DAY 56 DUmmies held hostage

June 22, 2005 | self

[franksolich]

Day 56--believe it or not--of the continuing crisis.

[franksolich]

Ping for not the largest, but the fastest-growing ping list.

[SCALEMAN]

3

<---now an over achiever

[SCALEMAN]

Anything new, other than the promise by BenLurch to post a dx of pancreatic cancer (which will probably be a post-op dx of a malignent tumor)?

[franksolich]

Well, even if it's real--and remember, the longer the Andyites have stonewalled on answering three simple questions, the higher the bar is raised, for validity--it still won't answer any of the three simple questions.

(a) who diagnosed the imperial red round one with pancreatic cancer, when and where?

Everyone already knows (b) and (c) too.

Since the fund-raiser was based upon pancreatic cancer, it has to be a diagnosis earlier than April 28, 2005--remember, this was a "definite" in the fund-raiser, not a "possibility," and the fund-raiser was based upon this "definite."

And the fund-raiser started April 28, 2005--not on the "speculative," but on the "definite."

[SCALEMAN]

Since the fund-raiser was based upon pancreatic cancer, it has to be a diagnosis earlier than April 28, 2005--

That has been my stance all along. I said early on that I beleived him to have some sort of pancreatic malady but probably less than 'pancreatic cancer.

I think all of the allegations that TRRO didn't have anything wrong with him and other speculations actually hurt this rather than helped.

From what I read in Malloy last night, it looks as if the defense will be 'well he does have cancer, so that makes it right', thereby ignoring the simple fact that if he (and/or his surrogates) plead for money based on a non diagnosed case of pancreatic cancer, it is fraud.

[SCALEMAN]

I'll check this thread later on this afternoon. Gotta dirve about 150 miles to see a potential customer.

[franksolich]

Nobody's speculated the imperial red round one doesn't have anything wrong with him--given his age, his rotundity, and his life-style, it would be a sheer miracle if he were NOT afflicted with all sorts of ailments, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, gallstones, kidney stones, fatty liver, &c., &c., &c.

Nobody's ever suggested the imperial red round one is as healthy as a horse.

[MarineMom613]

Did something happen with Misty's site. Cant get on?

[MisterRepublican]

You know Frank, the controversy surrounding the fund-raising efforts of the Pampered Progressive Panhandler began long before FR or just about anyone else noticed. Many on the Left, those who are not very gullible and childlike DUmmies, raised concerns about this fund-raising from the beginning.

For example, the obviously well-educated and outspoken Dr. Lilian Friedberg objected to the "...day-by-day, organ-by-organ, diagnosis-by-diagnosis, panic-attack-by-panic attack updates on the status of Andy Stephenson's illness." way back on Feb. 24th in comments at Will Pitts Truthout.org:

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/24/84720/3496

Although her reasoning may be different than most who continue the questioning, she was not alone.

It really amazes me that the Beebie Geebies continue to believe that this is part of some grand conspiracy to get Andy launched by various nefarious villains ranging from Bev Harris to the Freepers all the way to Karl Rove himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. But let them live in their tin foil houses about all of this.

Let them think it's anyone but who it really is, a bi-partisan group of rationally skeptical individuals who believe that honesty and integrity matter, whether it's an elected official or a lesser known wanna-be, like Andy.

One cannot go about preaching about accountability, as Andy does, and not face greater scrutiny when it comes to ones own practices.

[franksolich]

Yeah, and among other things.

The Andyites are accusing this of being some sort of Republican "smear job," because ostensibly the Republicans are afraid of the imperial red round one getting elected secretary of state of Washington (state).

The imperial red round one DROPPED OUT of that race in the Democratic primaries even BEFORE the primaries, because it was obvious DEMOCRATS didn't want him being their candidate, any more than Republicans in Louisiana didn't want David Duke being a Republican candidate for something.

If the imperial red round one were a candidate for any office, his opposition would not lose a wink of sleep.

[dynoman]

Mr Franksolich you don't have a proper understanding of how this works in the DUPU (say it out loud) - a post op pathology report showing cancer is a retro-active document, or a retro-active diagnoses.

Always remember things are different in the DUPU (DUmmie Parallel Universe).

[dynoman]

Wow that's interesting.

Notice how they react to having the equilibrium disturbed in the sacred DUPU. The fact there is another whole universe out there short-circuits their brain function.

When you pull your head out of the sand you might see something besides sand but apparently they can't handle that so it's sand 24/7/365.

[franksolich]

In case some were not inclined to go to that site, the dissenting view on what the Grand DUmbo "Skinner" calls "the Andy situation"--from a liberal, from a leftist, and from FEBRUARY:

A different perspective

Dear Will Pitt,

I have been silent on this issue for a long time, but your "call to action" on behalf of Andy Stephenson has finally prompted me to comment. As laudable as your efforts are, as much as Andy (just like everyone else in this country) deserves not to have to worry about the cost of medical care, there are several things that stick in my craw about this.

I don't know Andy Stephenson--I do appreciate the work he has done on election reform as much as I appreciate the work ALL of the citizen journalist/activists have done--most of them without any form of renumeration and in fact at great cost.

I am assuming that Andy--like you and probably 90% of folks on DU--is a "privileged white male" with a decent education, a decent place to live and well, gee, if he's out of a job at the moment and has no health insurance, that puts him in the same boat as about 10 million other Americans, many of whom have NO resources at their disposal and certainly don't have the option of going panhandling on a message board like DU.

I read DU in order to stay abreast of recent developments in politics and be informed about what I can do to help "fix" the election system, not to get the day-by-day, organ-by-organ, diagnosis-by-diagnosis, panic-attack-by-panic attack updates on the status of Andy Stephenson's illness.

