There have been and will continue to be many ups and downs, trials and tribulations along the way. I'll try to keep you posted.

The same night I was approved for Medi-Cal I almost died. Here's a copy of the letter I sent to the Hemet Valley Hospital.

I've decided to call this event "Nightmare in Hemet"

To whom it may concern,

On January 16, 2008 at approximately 8:30 P.M. I was deathly ill and knew I was dying from an infection, that was shutting my body functions down. I didn't have a bowel movement for approximately 4 days and it was getting harder to urinate. I was in excruciating pain and needed emergency medical help.

I was just approved by Medi-Cal, because I have End Stage Liver Cirrhosis, caused by a blood transfusion back in 1988. Your hospital already had this information on file because I had gone their a few weeks prior for excessive vomiting and a double ear infection. However, the infection spread to my teeth and throughout my entire body.

And because of the unbearable pain and suffering I went to your hospital under the pretense that they could at least help with my emergency needs, however after waiting for about a half an hour we were called to the back and the nurse on duty decided without doing any tests or letting me see a doctor decided all by herself that my condition was not life threatening. I explained to her that I think I'm dying, because of my liver problem and can't go to the bathroom and I'm in horrible throbbing pain from my tooth infection that I needed some emergency help such as anti-biotics and possibly something to help me go to the bathroom. I was also hoping to get something for the pain, however relief from pain wasn't my biggest problem, but in fact I was dying.

The nurse became extremely adamant that my medical problem was not life threatening, and that they don't do dental work. I told her I wasn't expecting dental work, but rather something to help deal with all the poison in my body.

I pleaded with her a little more, but she insisted that my problem was not life threatening and they would not be able to do anything for me. I asked her what I was supposed to do, because I was dying and needed help. I also told her I have Medi-Cal and they would pay for anything I needed, but she still declined to help. So I asked her if there were any other hospitals in the area. She said they're not going to be able to help me either.

So my wife asked her if she should take me to Riverside County Medical Center, or Loma Linda, but she stressed again that they would not be able to help me either and that I needed to go to a dentist. I was so frustrated and sick that I went home and tried to lay down and possibly hold out until the morning when I could figure out what to do and where to go, but I also told my wife that I didn't think I would make it till the morning.

So my wife insisted that I go to Riverside County Medical Center and at least try to get some help. At first I argued with her because I was too sick to go and I didn't want to wait in line again to find out they wouldn't help me either, as your nurse was pretty sure that they would not help.

I thought this was ridiculous because I have Medi-Cal and your hospital would have made thousands of dollars for all the help I needed, after all I wasn't expecting Hemet Valley Medical Center to do this for free, as I have Medi-Cal and according to your information you do take Medi-Cal. So I couldn't figure out why this nurse would turn me away with my medical condition and diagnose me without doing any tests.

Furthermore, I thought that admitting nurses were not supposed to give medical diagnosis, especially without running any tests, but this nurse decided all by herself that I was fine and did not need to see a doctor, or even go to another hospital. This is why I was so frustrated. I had Medi-Cal, I have End Stage Liver Cirrhosis and my body was infected and poisoned and I needed emergency medical care.

After giving in to my wife and deciding to take a chance in hopes that your nurse was wrong and that I could get some help, I went. After getting admitted they immediately took me to an examination room and performed several tests, including blood tests, urine, EKG, and other important tasks in order to find out why I was so sick. Within a 1/2 an hour they discovered that I was in critical condition and was in fact dying from blood poisoning, which required immediate mass doses of anti-biotics and a flush, which enabled me to have a bowel movement and thereby release some of the poison and also eliminate most of the stomach pain.

After running additional bacteria tests they discovered I was totally septic from head to toe and most likely would have gone into convulsions, comma or died, as my body was shutting down from the poison in my blood stream.

Needless to say I was telling the truth as the records will prove that I was critically ill and dying, same thing I told your nurse, but she was adamant that whatever was wrong with me was not life threatening.

I'm not quite sure what to do about this yet, however I'm very concerned about what she is telling other people. It seems to me that she's not good for business. Her medical diagnosis prolonged my pain and suffering and almost killed me, thank God my wife insisted that I go to a real hospital, otherwise I would not have lived until the morning, as my temperature rose to 103, my blood pressure was 207 over 94 and my body functions were shutting down, not to mention all the stress and pain on top of the fact that I'm waiting for a liver transplant. I don't yet know what other damage this has done to my body.

The admitting nurse at Riverside county hospital knew I was in critical condition because of my End Stage Liver Cirrhosis, as I simply do not have the capacity to fight off infections like normal people, but your nurse mis-diagnosed my condition and she is not even a medical doctor. 

So if I remain silent and you don't respond and take care of this life threatening problem she could hurt many other people with bad medical advice.

My name is Stephen Joseph Gliksman, my birth date is 5/27/57 and my home phone is (951) 282-2164, so that you can verify who I am and that I was in fact in your hospital on January 16, 2008 at approximately 8:30 P.M. And you can also check the records and find who the non-physician on duty admitting nurse was so you can deal with it. 

Currently we live in Hemet, but she's made it impossible for me to get help in an emergency situation, so I'll have to drive to another town to get help, unfortunately I have a real problem with bleeding and sometimes need help, but I'm too afraid to go to your hospital so I may have to travel as much as an hour away. This is a shame, because it's not only my problem but everyone else in the Hemet area are at risk.

If you have any other questions you can call or e-mail. 

I have a question for you. "What are you going to do about this" ?

Awaiting your response

Steve Gliksman 

Their first response:  Thank you for your letter Steve.  I will look into your issues.  I will
be sending you a form letter acknowledging your complaint and will
follow-up with a personal letter when I have all of my facts together.
I will be in touch soon.

Thanks,

Lisa Anderson

Update: Their response 1/25/08:

I received a letter from the Hemet Valley Medical Center, dated January 25, 2008. Signed by Annette Greenwood (Administrator).

She stated they are going to completely investigate this situation that happened December 14, 2007.

Here's the problem: As stated in the original letter that I sent to them, the date of the incident was January 16, 2008 at 8:30 P.M.

Either I'm getting the run around or someone changed the facts, or they never bothered to read the letter.

According to this latest letter they're going to investigate something that never happened on December 14, 2007, but it did happen January 16, 2008. Therefore they probably will conclude there is no record showing that I was in the emergency room 12/14.2007.

And people wonder why I put my trust and confidence in God only and not in mankind.

Clinical diagnosis of sepsis, (the blood poisoning I had):

After going to Riverside County Medical Center, where they gave me the proper medicine, care and referral to get that nasty tooth extracted I'm starting to feel much better.

Update: Their latest response 2/04/08:

I received a letter from the Hemet Valley Medical Center, dated February 4, 2008. Signed by Annette Greenwood (Administrator).

Annette said, after reviewing the facts of the incident discovered that the nurse in question exercised poor communication skills. She said they gave her strict counseling and education.

I then responded on 2/06/08 with this e-mail:

I'll keep you posted.