Names of the Dead

Jason West was my son's best friend for over five years - throughout his teen years - and spent so much time at our home, that I came to think of him as my second son. On May 2nd, 2002, when my son was home from College in Ohio for his 19th birthday, Jason came to our home for that special dinner. He complained that he was beginning to come down with bronchitis and went home early to take care of himself. I called him about a week later, when my son returned to school, to see how he was and he told me he could barely drag himself to class for finals and that the bronchitis had spread. A week later, he left a message on my answering machine that he had been staying at his mom's home in Santa Fe and was not recovering, but that he couldn't go to the hospital or to a doctor, because of his age and status as a full-time student, he couldn't afford health care. On June 2nd, a month after his original symptoms, mutual friends of Jason and my son came to see me at a restaurant I was working at to let me know that Jason had died that morning. In part because his parents didn't know how to pay for Jason's medical care, they did not bring him to the hospital until his lung infection had become a systemic infection. Jason was obese and that contributed to his early and unecessary death - at age 23. Because of the time lost, the medical staff at St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe were not able to properly diagnose whether he had a viral or bacterial infection in time to combat it. He was put on a massive dose of antibiotics, but before they had a chance to work, he went into renal failure, congestive lung failure and finally, cardiac failure and arrest. If a single-payer plan had been in place or if Jason and his parents had not been worried about cost, he might have had an early diagnosis and still been with us. It was exactly one month from the onset of this infection until his death. In a two year span, my son who is now 26, lost his father and at least five friends. In addition to Jason, four young men took their lives out of desperation and there is a possibility that his father, who had been diagnosed as bi-polar, also did the same in a fall. My son has amazed me with his resiliancy, throughout these ordeals. There are times when he should have been receiving grief counselling and mental health services himself, but as a student and now a substitute teacher he doesn't have any coverage. Anything that you can do to ensure both medical and mental health coverage for all Americans would be greatly appreciated. Your courageous stand in presenting the truth about the need for a national health care program is a model that all of our elected officials should strive for. Thank you.