September 7, 2010

Dear Ms. DeBord:

Thank you for speaking with my lawyer today. Here's his summary of what you said to him:

Heard from Cindy at Clarian today.  She indicated there was a regularly scheduled meeting between the transplant team and the chief medical officers and administrators on Thursday, and Linda was on the agenda.  The bottom line is her transplant people do not feel comfortable enough with her medical condition to transfer her away where they or a comparable facility would not be available if something happened to her.  Cindy admits that there has been poor communication between the doctors and care managers, as the care managers, along with Cindy and Michelle, figured everything was on track to transfer her.  Now there is no current plan to transfer her, although the doctors did say that is their ultimate goal and they will contact the administration 3 days prior to when they feel she can be transferred.  Their continued concerns are her respiratory problems, the transfusions she may need, and the bradycardia that occur when suctioning.  She indicated to me that she believes the situation would be different if Northwestern Medical, which does transplants, were available to assist if something went awry at RML, but apparently they do not want to be involved with Linda’s care.  It was not made clear to me whether that was a result of previous care of Linda or because of her current situation.  The doctors simply don’t have a comfort level without a like facility to theirs being close by.  She apologized for the bad communication, but ultimately it is a medical decision so is out of the hands of the administration.  As to you communicating with Linda, she indicates there is absolutely no prohibition with you talking with Linda.  If Linda wants to talk with you, they can set it up.  She said the only prohibition is that you not come onto the hospital property.

I hope this summary is correct. I have attached some information on RML and its two affiliate hospitals which have their own liver transplant programs, and could care for Linda in the same way I U Hospital can care for her, right here at home in the Chicago area. Both Loyola and Rush are no further from RML than IU Hospital is from RHI, where Dr. Tector sent Linda for her initial rehab.

Please note that the "R" in "RML" stands for Rush, and the "L" in "RML" stands for Loyola, and the "M" stands for Marianjoy - a rehabilitation hospital in Wheaton, Illinois, suburban Chicago, where Linda would likely go after RML gets her off the ventilator. Please present these facts and the attached information regarding the Loyola and Rush liver transplant programs to Dr. Tector and his colleagues the next time Linda's case comes up for discussion concerning her transfer to RML. It should relieve their concerns completely.

If you think it fit, I would be most appreciative if you decided not to wait until a next regularly scheduled meeting before bringing up the attached. I would like to bring Linda closer to home as soon as possible. She is very lonely there, and needs more companionship to keep her spirits up than our friends and neighbors can provide on weekend visits.

If my lawyer is correct about there being no prohibition on my communicating with Linda, there is another matter on which I would like your assistance. This morning a member of the respiratory therapy staff delivered to Linda an E-mail from me which Linda had asked her about. When the nurses found out about it, the respiratory therapist was called into a meeting and threatened with termination for giving Linda the print out of the E-mail from me.  The respiratory therapist should not be disciplined for delivering a letter which was not in any way forbidden for Linda to receive. Please look into her case.

Finally, someone other than Linda is apparently keeping Linda's cell phone from Linda, since it goes directly to voicemail when I call it. I sent it back to Linda’s room so Linda could have it and we could talk to each other. If you were to provide me with the phone number in Linda's room, or some way of my reaching Linda by telephone, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.