RAVES to about 120 of you who wrote here yesterday in support of the care that you or a loved one have received by staff and doctors at UPMC. Raves that almost 90 of you who wrote are repeat visitors to this site who wrote to say that you're still on the donor waiting lists or to report progress since your transplants. Some of you were some of the very first readers here 2 years ago. Rants that you on the donor waiting list with higher MELD scores have the extra stress now since you read the Trib articles that an organ available might be given to someone with a lower MELD score. Rants that we too often do blame the messenger. But Rants when the messenger sometimes tells us most of the information, but leaves out just a little tid bit or two that might have made the news easier to process and swallow. Rants that what is basically a good, solid journalistic endeavor on the part of the Trib fell disappointingly short only in its attempt to expose problems and differences in the liver transplant clinics but not reporting (a) just how many patients with High MELD scores at UPMC have died because compatible livers were given to less sick patients, (b) whether transplant patients who die of unrelated causes are included in the clinics' death rate statistics, and (c) how many patients with high MELD scores died at UPMC waiting for a compatible liver in past times compared to more recent years since those with MELDs under 15 started having transplants and sharing the organ supply? I have informally asked some of those questions to both places, and will forward a link to this page to both again in another attempt to find out for you. Without those answers, how can anyone say just how good or bad the transplant program really is? (14 Mar 08)
RANTS to indifferent and/or cowardly employers who take no action and let hostile work environments and worker-to-worker threats go unaddressed and out of control. Cheeses who take no action over months should be held accountable and fired when staff have to bypass steps on the chain of command for intervention. No names on this one, folks, and lets all say a prayer or three that those management mistakes don't come back to haunt us. (15 Mar 08)
RANTS that much of the "new" downtown look of Uniontown, created in 2005 in a matter of days with around-the-clock frantic hammering of the multi-million dollar storefront beautification project, is again fading back to its former vacant looking self. First, Maggie Hardy Magerko closed her 31 E. Main Restaurant for renovations last month and now may not reopen. Across the street, Maggie and papa Joe Hardy's 3 exclusive shops closed this week after 2 1/2 years of slow business and wrong projection on their parts that tourists would flock there to buy $500 dresses and $300 jeans. Rants to those clapping that the businesses flopped. Are you really that eager for the hookers and former restaurant gang driven out in the past to move back in? Rants that places such as Grants, Metzler's, Kaufmann's, Thrift Drug, Francis Market, Pechin's and Dollar General are gone, leaving Great-Aunt Irene and pals in the high rise with no place at all to shop downtown. Since we know high-end shops are out, hopefully some new stores will appear that meet the more common needs of downtown workers, courthouse staff and 4 downtown highrise populations. And will someone please let me know when the $300 jeans are marked 90% off? (15 Mar 08)
RANTS that a few still are emailing that the Trib's articles on the transplant clinic were written and published simply out of revenge because UPMC stopped running employment ads in that paper... To those few, I ask that you to take out your checkbook and write a writing partner and me a check to cover all of our time and all of our travel and expenses to investigate whatever entity you want investigated for the next 4-5 months. See what I mean? Oh, two of you don't? I'm sorry. I forgot. You have possible access to a corporate checkbook... and a boss who's probably wealthier than theirs. You could do this! Only there's just one other thing - - your sup isn't very proud of you this week, pretending to have a loved one under the care of the transplant clinic. Please be so mindful that Karma can hold you accountable to repay that deception by putting you in our shoes -- which none of us wants to see happen. (15 Mar 08)
RANTS to the "volunteers" posing for eight months as animal rights advocates for watching the slow-death starvations of nearly a thousand cats, dogs and horses at a Frazier Twp. "no kill" shelter. The "animal sanctuary" did look more like an animal cemetery, as tv news reported. Did it really need to take so long to assess that there was a major problem and arrest the owner for animal abuse? How many times did the watchdog advocates need to see that owner's infamous "death waiting room" for starving cats before you are sickened and run out to call authorities? What were the watchdog volunteers doing there? Obviously, not feeding the animals, either! (15 Mar 08)
RAVES to weekend readers for checking in, including the 3 longtime liver transplant survivors who wrote wishing Mom well. She is set for discharge early next week. Feeding tube is gone, leaving her finally able to swallow pudding and liquids yesterday for the first time this month. Today she had turkey, chopped but not pureed. I'm so glad you're all still here. Let the corporate guys fight through the business end of it all. We just know that the surgeons, the anestheologist (who hugged us family members after transplants, comically too tightly, and cried joyfully with us), the nurses and aides on that transplant unit are all unlike any other caring group of health professionals anywhere else. More than 10 or so of you asked why reporters anywhere aren't doing more stories on long-time survivors. Can't answer that. Should you want your story told, feel free to send it here. I'll publish it. Not too shabby a deal. Some days, there are 80,000 readers. If you're not too far away geographically, we might find an angle to your story to have it freelance published in a newspaper of your choice. If you already have a MySpace or web page concerning your transplant, feel free to send the link to it here as well. (16 Mar 08)
RANTS for some media printed letters to the editor and editorials in area papers allowing "intelligent" opinion to be published when it clearly exceeds the line of decency. Speaking of the 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe shot by police at 2 PM on Christmas Eve six years ago after he ran from a vehicle he had stolen. Say what we want about everyone else - really, go ahead, I'll never be critical of that - but truly inappropriate opinion projecting what a dead 12-year-old would be like as an older teen or adult in an unkind way is way out of line. Rants, also, to those who disagree that I have no right to believe that a policeman panicked and shot and should not have. You have a right to your opinion. I can't attest to any thing that happened around Murray Avenue on Christmas Eve 6 years ago. I wasn't there. Nor were you. My opinion switched based soley on something that happened so far away and removed from that court. Had nothing to do with it except that I heard for the first time the 12-year-old's height and weight, his size. I thought Michael Ellerbe was big for his age. When I heard it said that the policeman didn't know the person shot was a child till he got to the person on the ground, I just assumed that Michael E. was big for his age. Some 12-year-olds look much older.
