April 17, 2009

The Honorable Dennis Bonnen

State Representative

....Austin.., ..TX..  ..77515....

Dear Mr. Bonnen:

My husband and I have completed your survey.  I have also included this letter to just tell you my story and to let you know how some of us out here are just trying to make it.  I am really not sure where to begin.

We once had a really good, middle-class life.  We both worked hard, paid our bills on time, paid our taxes, and raised our kids.  My husband works for TDCJ Clemens.  I am working part-time for a psychologist in ....Lake Jackson.....  We live in a small house just outside of Angleton.  I was a special ed. Teacher working in ....Damon.., ..Texas.... with the world’s most wonderful kids.  I had experienced more than my fair share of loss and adversity, but life was still good.  Now, a little background to bring you to my current life, if you can call it that.

In May 1984, I married.  Two weeks after my wedding, my grandfather died.  It was sad, but he had lived a long and full life and didn’t suffer long.  My mother had been dealing with cancer since August of 1983.  This was also the month that I bought my first home, a trailer, all on my own.  In June of 1984, my mother died.  I was five months pregnant and didn’t quit crying for months.  She was my best friend.  I thought it was the hardest thing I would ever do.  Not by a long shot.

I graduated from ....Brazosport.. ..College.... in 1988 with a 3.6 GPA, working full time and going to school.  That was also the year my 32 year old brother died of a cocaine overdose, leaving six children and a wife who lost her mind.  It devastated my family, which was quite large at one time.  I was the second oldest of seven.  Robert was the third.  On a positive note, I remarried to a wonderful man in 1991.  He is my rock, my heart’s passion.  He keeps me from totally losing my mind.  Other than that, 1991 was really a bad year.  I was fired from my job at the Fair Association, accused of stealing.  The real culprit was revealed years later.  However, vindication years later did not help our financial straits at the time.  I was pregnant when I was fired and it happened two weeks after my husband had severely hurt his back on the job and was unable to work.  I was denied unemployment, appealed, and won.  The day I won was while I was lying flat on my back, confined to a hospital bed due to unknown problems with my pregnancy.  I stayed like that for nearly 2 months, not knowing what was wrong or if my baby would be all right or not.  They could not get a good ultrasound because I had no amniotic fluid.  On Friday, December 13, 1991, I had an emergency C-section.  My baby son lived ten hours.  I later found out I was environmentally poisoned working in the Fair Office.  We never had an autopsy because my husband is Catholic, but this was the determination of the genetic counselor.  At this point in my life, I thought this was the worst that could ever happen, but I was so, so wrong.  I went back to school full time in January 1992 to UHCL and graduated Cum Laude that May.  In July, Richard finally got to have back surgery to repair two shredded discs in his back ten months after his on the job accident.  Also, in 1991, we almost lost Richard’s sister to leukemia (45 days in intensive care) and in January of 1991, Richard’s father died of a massive heart attack at the age of 59.  The family was totally shocked that this big, powerful man was gone just like that.  No one would help us bury the baby, not even my rich uncle, the lawyer.  He said it was not really a person.  I used my unemployment check to bury my baby. 

In 1993, I lost my dad, my uncle and my grandmother.  In 2000, I lost my sister, Jennifer, at the age of 36 to neuro-endocrine carcinoma.  She was diagnosed September 1 and died September 20, 2000.  What a fandango of a funeral!  I can’t tell you how many I have been to or given the eulogy for.  My eulogies are famous and highly requested!  What a claim to fame, right?  In 2001, right before 911, I lost my big brother, Pat, at the age of 48 due to severe complications from a double transplant.  He was a diabetic who had a kidney and pancreas transplant.  In 2003, my rich uncle the lawyer died from complications from several surgeries.  He was also a diabetic on dialysis.  In 2004, we lost my wonderful mother-in-law very unexpectedly.  All this time I worked full time and completed my education at UHCL and became a special ed. Teacher.   