The reactions on the part of the DU community to various "needy" individuals and communities are revealing: A friend of mine recently posted an opinion piece on DU outlining the dire situation of Native Americans on the Pine Ridge/Rosebud reservation in South Dakota who are freezing to death in their homes because they can no longer afford to pay heating bills after government subsidies were cut off. DU's response: Gee what a heartbreaking story, I hope they get the money they need. (But when Hopi prayers are needed, these are regularly invoked--on behalf of saving white America, even as Indians die on the reservation, even as Black newborns turn up in dumpsters in the inner city because their moms can't afford to a) go to the hospital to give birth and b) feed another child).

So what is it about Andy Stephenson, white male privileged guy who has momentarily fallen upon hard times and has a potentially life-threatening disease, that sets him apart from American Indian elders on reservations and African American children in the inner city who suffer similarly life-threatening conditions on a day-to-day basis(and in fact die, in large numbers, unseen, unsung and unbeknownst to DU!)? Have they not made a large enough contribution to the cause of "white America"? Mount Rushmore, Manhattan, and indeed 90% of the land upon which white men walk is not sufficient contribution for you and your kind to deem them worthy of your financial support?

At the same time, every now and again, someone comes in to DU to ask "Where the hell are all the people of color? They must not be informed. We must inform them." Believe me, Will. We ARE informed. Politicians and powermongers have been stealing and suppressing OUR votes for as long as we can remember. This is nothing new to us. In more recent years, it hasn't been enough for them to steal the votes of the poor and people of color: now they've dared to start stealing the votes of privileged white men and women. And in comes Andy--riding high on the fine white steed of privilege. Save the day! Suddenly, panhandling is an honorable thing.

Is there a substantial contingent of people of color sitting back and saying, "So, now you know how it feels"? Yes, there is, and can you really fault them for that? But there is also a large contingent--of which I am a part--saying, "well, hallelujah, it's about time they started stealing white votes, too--now we might be able to get down to business." And we are getting down to business. We are making contributions--large and small--financial contributions, letter writing, people informing. We're doing all the same things you and Andy are doing. And we're paying our own medical bills--more often than not, we're simply foregoing medical care because we simply cannot afford it! Or we're going bankrupt in an attempt to address the health issues we face--many of which are more severe and more prevalent in our communities due to ongoing, intergenerational lack of preventative medical care and the detrimental health effects of racism and poverty.

I don't expect you or anyone in the privileged white male community to EVER understand what is so ingratiating about this. But if you could ever do us the favor of simply respecting the fact that we are disturbed by it, we would be eternally grateful. In fact, despite the fact that my own efforts on behalf of election reform have cost me dearly (it nearly cost me my marriage!), I might even be willing to contribute to Andy's cause, just as I contribute regularly and generously to the causes of many others. But when it is thrown in my face like this while I am just trying to do MY part, I find it offensive.

Do you think you guys might do us the favor of creating a separate forum for paying white privileged male medical bills, or why do we have to be subjected to this? Andy Stephenson's pancreas does not fall under the "Election results" category.

Kind regards,

[PJ-Comix]

Any word from Andy himself lately? I haven't seen him posting in DUmmieland for at least a week.

[franksolich]

There's suspicion in certain, uh, quarters over there that the imperial red round one is posting under a different DUmmiename.

[dynoman]

Hey did you see That_SOB's post on the Mike Malloy thread? I think he intended to show the use of a bile duct stent or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has a very strong relationship with pancreatic cancer almost like it is a cancer diagnosis.

However;

The few errors in pancreatogram interpretation were due to juxta-ductal cancers and difficulty in differentiating duct changes of cancer from those of chronic pancreatitis.
(Source PubMed)

______________________________________________________

• Patients undergoing cholecystectomy do not require ERCP preoperatively if there is low probability of having choledocholithiasis.
• Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration and post-operative ERCP are both safe and reliable in clearing common bile duct stones.
• ERCP with endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) and stone removal is a valuable therapeutic modality in choledocholithiasis with jaundice, dilated common bile duct, acute pancreatitis, or cholangitis.
• In patients with pancreatic or biliary cancer, the principal advantage of ERCP is palliation of biliary obstruction when surgery is not elected. In patients who have pancreatic or biliary cancer and who are surgical candidates, there is no established role for preoperative biliary drainage by ERCP.
• Tissue sampling for patients with pancreatic or biliary cancer not undergoing surgery may be achieved by ERCP, but this is not always diagnostic.
• ERCP is the best means to diagnose ampullary cancers.
• ERCP has no role in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis except when biliary pancreatitis is suspected. In patients with severe biliary pancreatitis, early intervention with
• ERCP reduces morbidity and mortality compared with delayed ERCP.
• ERCP with appropriate therapy is beneficial in selected patients who have either recurrent pancreatitis or pancreatic pseudocysts.
• With newer diagnostic imaging technologies emerging, ERCP is evolving into a predominantly therapeutic procedure.

Source National Guideline Clearinghouse

____________________________________________________

A far as I can tell the first PubMed data is pretty old dating back to 1978 and the National Guideline Clearinghouse guideline was sourced from 2002 data.

Anyway the National Guideline Clearinghouse article is titled "Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for diagnosis and therapy".

That_SOB posted this data along with the receipt showing the insertion of the ECRP stent.

What is that supposed to mean?

That the ECRP was for diagnosis or therapy?

This receipt proves neither.

Hopefully this will be cleared up with a post op pathology report today.

[dynoman]

Hey "SluggoJD" John wants you at pg 79 on the Malloy thread....

[franksolich]

Yeah, I saw that.

[dynoman]

I wonder if this "SluggoJD" John is Gruntled from CU.