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I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 10:10:40 AM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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I am plotting about what to do about this, and even tiny hidden tape recordings are dancing in my brain...and so...some input from y'all might be helpful.

My slave has brain injury from a slate fall (he's a retired coal miner), and one of the ways this affects him is with his body temperature. He cannot take heat. His house must stay at no warmer than 75 degrees (he does better at 65) or his mind goes haywire. And then there's all the vomiting added in as a side benefit. This part of his disability has been a fact of his life and he/we deal with it as best as we can.

Summers are murder to get through. Mowing his grass right before sunset to avoid the worst of the heat has him sick for a day or two afterward. I could fry eggs on his back, chest, or top of his head after something like this, until he's feeling better. When the AC acted up in my minivan, a simple trip to Walmart had him down for the count for about 24 hours.

The problem that has me plotting and growling and fuming and wanting someones balls skewered and roasting over a low flame... His once every two weeks therapy sessions. He has to go, there's nobody else in his one horse town and the cost of gas (and his difficulty driving long distances) make it impractical to find some place an hour away in Charleston. For him not to be ill, we went shopping this year and bought him jeans shorts. Cut high like men wore in the 1970s. In back, where butt meets thigh, his shorts go 2 1/2 inches below that spot. In our neck of the woods, if your shorts aren't down to your knees, these redneck men call you a "faggot". The group therapy (redneck) patients went to the doctor and said they don't want a "faggot" in their group. The doctor TOLD bo to wear long pants during these sessions. bo explained about his brain injury and how it affects his body temperature and the doctor still demanded that to keep the peace, bo needs to wear long pants. (In other words, he may step outside when he feels the need to vomit.)

I'm PISSED.

These are plain jeans shorts. Hemmed, not cut offs. No chance of dangly bits slipping out and falling through. No bling, just plain ole jeans shorts. (So okay, bo is a size 5-7, depending on the maker, and it was cheaper to get them in the girls' area of Walmart than to buy long jeans in the men's area and then cut the legs off.) He is not dressing kinky, not "dressing like a girl", merely wearing jeans shorts. (If they are INDECENT, why are these redneck men buying these same short shorts for their tween and teenaged daughters?)

IMHO, he is not dressed indecently and I simply cannot believe they have the right to order him to do something that will make him physically ill. He has a bone spur from the accident, in his neck where the vertebrate goes up into his brain, that puts pressure on his spinal cord. On bad days, this can make him disconnect, kind of like being in a dissociative state. One punch to the head could kill him or turn him into a parapalegic. I do not drive him to his therapy appointments, he has to drive himself. There is no public transportation where he lives. If he is feeling okay, then he drives fine. In the daytime, for short distances. They are ordering him to make himself so sick that he cannot drive himself home safely.

It's not practical to take him to another doctor. If it were a viable option, I would. Is there any way we can fight this? Can a doctor force a patient into wearing long shorts just to shut up others in a group that are screaming "faggot!!!"?

I told bo to have that talk with his counselor, and I will probably have him tape record it. In WV it is legal to tape without their knowledge or consent. If he has to wear longer shorts down to his knees to shut up the other guys or else lose his doctor and counseling sessions, I am bitchy enough to tell him NOT to leave the room if/when he gets sick. To sit in their little circle holding a trash can and let them enjoy the sounds, smells, and visual. This is if we lose on all fronts and cannot even get the counselor doesn't crank up the AC in the room so that bo can handle the extra heat.

If it were me, I would eat hearty and swallow some ipecac to make my point. For every session.

I am protective over bo and I am pissed off. If I could get them into trouble legally, damn straight I would.

Btw, if he wore pants made to show off 3/4 of his naked butt crack, nobody would say a blessed thing.

*****
Edited to correct a typo, to turn 3/5 into what I had originally intended...3/4.


< Message edited by CynthiaWVirginia -- 8/31/2012 10:34:30 AM >
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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 10:52:50 AM   
ModTwentyOne


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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 10:57:29 AM   
Lucifyre


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on top of what Mod21 posted, does this counselor have a supervisor you can speak to?
It may be of benefit to do that, if they cannot correct the behavior of the counselor being a douchebag, they may be able to help you find another doctor with possible transportation to said new doctor.

I hope you find a solution. I do understand how enfuriating it is to have someone else do something stupid that effects your loved ones in a negative way.

*hugs* to you both!

Lucifyre

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:05:16 AM   
PeonForHer


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I guess it goes without saying that I think the doc should have sent the rednecks home in order to 'keep the peace'. What a snivelling coward.

Still, I get rather tired of seeing instant ethical judgments masquerading as 'advice' here on CM's boards: me, I'd investigate both the legal angle *and* that of public shaming. Local newspapers? Or at least the threat of this to the doctor? It'd be interesting to see how far the 'peace is kept' if his 'rednecks decide who I can treat' policy becomes widely known.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:05:19 AM   
MercTech


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The body cooling stuff only really works in arid climates. If you have humidity, you just carry extra weight.