December 27, 2004, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  There is no scarier announcement one can hear as your life flashes before your eyes.  I left for Christmas break and could not go back.  When I returned in May for a visit with my soccer mom wig on and barely able to walk, my kids (students) looked at me as if they hated me for abandoning them.  That was so awful.  I did 6 months of chemo, had surgery on August 25^th, 2005 (my anniversary).  Two days after the drains came out, we evacuated for 23 hours (Rita) to get to ....Dallas.....  We also stopped in to see my gorgeous, 6’6”, 30 year old nephew Sean at ....Parkland.. ..Hospital.....  He had been there since July 3, 2003, lifeflighted from ....Abilene.....  He had stopped to help an old man broken down on the side of the road.  He was run over and had 22 breaks in his skull.  He was even unplugged and stuck in a room and the family was told he would die.  But he didn’t.  He is now back in ....Abilene.... with his 80 plus year old grandmother taking care of him.  He is confined to bed, even though at one time he walked.  He has a wife who lives in another town and just wants that check.  There is no one advocating for him or looking out for his best interests medically.  So he wastes away.  Another great, continuing sorrow in our lives.   

After surgery, I had six weeks of radiation with your brother.  On into 2006, I dealt with various problems, having different kinds of therapy for different side affects from the cancer.  Another super bad year.  However, my cancer wasn’t even a blip on the radar of my life in comparison to the kicker that was coming.  And now for the thing that I can never recover from.  My awesome, 6’5” genius IQ, beautiful, talented son, Travis, was in a bad wreck in ....Galveston.... on Halloween night.  I had just gotten out of the hospital October 25^th.  They said I had an infarcted spleen.  Two thirds of it is dead and does not work.  We drove back and forth from Angleton to the hospital in ....Galveston.... to see him.  On his birthday, November 19^th, the pain in my spleen was so bad I went to the ER at UTMB.  I got a couple of pain pills and was told to get out and see my regular doctor.  However, I could not do that.  I had been kicked out of Angleton-Danbury by my former PCP after my stay in October.  I tried and tried and could not find anyone who would be my doctor because of my dismissal by my former PCP.  Meanwhile, I was trying to keep going so I could be with my son at UTMB.  I was kicked out of Angleton-Danbury by my then PCP, Fernando Tschen, because I wanted him to talk to my doctors at M. D. Anderson to see if my infarcted spleen had been caused by any of my cancer treatment.  He refused, went ballistic, and cussed me in my hospital room in the presence of my two daughters and husband.  I made a complaint to the hospital and received a letter in November of 2006 that I would be receiving a reply to my letter within two weeks.  It never came.  I even sent a certified, three page letter to the head honcho of the place (Angleton-Danbury) about the whole deal and never received a reply.   The reason why I wanted him to confer with M. D. Anderson is because I had a catastrophic illness insurance policy that would have paid me $400.00 per day if my stay had been cancer related, and we sure could have used the money.  A few months after I was in the hospital, this nut case, Tschen, was arrested for stabbing and beating his wife in front of his 2 young daughters.  He was eventually convicted, lost his medical license, and was found to be hooked on pain pills!  No joke, but did I ever hear from ADH?  Not hardly.  I went to the UTMB clinic Monday of Thanksgiving week (2006).  Again, I was urged to get a pneumonia vaccine.  I finally acquiesced.  That was my proposed treatment from Tschen, that and an anti-coagulant shot in my belly.  However, I did not want any kind of shot in my belly because it took them (the clowns at Angleton-Danbury) three tries to get an IV started and I have excellent veins.  I was afraid they would miss.

Then, the world changed forever when my wonderful son died the day after Thanksgiving.  I became deathly ill from the pneumonia vaccine.  (They said I wouldn’t.)  Therefore, I was not with my son when he died.  They also lost his clothes and I almost went to jail on that one.  I had called and had been assured they were there.  “Just talk to the ER nurse when you get here.”  I still have trouble breathing just thinking about Travis and all the circumstances of his death and the sorry state of our lives without his shining spirit.  The world had now officially ended for us.

