This is someone I spoke to from Louisiana

[Guest guest]

I'm posting this with permission. There isn't too much more I can

say, her story speaks volumes.

KC

Dear Mr. Carstens:

Thank you for your valuable information. Are you knowledgable

regarding this because you are a loved one has been ill? From my

own personal struggle with ongoing medical problems for over 15

years, I know that you learn to investigate what is wrong with you

on your own because you wander from doctor to doctor hearing that

you are okay and move on with your life. I know that trying to learn

everything that I can about what is happening to my body is to

empower myself with as much medical knowledge as possible.

What I failed to mention in my original post is that for the last 15

years I have been suffering from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue

syndrom and immune dysfunction, asthma, interstitial cystitis, mixed

connective tissue disease, mrsa infection, pancreatitis,

pericarditis, pleurisy, a multitude of digestive problems, blocked

pancreatic and bile ducts, liver problems, enlarged pancreas,

rashes, neurological problems, hypoglycemia, and various problems

that stem from all of the above.

I've have had more surgeries than one should ever experience and am

on a lot of medication. 15 years ago I worked for Boeing at the

NASA Michoud Facility as a Telecommunications Technician, providing

communications for the entire facility as well as support for space

shuttle missions, and communications in the Gulf War. I became very

ill in 1994 with flu like symptoms that would not go away just

before Christmas. My conditioned became worse and I was

hospitalized for over 14 days. After not being able to return to

work, my employer called me to tell me they could no longer keep me

on and I was being terminated because of my illness. I was

devastated because I worked so hard for over 15 years and I knew

that I could probably do this job from my home. My condition

continued to deteriate and I have become permanently disabled on

SSI. I spent countless days in bed, unable to move, eat, sleep,

bathe on my own, etc. My husband was now my caregiver, MR. MOM to

my children then ages 7 and 8, and provider. He always felt so

helpless as he left in the morning to go to work, get the kids off

to school, as I laid in bed. Then he would come home only to find

that I still could not get out of bed. He has felt that he has been

watching me die a very slowly, as we have traveled from doctor to

doctor in search for help. I have only a few physicians who have

been by my side trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together

in their quest to help my healt problems. In the past year, I have

been going to the Cleveland Clinic for medical care. Their medical

facilities and expertise, make Louisiana Healthcare look like a

third world country. In fact, we had evacuated to Solon, OH, just

outside of Cleveland Clinic during Hurricane Katrina. I became

quite ill while in Cleveland and unederwent an ERCP. I had blocked

bile ducts and pancreatic ducts. they had to put stints in these

ducts. I was hospitalized and awoke to the reports of the

devastation on CNN. I saw that my home in St. Bernard Parish was

destroyed from my hospital bed. Not to mention, my brother (a

disabled fireman) stayed behind and was missing. He stayed behind

because of his dog and the fact that if their was a problem he knew

he could be of help with his boat and his knowledge as a

firefighter. We found him 3 weeks later in a shelter traumatized by

the events. He told of how the wind and rain did much damage long

before the flooding. He said the water came up in a matter of

minutes and his beloved dog would not leave. He had to swim out to

his boat, by this time the water was already over his 8ft fence. He

heard the most terrifying screams coming from neighbors and

proceeded to rescue as many as possible with his boat. This is how

my Katrina nightmare began 6 months ago.

I have not asked the government for a handout, just a handup in our

pursuit to rebuild our lives. I'm now living in an apartment with

my two college students who attend LSU along with a roommate that

attends LSU with them. We are cramped in an apartment, my husband

is now unemployed, my son lost his part-time job, I'm disabled, and

we have a constent fight with FEMA on a daily basis. I'm drowing in

paperwork and bureaucracy at the hands of our government and the

insurance industry. My health is becoming comprised because of all

the stress. We are extremely concerned about my well-being and the

heath of my family in regards to St. Bernard Parish and surrounding

areas whose homes and communities are infested with mold and other

toxins. We have no plans to rebuild, repair, or return. We did

have flood insurance but it will only payoff our mortgage and then

we would be left with very little to start our lives over.