Loose fitting cargo pants would be cooler than shorts if one is out in the sun.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:12:45 AM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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Thank you, ModTwentyOne, for the link. Those cooling vests, etc. are waaaay out of our price range. Right now bo is in some doughnut hole insurance wise and is paying a huge amount for everything as his co-pay until, I think, January.

I can sew though. I know he has a thin vest he doesn't use much and I can sew pouches to hold blue gel packs if I have to. If I can find the gel packs. They used to be in all the Dollar Tree stores, and I used to keep some in my toy bag to refrigerate on site, to keep on hand if during a scene there was an oops. They have all vanished and I'm doing a mad scramble today. I have almost two weeks to prepare for the next therapy session, and I am wondering about how long the packs will stay cold, and if I can manage somehow to make one as a hat. He hates hats cuz they make him overheat but I have to think up something.

This new Chrome I accidentally downloaded (Adobe pushed for an upgrade and Chrome piggybacked) has made it impossible to do my usual right click of the mouse to put up a new desktop icon. I will sock that site away into a document later today, after I have finished my Great Search. Maybe sometime in January he can go back to one of his previous doctors at the rehab place (he had to be taught how to talk and walk all over again), and someone will sign off on a prescription for one of those vests, etc.

Anyone know of a link to those gel packs, whatever they're called, where I can get them for maybe $1 each again like I used to? I'm probably going to need to use something like twenty of them.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:13:23 AM   
KYsissy


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For quick cooling some thing cold around the neck. A towel dunked in ice water, and they sell neck wraps with the freezer packs sewn in. This cools the blood in the arteries. Quite effective.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:25:29 AM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucifyre

on top of what Mod21 posted, does this counselor have a supervisor you can speak to?

Lucifyre



Thank you, Lucifyre. I am starting to come down off of my state of mind and reading these posts here have helped.

The counselor's supervisor is the doctor, and the doctor is the spineless douchebag.

Living in small towns in the middle of nowhere is very hard sometimes. For instance, at one time my oncologist drove me batshitcrazy...but to get another oncologist to take me I would have had to drive at least another half an hour away (turning my driving time into a three plus hour round trip plus time spent getting treatment), AND get some paper saying my doc didn't mind, AND I would have had to have changed hospitals.

If bo changes doctors, he will be facing something similar, and the gas for the trips will cost him an extra $300 per month. I cannot relocate him to my town where he could find a better situation, because his mother has poor health as do several other aging relatives who rely on him to check in on them and drive them to the store as well as to doctor appointments. (They all freeze to death in his truck though, lol.)

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:35:51 AM   
ChatteParfaitt


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This is where you Brits don't have knowledge of how certain areas of the US work. WV is one of the most insular, socially backward, inbred, good ole boys stick together places in the US. I know b/c I have family there.

I seriously doubt the newspapers, the counselor's supervisor, the mayor, whoever, would be interested in going against the majority, and I feel certain Cynthia has a good feel for the area. The state capital of Charleston is not exactly a liberal haven (I've lived there).

The issue becomes how helpful it is to be in an adversarial situation with a caregiver if any kind. Get long pant,s pack a cooler with some ice packs, which can be as simple as a good big baggies with ice.

And I can't help myself: Don't sweat the small stuff.




< Message edited by ChatteParfaitt -- 8/31/2012 11:36:57 AM >


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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:36:22 AM   
DarkSteven


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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. Allowing the guy to wear shorts is a pretty reasonable accommodation. Although this would be a slam dunk in the workplace, I'm not sure about a doctor's practice. Note that the doctor is also allowing homophobia.

I'd ask him if he's going to just shut up and treat bo or if a lawyer needs to get involved. Do some Googling and produce a letter accusing the doctor of violating the ADA and of permitting slander. Ask to have the homophobe patient kicked to the curb, and let bo wear what he wants.



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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:42:36 AM   
Aswad


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How much can he carry, when his temperature is normal?

Anyway... as regards cooling gel, how about this?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/outdoor-first-aid-fever-disposable-cooling-gel-sheets-3-piece-100587

IWYW,
— Aswad.


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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 11:57:33 AM   
CynthiaWVirginia


Posts: 1915
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From: West Virginia, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

I guess it goes without saying that I think the doc should have sent the rednecks home in order to 'keep the peace'. What a snivelling coward.

Still, I get rather tired of seeing instant ethical judgments masquerading as 'advice' here on CM's boards: me, I'd investigate both the legal angle *and* that of public shaming. Local newspapers? Or at least the threat of this to the doctor? It'd be interesting to see how far the 'peace is kept' if his 'rednecks decide who I can treat' policy becomes widely known.


Since it is counseling sessions, I would think that this would become a (three minute) chance to educate the others in the group about the side effects of head injuries, so that the men could rest in peace about the nefarious reasons why a man has to wear shorts in the SUMMERTIME.

Last time when we drove to get gasoline, I took him with me to pump the gas...and when I went into the gas station, the good ole boy cashier and two other rednecks were staring and snickering at bo. One guy went outside and asked him wasn't he freezing his butt off dressed like that, and then bo explained about the brain injury. It was at night and a bit nippy, and he only had his shorts and socks and shoes on (he wears a shirt for therapy sessions, but he was feeling very ill by nightfall and it was better on him to go shirtless to get my minivan filled up).

