Over the weekend I was able to learn a little bit about Linda’s current situation, but it is quite likely that my source of contact has been completely cut off. One of the people taking care of Linda was kind enough to deliver to Linda an E-mail I sent, so she could know I am still fighting to get her transferred out of Indianapolis to RML in Hinsdale. Apparently one of Linda’s nurses saw Linda reading the e-mail and reported the other person to hospital authorities, who are now threatening to fire her over the letter. The hospital officials told this person that there is a “no contact order” against me having any direct contact with Linda. It was not clear from the conversation whether this is just a doctor’s order or whether it purports to be a court order of some sort, but I have never been served with any such court order, or court papers seeking such an order, which should have happened by now if it was a court order. So, I am guessing it is just a doctor’s order. If any of you has heard of such a court order being entered, please tell me so I can take appropriate action.
It now seems the people at Indiana University Hospital intend to keep Linda there, against her desires and mine, until she leaves on her own two feet or in a hearse. I don’t know what law they think gives them authority to do that, but I can’t afford to pay Indiana lawyers $250 per hour to chat on the phone with hospital lawyers about when Linda is going to be transferred to RML when it seems clear the hospital has no intention whatsoever of sending her there. Today, I am going to attempt, by fax and mail, to insist in writing that Linda be transferred, even if it means her signing herself out against medical advice. It is possible Debbie, Linda’s sister, may try to interfere with this, and it is also clear the hospital has already done everything it can to block such communications, including setting up its entire phone system to block calls from me to any Clarian telephone numbers, including their lawyer. I did send letters to the hospital lawyer in the past, though, and they were never returned, so I have to assume they were received by her.
I am also going to copy the people at RML in Hinsdale on all of this correspondence, in the hope that it will initiate some sort of contact from I U Hospital to me indicating what their intentions are regarding keeping Linda there or sending her closer to home. If that doesn’t work, I will have to talk to my lawyer friends here and get some suggestions for further action. It seems unbelievable that the hospital can just take it upon itself to cut off all communication between me and my wife, and hold her against her own wishes, without taking any legal actions to do so.
Linda is back on the ventilator, and her strength and resolve are both waning. I know Linda is disgusted that she hasn’t been transferred yet, because that information was conveyed to me by someone who spoke to Linda about it over the weekend. I learned this tidbit of information even before Linda was handed the e-mail that got our friend on the hospital staff in so much trouble with her superiors. Chuck, Donna, Tom and Richard, I know the hospital has permitted you to be in touch with Linda. Please let her know I am still fighting for her transfer. Also, please let me know what she might tell you about how she is feeling, and whether she has talked to the hospital people about signing out against medical advice, as is her right. Ask her that question for me.
Richard, you and I need to sit down and discuss financial priorities, since it now appears October BC/BS and AFLAC premiums will come due before Linda gets out of Indianapolis. Let me know when it would be convenient for you, and I will come to your house.
Debbie, if you are opposed to Linda being transferred to RML in Hinsdale, I would like the chance to speak with you about your opposition, and see whether there is some other alternative to I U Hospital that would be agreeable to you. If you are not opposed to transferring Linda to RML, I would like to speak with you about how the two of us can best cooperate to make that happen.
As for the rest of you, please talk to each other and to me about what else we might possibly do to get Linda moved out of Indianapolis. Her emotional strength is waning, and I don’t want her to die alone down there.
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