Yep, I did everything right.  When I was working, I had excellent health insurance through the state.  I had short and long term disability.  I had the catastrophic illness policy.  I even had a separate 403b savings account.  We survived by going through my disability and my teacher retirement.  Then we started living off credit cards, and we had excellent credit, so we managed to do that for a while.  Now, they are all suing me.  All the while I have been working at any part-time job I can find, cooking for people, cleaning houses, anything to make money and applying for any and all jobs I can.

Needless to say, after my son died, we all totally lost our minds.  Each day is a struggle to get out of bed, to go on.  Some days are bearable, almost normal.  I can keep the screaming in my heart and brain turned way down, almost off.  Then, someone will say something, a song will come on the radio, I’ll see a date close to November 19, 1984 (Travis’ birthday) or something, anything right out of left field, and the day is shot all to hell.  You crumble under the weight of the grief.  Unless you have buried a child, I just can’t even describe it to you.  The weight of it all is so incredibly magnified when all the sons you can possibly ever have are in the ground, plus all the other family members who are gone before their time, and so very much missed.  To make my Swiss cheese life even holier (hah!), in April of 2007, my dead brother’s (Robert) 19 year old son, Bobby, had pulled over on I-45 after a very minor fender bender.  He called his big brother and asked what to do, as he had never been in a wreck.  Another 19 year old going 100 mph swerved off the road and cut him in half while he was writing down information to be exchanged.  Now my sister-in-law is officially crazy.  In June of 2007, my husband’s sister, Irma (with leukemia) died and the entire Ortiz family went crazy, as she was the rock of that family.  At that time, I was taking Colleen to Texas Children’s Hospital for the Weigh of Life Program for her weight.  She loved it and had lost weight every week, even if it was only a little bit and she was so proud and thrilled with her progress.  When Irma died, they advised Colleen to discontinue the program because we “had too much going on” with the death of Irma.  Colleen was devastated and felt rejected once again.  She spiraled even farther downward.  Right before my birthday in October, my aunt (former wife of rich uncle Farrer) was found by my cousin in her house after being dead for four days.  Someone even walked up to me at the house, police tape and sheriffs still in the house and said something to me about the curse (on my family) still continuing. 

In November of 2007, at 3:00 in the afternoon, I was rammed from behind by a big truck as I sat at a yield sign on Hwy. 35, going to pick my daughter up from the Middle School.  I was rammed again from behind in February of 2008 sitting at the red light of 288B and Cannan.  The seat belt totally screwed up my chest and neck because in the first wreck I was not wearing my prosthesis.  Then I started having seizures.  I even broke a chair with my head going down to the kitchen floor.  I don’t remember, but my husband told me.  The neurologist says I could not drive.  Period.  For six months or we could lose everything if I happened to be in a wreck.  I could not get disability (because I was a teacher) or SSI ($20.00 over the income limit) even though seizures are a totally disabling condition because you are not allowed to drive.  But I kept driving, desperately looking for a job, praying no one would smack me again.  Even though I had worked since I was sixteen, I could not have my money.  I would have had to pay into Social Security five out of the last ten years to get any kind of disability.  When I contacted Teacher Retirement, I was told I would have received $150.00 per month (with seven years service) if I had not already exhausted my retirement.  And people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher!