I told the guys at the register, "That's MY boyfriend. His body overheats because of a brain injury from a mining slate fall, feeling too hot makes him very ill to the point of vomiting. AND...I think he has a nice ass and great legs, and I enjoy the view." Then I strolled to the parking lot and hugged him silly, kinda marking my territory if you know what I mean.

We've had high school and college aged girls following us around different Walmarts for about two or three months. Recently. It was like a "Where's Waldo" game they were playing, using cameras to take pix of the fifty something year old man daring to wear jeans shorts in summertime. bo's college aged daughter's friends sent links to pix of her dad along with scathing comments. Understand that not all of the USA is nuts like this; hillbilly states are "special". In the recent past I have gone to California and to Florida and men walked around in jeans shorts (often cutoffs, sometimes shorter than what bo wears) and nobody thought anything of it.

Outside of a Walmart, sometime in the past two weeks, it was hotter than hades outside and bo saw this guy dressed up like we had two feet of snow on the ground. Some guys were giving him a hard time so bo walked up to him and stared the other guys down, saying, something like "I have a brain injury that messes up my body temp and makes me too hot." And the guy answered that he also has a brain injury from an accident and his body is the opposite, making him feel freezing cold all the time, even in the hottest weather. This is what happens where bo lives in Chapmanville (and YES, it is common for first cousins to marry in that town...).

I don't know how to do anything legal wise, since we have nothing on tape and no witnesses. Without this, the doc can find some excuse to flick him away like a flea and then he would be stuck paying at least $300 more per month in gasoline to go to a similar doctor in Charleston.

With the newspaper angle...great idea. But. We live in WV. The guys would skim through the paper, seeing a pic of bo in shorts and a tee shirt, say, "There the faggot is!", show up at his house and maybe burn it down to make the "faggot" have to move somewhere else.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:05:49 PM   
PeonForHer


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt
This is where you Brits don't have knowledge of how certain areas of the US work.


I don't think the word 'work' is somehow appropriate in that sentence.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:08:41 PM   
ChatteParfaitt


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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer


quote:

ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt
This is where you Brits don't have knowledge of how certain areas of the US work.


I don't think the word 'work' is somehow appropriate in that sentence.


I sooo stand corrected.

Ahem. Are. How places here are.

And cooler, icepacks....am I being ignorant in why this won't work?




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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:13:34 PM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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quote:

ORIGINAL: MercTech

The body cooling stuff only really works in arid climates. If you have humidity, you just carry extra weight.

Loose fitting cargo pants would be cooler than shorts if one is out in the sun.


Thank you, MercTech. I will check with him about cargo pants. He detests loose pants of any kind though, and has gone his entire life in tight jeans and in tight shorts. I will go look up cargo pants later tonight.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:16:22 PM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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quote:

ORIGINAL: KYsissy

For quick cooling some thing cold around the neck. A towel dunked in ice water, and they sell neck wraps with the freezer packs sewn in. This cools the blood in the arteries. Quite effective.


Hm, KYsissy...thanks for the good idea. Now I am wondering if I can slap together some neck wrap with freezer packs sewn in. I would have to get him a little cooler to carry around, with two of them inside it so that when one warms up, the next one is handy. It might be something he wouldn't balk over...I think I will scrap the hat idea and go for this instead.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:20:24 PM   
PeonForHer


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quote:

Understand that not all of the USA is nuts like this; hillbilly states are "special".


I shall try very hard to bear that in mind, Cynthia.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:21:01 PM   
CynthiaWVirginia


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Thank you, ChatteParfait, for s'plaining to these folks about my neck of the woods.

The sessions are two hours long, I believe. I am shaking my head over having to spend a lot of money (for us, anyway) to suck it up and bow down to all the rampant homophobia.

*****

Edited to add:

I have only read till ChatteParfait's reply and am stuck with getting off of the computer NOW before my bank closes for the weekend (and Monday too). Will be back later. My apologies to others who left posts after ChatteParfait's.


< Message edited by CynthiaWVirginia -- 8/31/2012 12:24:16 PM >

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:25:26 PM   
LaTigresse


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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt


And cooler, icepacks....am I being ignorant in why this won't work?





That was my first thought as well.

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RE: I. Cannot. BELIEVE. This. (Aargh!) - 8/31/2012 12:25:43 PM   
ChatteParfaitt


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Hey the last time I was there when my mom was in the hospital in Morgantown (I am sure you know which one), Himself came with me. He has long, past shoulder length hair. The looks we got were amazingly funny.

Fortunately, he's a bit of a hulk and can look evil smart when the mood grabs him. But yeah, we were stared at. In the 21st century for LONG HAIR on a male.

ETA: Just to make it clear, other than the long hair, there is nothing fem about this man.

< Message edited by ChatteParfaitt -- 8/31/2012 12:27:29 PM >


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