Sent the Following Email

Sent this email tonight to Carol, Cara, and Andrea (Wake co. social services):

Hi All,

It's 6:30 Tuesday evening and I feel as though I've taken two steps forward and three steps back as far as my goal of getting my aunt to NC in time for Christmas. It seems to me that someone, some time today, decided that because Cathy's "health care guardian advocate" has not approved for any information about Cathy to be given to me (and potentially anyone else interested in helping facilitate her transfer) that the hospital is, at this time, unwilling and/or unable to assist me with the necessary information to get Cathy placed somewhere in NC. I, of course, don't know for sure that this is the case, but it has been intimated. And since no one has given me a "level of care" form, or communicated to me that placement at a facility in NC is possible, or otherwise helped me get the ball rolling today, I can only assume that there is more concern somewhere (court staff? hospital staff? both?) about covering one's behind legally than there is about getting a sick, lonely, indigent woman reunited with her family.

I'm not at all saying that either of you are doing this, either intentionally or unintentionally--in fact I suspect that you are merely pawns at this point--but the bottom line is I have been told that my aunt has less than six months to live and I'd very much like to have her and all of her medication, medical records, social security distributions, and medicaid information transferred to NC so that she can spend what we have been led to believe is her last Christmas on earth with her family. This shouldn't be a difficult task. At least not as difficult as it's proven to be so far.

I need only a few things from you/someone at the hospital:

• A fax to Wake co. Register of Deeds/Dept of Vital Records stating that I need to pick up Cathy's birth certificate due to medical issues (and I need her birth certificate to obtain an ID for her so we can put her on an airplane).
• A level of care document that we can show to potential facilities in our area.
• Proof that Cathy has SSI and Medicaid once she gets to NC (Andrea, this is something you can do for me, I hope.)
• A list of Cathy's current medications, including dosage and frequency, and at least a month's worth of meds to take with her out of Florida.

If her "guardian advocate" (and I keep putting that term in quotes because 1) I firmly believe the court has not followed the law appointing this person and 2) as far as I can tell, there's been zero advocating for my aunt on the part of this person) is what is keeping the process from going forward, well, legal or not according to Florida law, a crime is being committed against my aunt, myself, and the rest of my family. At some point, common sense and human compassion--i.e. what is RIGHT--should override whatever "the rules" are. And that is not happening in this case.

As you can tell, I'm frustrated, I'm angry, and, more than anything, I'm sad. My aunt has, indeed, had a rough life. She is, in fact, not the most pleasant person to deal with. But she's still a human being, with feelings and emotions, and no matter her transgressions, she deserves to be treated with the same dignity, respect, and concern we all are entitled to as human beings. Most of us cannot even begin to imagine the sort of horrid experiences Cathy has had for the entire duration of her life. It's amazing, truly, that she has lived as long as she has and that she's doing as well as she's doing. So please keep in mind, and remind the others on your staff to keep in mind, that Cathy is a real person and they have no idea what her whole story is, so please, be kind to her. And please, please, please, I'm begging you, help me help Cathy get back to NC and to her family.

Many thanks and kindest regards,

Carmen Zepp