Meanwhile, my 40 yr. old sister (youngest of seven) had been living in ....Norway.... for 10 years.  Not a citizen, mind you.  She got hurt goofing around (not job related) and then the government said she should have physical therapy because her neck problem could not be corrected with surgery.  This went on for several years, with all of her bills, medical expenses, transportation, shrinks, and counselors paid for, courtesy of the Norwegian government.  Then, they decided she needed to go to school to become rehabilitated.  She was attending a private, international university in ....Oslo.... (once again all bills paid) when my son died.  The lovely Norwegians decided after awhile that she was just too depressed to continue going to school in ..Norway.., so they decided she needed to be back in ....Texas.... for her mental health.  Her school choices?  UT ....Dallas.., ..UT.... Austin, or A& M.  Pitiful choices, one and all.  So now, she is living in a posh, $1150.00 per month apartment in ....Austin...., driving a brand new Altima!  As John Stossel would say, give me a break!  Check the irony of that!  Meanwhile, we are trying to make it.  My husband, after fourteen years, clears $1959.00 a month at his job as a Maintenance Supervisor at Clemens.  I am making $8.00 per hour working 2 days a week for a psychologist in ....Lake Jackson.....  He freaks if I work more than 10 hours per week.  I have three more payments on my truck.  We have great insurance, but can’t use it because we can’t afford the co-pay.  We would be homeless if it were not for the incredible folks at TDECU.  They have worked tirelessly for us.  My 13 year old daughter sleeps on the floor because she still wets the bed and we had to toss her last mattress back in February because it was ruined.  I apply for every job I can find.  I finally got an interview a few days ago, for a position as a flight follower for a helicopter outfit at the ....Brazoria.. ..County.. ..Airport...., working Saturdays and Sundays for $10.00 per hour.  But I didn’t get that one either.  My daughter has shoes that hurt her feet and I have no money to even buy her some shoes.  We have borrowed from everyone we can and have paid most of them back.  I paid off all of my student loans, too.  My beautiful, sweet 13 year old (Colleen) weighs 332 lbs. and I am desperate, frantic to get a job so that I can send her to ....Wellspring.. ..Academy.... to save her life.  Wellspring is an outstanding place and insurance pays part of it, but I just cannot afford my share.  She also won a $12,000.00 scholarship for 6 months, ($2,000.00 for each month) but she couldn’t go because I didn’t have a job that would allow me to make the payments.  She was so devastated.  But I was sure I would get that job because my friend had been begging me to apply for the position.  Her Behavior class had gotten too large and they needed to split it.  I have experience working with ED youngsters.  But who got the job?  A 24 year old (male) right out of college (back in December) who was not even a certified teacher.  Diabetes is very strong on all sides of my family and my husband’s family.  The medicine Colleen takes through Gulf Coast Children’s Center is so strong that she has to regularly have her blood monitored.  Her fasting glucose is too high, and I am so afraid.  I have already buried 2 children.  I cannot lose another.  Oh, I forgot about the twins I lost back when my brother was being life-flighted to ....Houston.....  That was such a small blip.  Obesity is not high on the list for insurance companies.  But they sure will cover you once you develop diabetes.  I have seen the horror of that, up close, far too many times.

So, there you have it.  I am at the end.  I give up.  My husband of 22 years blames me for everything because I won’t get a good job.  If I did, the non-stop pain from the mastectomy and the stabbing, never ending burning in my spleen and the problems with my neck and chest from the wrecks, well, I don’t even know if I could do the job of teaching.  It is extremely rewarding, but very difficult and very stressful.  I just don’t know if I could do the 60 plus hours per week again.  But I have to.  I have to save my daughter.  It is so hard to be nearly six foot, on top of the world and go to a place where no one wants me, no one even sees me.  I am invisible.  They would be better off without me.  However, how would I get buried?  We have never even paid for my son’s funeral.  My husband feels like he cannot leave his job because if I ever got cancer again, I would not be covered.  So, here we are.  I try to be grateful, but it is really hard when we struggle to have enough to eat.  I told my husband I cannot go out there and beat up people and make them interview me or hire me.  I even had the resume’ expert at Texas Work Source help me with my resume’ and she said with a couple of minor changes, it was excellent.  My kids are on free and reduced lunches and they are grateful.  Too hungry during the day to worry about being embarrassed.  And they are both GT, straight A students.  They never get to go to a movie or even rent a movie.  Our internet is now turned off, can’t pay it.  My wrecks?  I did finally find an attorney that would take them and they will settle someday, but by then we may not have a house, and we have lived here for 14 years.  I can’t catch a break and the AIG CEO’s are getting millions for doing a bad job.  No one will even give me a try.  My last interview I even told the president I would work for free on a trial basis, but to no avail.  Where is my bailout?  What about my daughters?  Does anyone care?  Are we all invisible?  Thanks for listening.  Can’t type any more.  My arm is hurting and my spleen is acting really badly.

