"Welcome to Wenatchee! Apple Capital of the World." If you are thinking of moving to Wenatchee, thank God for the apples. You're gonna need 'em over here.
Wenatchee is currently taking applications for any new resident who is healthy, rich, conservative, and, did you see the ad in The Wenatchee World?
"...Must enjoy hunting, gossip, and be willing to tow the line. We are looking for residents who will be mutually beneficial to our town, who will support the PUD, the CWH, and the NRA.
There is a small space for protestors of the War in Iraq, whose placard 5 gatherings on the corner of Mission have greatly reduced the need for speed enforcement Wednesday nights. When former City Dwellers brighten up and honk their horns, we tolerate the blast as we support the right to be heard, and find horn honking to be a fundamental right. (Don't tell anyone...but...we have even been known to import Seattlites to be "hippies for a day", who dance and beat drums in tie-dye during the protest, to appease our fringe sect of Democrats).
There is also plenty of room for migrant workers, in certain parts of town where housing is more affordable, as well as diverse!, as our registered sex offenders help to keep costs low. Some migrant workers find they prefer our orchard cabins over proximity to the thriving nightlife, and still others find economical rates at our county jail. (Please note, any overrepresentation of migrant workers in jails to the total population is only evident after apple-picking season is over, in the Winter, and before it's begun, in the Spring. We do our best to give migrants the chance to get fruit off of the trees, and are able to fill empty beds, in Summer and Fall, with citizen DUIs and cagefighter flesh.)
Those who believe they may fit our requirements and preferences, are welcome to call our City Hall hotline and fill out an application. Once your application is received, if you are in our higher income bracket, we will file your application and you are free to move on over. If you are in the lower income bracket, we will coordinate a meeting between selected leaders and officials from the town, to answer any questions and go over your Care Contract. The Care Contract is an agreement between your family and our town, that states we have agreed to enter into a relationship, which, if it ceases to be one of trust or mutual benefit, may be terminated at any time, whereupon your family will receive a 30 day notice to find a new provider town. Those with applications from the middle income bracket will be decided on a case to case basis."
In Wenatchee, the largest employers are the Hospital and medical clinics (medical community), and the PUD (Public Utility District). Everyone needs healthcare and utilities. There is little competition among the healthcare and utilities providers. As Wenatchee is not part of a sprawling metropolitan, but is isolated, residents are at least 1 hour away from the next even smaller town, and over 2 hours away from a small city (Spokane or Seattle). Residents have little choice in healthcare providers, and the providers stick together or are pushed out of business by the majority. It is an extremely conservative town, with a predisposition to gossip and disregard for rules that protect civil rights. Those who were not raised here are regarded with suspicion.
Wenatchee is not so small that gossip and rumors are finally replaced with the truth, where a newcomer is in constant contact with others who must accept the facts. Wenatchee has a small town attitude, but has grown, so that the "inner circle" is preserved and certain newcomers are selected to join, while other newcomers are in the periphery and have only specific and select contacts, and are therefore hardly "known" by others on a day-to-day basis. In this situation, what begins as gossip mutates into a gross "truth" that is believed by the majority and transmitted to all, and to other newcomers as well. Once an opinion is formed, it is nearly impossible to contradict that opinion, especially if the opinion is held and communicated by one in a position of authority or influence within the community. Others, who are on the outside even if raised here, are tolerated somewhat better than newcomers, and yet all who are lower income are susceptible to discrimination, arbitrary prejudice, and stereotypes. In such a town, the town becomes entwined with the most important businesses, one which happens to be the medical community, and this has far-ranging implications for those who question anyone or anything. One doctor's word over that of a patient is sufficient to add a patient to the town blacklist, and if contested or questioned by the patient, other doctors can be depended upon to support the first doctor, mainly out of the hope the favor will one day be returned. The Good Old Boys Club, in Wenatchee, WA, is the most popular and influential church. I would then say the Catholic Church is probably second.
My experiences with this Club, have been so shocking I had hoped to draw it out at a later date, when I have more energy to devote to writing. And yet, when my rights are being trampled this very moment, right here and now, AGAIN, when I have already tolerated quite a lot from this medical community, I am compelled to give my account for what goes on here, for others, and of course, with my specific experiences. Right now, I am in serious danger, with regard to my healthcare. It has ceased to be healing, and I am being harmed. I had thought I was past that, as I had a few months of relief and life quality. But I have been thrust into the strangest position again, and I know it is unethical. While my situation may be on the extreme end, I know others experience similiar things, and some cannot write about what happened. I can't imagine.
A major part of my bad experiences and harm now, directly involves chronic pain,--the treatment in this town, and state of Washington, and what kind of inhumane leverage can be weilded by doctors and medical staff who abuse their authority and privileges", and the politics involved.
