Barbara Zimmerman

My story began a few years ago and somehow I just found out on December 22nd 2017 that I'm dying. I'm 61 years old house found and disabled and I'm all alone I have no family and friends. I do have three children who are grown and gone and don't know what to do and I don't see them because they live too far away. On December 22nd 2017 my nurse practitioner came to the house. I have been having a lot of problems with my gums and teeth. I have Medicaid insurance and because of Medicaid I have not been able to get any help because there are no oral surgeons or dentist that will accept Medicaid. One of the problems is the fact that I have health problems and I also have anxiety and panic and I have been told that Medicaid pays so little that it wouldn't be worth their time to help me because it's complicated. Anyway this nurse practitioner came to the house on December 22nd 2017 and she told me that I was going to die. She told me that the infection had gone into endocardial itis and that unless I got medical attention immediately I would die soon. I'm crying as I tell the story because even the emergency room refuse to treat me. They said that my condition has to get worse before they would even think about trying to get the oral surgeon on call to come in and take care of me. This very nasty nurse said that the oral surgeon does not like Medicaid people and that they have a hard enough time getting him to come in for people with good insurance. I have a caseworker and between the two of us we have made numerous phone calls and no one will help me I suffer from pain everyday. I don't know what to do and I'm afraid. I have seven grandchildren and I don't want to die but it seems that there's no hope. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this. It's very difficult for me to leave the house and now that my mouth hurts I can't stand being in the cold because it makes it worse so I and my prisoner of this pain and the weather and knowing that I'm going to die. I don't have any support system and all of my family have passed away. I live in a small apartment in a very bad neighborhood and the only thing I have to keep me company are my two cats. Everyday is a struggle. Everyday I get up and try to face another day knowing that it's going to be the same as yesterday. No hope and no help. I pray everyday to God into Saint Jude because I have nowhere else to turn