My nine-year-old is bigger (1" taller and probably two sizes larger) than that child was at 12. My child ran ahead on the riverwalk to catch up with someone he knew not that long ago. The whole time I watched my Michael run further away, I clearly saw nothing but my little kid running away in broad day light -- and my Michael at nine is bigger than Michael Ellerbe at 12! Someone I know marked a height line or marked the wall at 52" in height. He stepped back, really back and kept glancing over throughout the day. He said someone told him to do that and he started to change his mind, too. Imagine someone that height running away from you in broad daylight. How could you not see and not just know that a running person that short in stature is a child? (18 Mar 08)
RAVES to 19 of 23 co-workers of an area woman working across the county line who have provided her with written and notorized documentation of their accounts of retaliation and harassment that they witnessed against her in their government office. She lost a significant amount of income over two years being on stress-related and case-related medical leave and piece of her income with a bogus demotion for bogus write-ups for bogus errors reportedly made while the worker was in surgery. Rants to the bad cheeses for being so unprofessionally and driven by immaturity...but Raves that they lack in intellect and did not even think to check the unfairly targeted worker's schedule to make sure she at least was at work on days they planted bogus errors. Raves that federal entities will actually be able to bite into a non profit government entity since the woman lost income during the process. (19 Mar 08)
RAVES to burgh musician/producer Tom Breiding who's getting radio airplay in quite a few cities these days for his (2007 Record of the Year here) "The Unbroken Circle. Tom's music is featured on Folkscene, a syndicated show and in these stations. WQNR (Auburn, AL) , KWMR (Point Reyes Station, CA), KPIG (Monterey, CA) , KZSU (Stanford, CA) , KVNF (Paonia, CO), KDNK (Carbondale, CO), KVNF (Paonia CO) , WIKX (Port Charlotte, FL),WHAY (Whitley City, KY) ,WERU (Blue Hill, ME),WDBM (East Lansing, MI) , KAXE (Grand Rapids, MI),KMSU (Mankato, MN), KOPN (Columbia, MO) ,WFDU (Teaneck NJ) , KSIL (Silver City, NM) , WSYC (Shippensburg PA),WXLV (Schnecksville, PA), WETS (Johnson City, TN) ,WRRW (Virginia Beach, VA), KBCS (Bellvue, WA) , KEXP (Seattle, WA) and WTCR (Huntington, WV). A shame in the burgh there's essentially no airplay except occasional spins on WYEP. Name another burgh musician currently receiving airplay in this many cities. None. (22 Mar 08)
RAVES to Bill Toms who will be a guest on KDKA Radio's 11 PM show tonight to talk about the new CD, "Spirits, Chaos, And A Troubadour Soul," already named this site's 2008 Record of the Year. The nation's first AM station now streams online. Click above on the blue KDKA link on at 11 PM for a real treat to listen to Bill. This is a chance for everyone home this cold Easter weekend in the burgh and those of you in Europe so interested in our music to hear first hand one of the most talented and level-headed artists we are lucky to have. Spoke with him this week again for the upcoming article and wish him the very best with the upcoming CD release and tour starting next month. (22 Mar 08)
RANTS that about one-third of patients on the nation's human organ transplant waiting lists are inegligible for transplant and are listed as "inactive," some for 2 years, as per msn news yesterday. Those questioning that prolonged inactive status agree it might be necessary for a patient to be considered "inactive" but remain on the waiting lists for up to a couple months due to infection, other illness or need to recover from physical injuries from an accident, etc... More on this later. (23 Mar 08)
RANTS that those highly predictable Moldy local government Cheeses put on their "thinking caps" and are on a roll again -- about to promote one in their good graces who billed Medicaid illegally for services performed after a client died. Rants that frustrated new staff to that hostile work environment so quickly nailed it by exclaiming that they work for Atilla the Hun. (23 Mar 08)
RAVES to having a wonderful Easter holiday and dinner with my family and Mom. Unbeknownst to us, the restaurant chosen just happened to be a former ball room dance hall where Mom and Dad went in the 50s on dates. That was special -- as though we had one more at the table for dinner. (23 Mar 08) _______________________________________________________________________
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