Ana is a 50-something mother of three grown boys and grandmother of two adorable little ones. Though we technically share no blood or legal relationship, she has been a very special part of my life for over eight years. There is no question that she is “family.”
Ana has been a hard worker her entire life, often working more than one job at a time to support her three children as a single mother. She has always been a vivacious, active, loving woman who never hesitates to put her children and her family before herself.
On April 11, 2008, Ana received very severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns on both legs and feet (from above the knees down to the toes) when a large pot of boiling water tipped over next to her. She was air-lifted to the closest trauma center, treated and released the same day. She did not have any medical insurance.
The next day, in severe pain, Ana returned to the hospital to have her bandages changed. She was in shock and her body temperature was in the low 90 degree range. She spent the next several weeks in and out of the trauma center, often for days at a time.
Ana applied for and was granted county-provided trauma insurance medical coverage for the burn-related medical expenses. She received weekly treatments at the hospital and at times, in-home nursing care and physical therapy. This coverage is good only in the county where she lives, at one specific hospital and with a small number of participating doctors and therapists. This insurance coverage ends January 31, 2009.
Progress was slow, but progress was made. By early January 2009, nine months after the accident, Ana was finally able to take a few steps at a time on her own. The skin on her legs and feet was finally beginning to cover the wounds. In mid-January, however, the new skin began to disappear and the pain intensified. Ana decided to go for a second opinion at the burn unit of a different hospital in a nearby county, even though they did not take her insurance and could not provide her with any coverage because she was not a resident of the county where that facility was located.
Though this visit was supposed to be only for a second opinion, the doctors were gravely concerned about the severity of her wounds. They were baffled by the treatment she had been receiving, the minimal overall progress she had made and the condition of her wounds after 9 ½ months. They admitted her to the hospital and determined that she had a severe staph infection on one foot.
Though the care she is now receiving is far superior to what she had been receiving at the first facility, the cost of the treatment is astronomical. A bed alone for one week in this facility comes with a price tag of $17,000. Because she does not have insurance, Ana will be responsible for the cost of this care. She does not yet know how long she will have to stay.
Ana has been a hard worker her entire life, often working more than one job at a time to support her three children as a single mother. She has always been a vivacious, active, loving woman who never hesitates to put her children and her family before herself.
On April 11, 2008, Ana received very severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns on both legs and feet (from above the knees down to the toes) when a large pot of boiling water tipped over next to her. She was air-lifted to the closest trauma center, treated and released the same day. She did not have any medical insurance.
The next day, in severe pain, Ana returned to the hospital to have her bandages changed. She was in shock and her body temperature was in the low 90 degree range. She spent the next several weeks in and out of the trauma center, often for days at a time.
Ana applied for and was granted county-provided trauma insurance medical coverage for the burn-related medical expenses. She received weekly treatments at the hospital and at times, in-home nursing care and physical therapy. This coverage is good only in the county where she lives, at one specific hospital and with a small number of participating doctors and therapists. This insurance coverage ends January 31, 2009.
Progress was slow, but progress was made. By early January 2009, nine months after the accident, Ana was finally able to take a few steps at a time on her own. The skin on her legs and feet was finally beginning to cover the wounds. In mid-January, however, the new skin began to disappear and the pain intensified. Ana decided to go for a second opinion at the burn unit of a different hospital in a nearby county, even though they did not take her insurance and could not provide her with any coverage because she was not a resident of the county where that facility was located.
Though this visit was supposed to be only for a second opinion, the doctors were gravely concerned about the severity of her wounds. They were baffled by the treatment she had been receiving, the minimal overall progress she had made and the condition of her wounds after 9 ½ months. They admitted her to the hospital and determined that she had a severe staph infection on one foot.
Though the care she is now receiving is far superior to what she had been receiving at the first facility, the cost of the treatment is astronomical. A bed alone for one week in this facility comes with a price tag of $17,000. Because she does not have insurance, Ana will be responsible for the cost of this care. She does not yet know how long she will have to stay.
