her whether it could have been avoided or not (and perhaps her loss is even more painful knowing that had she properly directed some of her income this tragedy could have been avoided.)"
Again, you are making assumptions about this woman. How do you know she didn't properly direct her income? None of us know what this woman's financial situation was. Sometimes after I pay all of my bills for the month I don't have two nickels to rub together. Maybe she could have gotten a dental payment plan for her son, or maybe she could not have gotten a dental payment plan for her son. We don't know. Anyway, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. There's no point in playing the "if" game now because nothing can be done about it now because the boy is dead. The point is this woman has lost her son and she and her family should be shown some kind of compassion. Also, all of these stereotypical racist jokes people are making about this woman are tacky and uncalled for. A boy is dead and a mother has lost her son and that's not a joking matter.
We know that this woman failed to get proper dental attention for her son, and that because that failure he is dead. You appear unwilling to blame her because of the pain she is in, and because the blame will not bring her son back. I believe that it is important that people understand that their actions have consequences.
True, I don't know how this woman directed her income, except that she didn't direct it to getting her son the attention he needed. That we do know.
"We know that this woman failed to get proper dental attention for her son, and that because that failure he is dead. You appear unwilling to blame her because of the pain she is in, and because the blame will not bring her son back. I believe that it is important that people understand that their actions have consequences.
True, I don't know how this woman directed her income, except that she didn't direct it to getting her son the attention he needed. That we do know."
It seems to me that the only thing you are interested in is playing the "if" game and the placing blame game. That's not going to do any good now. This child is dead. The Christian thing to do is to pray for this woman and her family. But I guess it's hard to do the Christian thing when one is only looking for someone to blame.
You said: It seems to me that the only thing you are interested in is playing the "if" game and the placing blame game. That's not going to do any good now. This child is dead. The Christian thing to do is to pray for this woman and her family. But I guess it's hard to do the Christian thing when one is only looking for someone to blame.
***
I am not blaming anyone. I am assessing the situation based upon the facts in the article and reasonable inferences from them. The article, as you recall, began with a number of "if" phrases, and that is why so many posts, including mine, began the same way.
I disagree with you that an analysis of the situation won't "do any good now." True, the young boy is gone. But this mother has other children, at least one of them with several rotting teeth. I wonder if she intends to modify her behavior in light of the loss of one son. Even if not, others who read this article, and these posts might see how important dental care can be. It is not just about your teeth!
You seem to make assumptions about me and others who post here. You might consider applying the same skepticism to yourself that you have done to my (and others') posts.
I have often wondered why viagara is covered, gastric bypasses are covered, birth control is covered...but rotting teeth are not.
There lacks logic there.
Granted - this case didn't have ANY coverage.
I'm just pointing out the strangeness of how teeth don't seem to be considered part of "health" plans even when they are affecting a person's health - much moreso than other medicines/conditions that are covered.
Heck....my chiropractor visits are covered, but we will pay $1,000 out of our pockets for 2 sets of wisdom teeth removal and one root canal.
Make sense?
I wonder if the mom was able to pay her cable and cell phone bill. This is a story about neglect not the uninsured.
"I disagree with you that an analysis of the situation won't "do any good now." True, the young boy is gone. But this mother has other children, at least one of them with several rotting teeth. I wonder if she intends to modify her behavior in light of the loss of one son. Even if not, others who read this article, and these posts might see how important dental care can be. It is not just about your teeth!"
It has been stated on several news programs that the mother's Medicaid has been reinstated and her other son's teeth have been taken care of. Also, I did not say it was just about my teeth. Obviously I am very concerned about this family and what they are going through. Instead focusing on the fact that a child is dead and a family is grieving all you seem to be concerned about is placing blame on the mother. Is placing blame on the mother going to solve anything?
I haven't really focused on anything on this thread. I have offered my thoughts about this situation. True, I do think the mother is accountable here. I have not advocated any sort of punishment for her, and I doubt that she follows FR threads (anticipating your likely statement, no I don't KNOW if she visits FR). She, being the mother, IS responsible for her children's welfare, just as we are all responsible for the welfare of our children. The article that started this thread attempts to displace this responsibility from her to any number of others. I just disagree. I am not piling on the mother. I hope she is not reading any of this. There is no focus on her. The focus is on those who relieve her of responsibility in favor of government or "society."
I had the same thing happen with my cat back in 1987. I don't know how she managed to get injured in the first place though as she was strictly an indoor kitty.
She had always been a very loving cat but on this particular Saturday evening rather than jumping up next to me and claiming her space she laid down next to my chair with her head on my foot. I bent to pick her up and my hand hit a squishy spot which didn't at all feel like it should. Once I had her in my lap I started to run my hands over her and found an area extending down her right side starting just below her shoulder to the base of her tail. In the center was a thinly healed hole which didn't remain healed long. If I hadn't noticed her skin felt odd I'd never have known there was a problem because there was no bump, lump or swollen spot. Needless to say the abscess didn't happen overnight and I hadn't felt anything wrong during out pet-a-thons.
At that time there weren't any emergency vets and I'd been using the vet at PetsMart for vaccinations so it was left up to me to take care of it until Monday came around. It took a couple of hours to get it drained and flushed with saline. Monday I took her into the vet, she took a look at it and gave me antibiotics for the cat to take.
The kitty recovered just fine and lived a long, healthy life until dying of old age the Saturday after 911.
To have some rotting teeth in her kids most likely means the mom wasn't feeding her kids right. Probably a diet of cokes and pepsi's and candy.
Those MD's who said that were, obviously, craven blowhard liars. Damn such smugness.
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