Everyone knows the saying: "an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" I find it amusing, to think about this proverb, and the abundance of apples in this town, and the lack of quality care. If only I could cure my injuries and disabilities with apples. My pain issues and injuries, were not the result of poor nutrition, lack of exercise, or substance abuse. I was injured by direct trauma and "accidents" involving automobiles, sports, and malpractice. I was never the driver, and I was not able to control events in any situation. Yet, I am punished for having pain, and medical professionals, who are fully aware of legitimate documentation of my injuries and pain, have attempted to prevent my access to pain relief, at every turn, knowing this causes harm and distress. Part of this is due to the fact that some here were responsible for some recent injuries incurred. The convient excuse is that I am not targeted and that this is only about recent laws in Washington regarding narcotics. In my situation, personal and political agendas are pursued by manipulation of laws, slander of me, and unethical excuses for violations of HIPPA. In many ways my situation is unique, and in other ways, it is one example of how healthcare and health professionals can prejudice ones care and harm their patients.
If I could eat an apple to treat my pain, and was not dependent and reliant on narcotics, I would not be at the mercy of others. Because I am in need, dependent, and must rely on someone else to write a prescription, I am vulnerable. I am disabled further without painrelievers that work, and discriminated against for my disabilities. And this information and knowledge has been used against me, by those who have taken an oath to "do no harm".
While I know my situation is political and I am harmed by those who know better, in general, I have even wondered...About this area, in Eastern Washington, which is so paranoid about prescribing narcotics (not for the rich, just the poor)...I think, if an apple a day keeps the doctor away...what about narcotics? what if narcotics everyday keep a doctor away? Perhaps when all the doctors refuse to prescribe, there is more business--more office visits with people complaining of their pain and injuries, and more business for everyone too. If someone is turned down by one doctor, and the doctors know they're all going to turn the person down, it's one visit after the other. Also, there is a high rate of malpractice in this area. And a high percentage of cover-up. If someone needs narcotics, or diagnostics for a surgery, or a surgery, if the doctors band together and refuse these things, that patient is unable to discover how bad it is and build a record or chart to take to a malpractice attorney. By refusing narcotics, a doctor could also be attempting to prevent documentation of new damages and pain and suffering.
Some paranoia is because of misinformation and lack of education or lack of personal experience with pain. Other paranoia is possibly legitimate, regarding patients who divert their prescriptions and doctors who get in trouble when they are innocent.
But the doctors here in Wenatchee are way overboard, and specifically prejudiced against those who are poor or don't have the best social connections. I've heard many stories, by people who are afraid to share, because they don't want to get cut off from their prescriptions. When doctors have power to prescribe, knowing a patient is reliant on them, and especially when it is made SO difficult to find another doctor, they have absolute control. If they get mad, they can punish the patient by cutting off the prescriptions, and then claiming the patient was found to be drug-seeking. Usually, people believe a doctor and not the patient, unless the patient has high social connections and in that case, a doctor would never dare do such a thing. When one finally finds a doctor who will prescribe narcotics, in this area, and the person is in a lot of pain without them, they will do almost anything and tolerate injustice to get what they need. They will see malpractice and look the other way. They will witness deaths that could have prevented, and refuse to testify, because they have already seen others being punished for speaking up about things, and don't want to get cut off. They will endure abuse even, some will, to keep their prescriptions. For the 2 people who died in Washington last year, from narcotics overdose or abuse, how many thousands suffer in severe pain? Lets face it, if the rich have pain, they are believed and they get a prescription. If on a rare occasion, that's not the case, they can pay out of pocket for a dealer and have some of the better and best connections in the drug rings. The poor are not getting "connected" to high profile dealers or kingpins. But the rich are. And while the rich have a substance abuse rate that matches lower class, or is actually higher, the media and medical professionals distort reality and focus on the poor who are not as savvy in methods of concealing their use. Some of the biggest users I've known, who I only knew because I'd known them in high school, now have their own private law firm. In one case, his brother is an officer working for state police, and knows about it. Nice how that works out. I was offered money by a former boyfriend for my leftover Oxycontin after a serious and painful knee injury/operation/graft. Did I do it? No. I believe I flushed them because at that time in my life, only a few years ago, I was hopeful I wouldn't need them anymore. And yet some of the biggest users and dealers I"ve known personally, the ones who even brag about concealing it from police, have no problems with their medical care because they are "professionals" and not poor. I, on the other hand, have a history, prior to injuries, of refusing to take even aspirin, prefering to "tough it out". But I'm considered, along with every other lower income person, to be "at risk". Instead of cutting poor people off of prescriptions, because of a cultural bias, the doctors who so appreciate the prestige of caring for the rich patients, need to take a second look at where the "diversion" is really happening. Doctors are not afraid of offending the poor, but expect to see cocaine powder on a nose before they risk offending the rich.
I have been rambling. I'll have to get into the facts in the next day.
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