Homeowners insurance provider sent out an adjuster who did not even

step foot in my home. I have LA Citizens Property Insurance which

was sourced out to AIG. AIG has to re-adjust 15,000 claims because

of the inadequate adjustment and neglect on part of the original

adjusting firm. My adjuster was Hugh Connelly and he told me I had

no recourse and the buck stops with him. I am not even receving ALE

or contents for the big holes in roof, mold, etc. I now have to get

a structural engineer. I wish I could get a toxologist to come to

my home. SBA has denied us, stating we have too many living

expenses (go figure, I'm trying to maintain 2 homes). FEMA has

denied any property replacement, housing assistance, real-property

grants based on water levels in home, etc. FROM the get go they

have been ass backwards. They sent us a letter stating they

received our appeal regarding assistance before a decision was ever

made on our application and now I need a " housing plan " .

Congressman Melancon's office is investigation their latest denial

of rental assistance on the basis of a housing plan.

It also seems as though we will be left out of the Louisiana Recover

Plan because we had flood insurance. If we do not get any

additional assistance, we will have to cut our losses and foreclose

on our home. I'm not paying off a mortgage for an uninhabitable

home in a blighted community with nothing left for my family. If I

have to chose between ruining my credit and providing my family with

an adequate safe place to live, I will choose my family over my

credit and government bureaucracy any day. It's sad that Americans

have to be faced with such decisions during a time of a national

crisis along the Gulf Coast. The worst natural disaster to every

hit the United States and we are treated like a third world

country. Six months after the storm, my home still is in the same

condition as the day Katrina struck and the levees broke. The

government thinks we don't want to move forward and are not making

any efforts to rebuild our lives. If you give me what is due for

their " FAILURE " and make the insurance industry " PAY UP " , I will

gladly not ask for another dime. I don't think other citizens in

the U.S. understand the scope of the devastation. They think we are

all whiners and we are far from it. We are just citizens who want

to move on and deserve some peace and safety. I'm tired of the

endless battles that lay before me on a daily basis and fear for my

health. I have been to my home only twice and did not get out of

the truck. My son, who is a Type I Insulin Dependent diabetic,

can't go back and my daughter with Asthma can't go there because of

their health problems. In fact, my children do not even want to

talk about Katrina, hear it on the radio, or see it on TV because

they are so traumatized by it all.

Since reading your post, my husband does not even want me to go with

him next week to meet with the structural engineer at my home in

fear that it will compromise my health. Also, I have been told by 3

of my long time physicians, an infectious disease doctor, ENT

physicians, and Immunologist, not to return by any means. It's also

difficult for my husband to seek a job since he is running me back

and forth for medical treatment, trying to pickup debris in my yard,

meeting with adjusters, inspectors, engineers, and help his brother

who has terminal cancer repair his home in Lacombe that sustained

damage from the hurricane. It is all becoming so overwhelming and I

have never seen him so distraught over what is the best way to take

care of us. Many people think he is a slacker because he is not

back at work but don't understand what it means to be a caregiver to

a very ill loved one and try to put your life back together.

FEMA AND EVERYONE KNOWS THAT OUR HOMES ARE TOTALLY DESTROYED AND

THAT THE COMMUNITIES ARE UNINHABITABLE AND IT IS TIME FOR

WASHINGTON, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO OWN UP TO THE FACTS THAT

WE WILL NEVER BE WHAT WE WERE BEFORE KATRINA.

THANKS FOR LETTING ME BEND YOUR EAR AND SORRY FOR THE LENGTH OF THE

EMAIL. IT IS JUST SO HARD TO GET OUR POINT ACROSS WITHOUT GOING

INTO DETAIL. I WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND USE THE

REPORTS YOU PROVIDED TO HELP MAKE OUR CASE TO FEMA, HOMEOWNERS

INSURANCE COMPANY, STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS. I WISH THE " BAKER

PLAN " WOULD GO THRU. IT SEEMS TO BE THE MOST INTELLIGENT WELL

THOUGHT OUT PLAN TO HELP EVERYONE INSURED AND UNINSURED IN THE

RECOVERY PROCESS.

GOD BLESS AND THANKS AGAIN FOR THE INFO. YOU WILL PROBABLY BE

HEARING FROM ME AGAIN. I WISH I COULD GET THE GOOD DOCTOR TO TEST

ME FOR THE TOXINS. DO YOU KNOW IF HE IS STILL IN THE AREA?

SINCERELY,

JANE