Sincerely,

Kelly M. Ortiz

7-22-09 UPDATE

I opened an account back in June or May for my friends to donate to on behalf of raising the application fee to get Colleen into Wellspring.  They wanted to know why I didn’t attend my last class reunion as I had attended all of the previous ones.  I told an old friend of mine (from elementary school) the whole deal.  I sent her a copy of this letter.  They all sprang to my assistance, which was extremely gratifying, and in no time Colleen’s account was just a couple of bucks shy of $1,000.00!  Wow!  Our dream could come true and my daughter’s life could be saved.  Then, the bank attached her account and froze my account (still have 3 or 4 hot checks out there that I don’t know when I will be able to pick up because I had no idea the bank freeze was coming.  I did have money in my account to cover them, so it was by no means intentional.)  They used those donated funds to pay one of my mortgage payments.  Now I have taken money under false pretenses (in effect) and Colleen will not be going, once again.  I can’t face them.  But I will pay them all back some day.  Her weight is now at 340.  I haven’t told her yet that she will once again be returning to hell, (AIS) where it is open season on her, the target of unrelenting teasing and torture.  My propane tank company has sent the account for collection.  Why they have not come for the tank is a mystery to me.  When it runs out, the tank may explode and we only have a few weeks left and no way of knowing how to pay them or how to get more for winter so we don’t freeze.  And I can’t even get an interview with AISD!  When my son died, I contacted the school and asked that Raven’s (my eldest daughter) teachers be contacted about the death of her brother and to please understand and look out for her.  That never happened.  I was walking down the hall going to substitute there one day and a teacher walked out (GT teacher who had taught Raven as well) and asked, “How’s Travis?  What is he doing these days?”  Then, I walked down the hall and faced a room full of feisty 8^th graders.  And I did it.  I don’t know how.  A few weeks ago late one evening, we were standing in the yard as we heard Colleen’s precious little dog she had raised from a puppy be eaten by a coyote out in the pasture by our house.  We never found him.  We went a few weeks later and got a puppy on Saturday from the Angleton shelter.  On Monday we were at the vet with a puppy that had Parvo.  You have no idea the devastation this has done to my precious Colleen.  I need to work TO SAVE MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE!!  The Angleton community has forsaken my children.  We ask for nothing except a chance to be productive and work and live.  I am a damn good teacher.  I have so much more to give to students.  I have the patience, the passion and the empathy to make a real difference in the lives of our most special students.  The weight of it all is crushing the life from us all and no life preserver.

Kelly Ortiz

Dear Ones,

Today I had lunch with Becky, Brian, Josh, and Josh's little step-son, Payton.  For those of you who may not know, Becky is my brother Robert's widow and his kids, Bobby's brothers.  There were two people, one of them me, sitting at that table wearing Gentle giant t-shirts.  I got to sit there for th e whole  meal and see my beautiful , laughing, life loving Bubba staring right back at me.  I had been unable to quit crying up until then.  They all cheered me up so much, I just wanted to keep eating forever so I could just see him.  Today he would have been 24.  What an incredibly powerful light went out of the world nearly two years ago.  The loss of him each day is almost unbearable to endure, for me, the girls, and Richard.  Thank you, Josh, for coming to see us last night.  He was on his way to the cemetery to share some cognac with that big ol' teddy bear.  As Josh pointed out, he sure loved the stuff, especially the primo stuff but not like he would ever buy any for himself, but he sure knew people who would.  That was him all over.  Just wanted to say to you all that I love you and miss you and nkow that you are missing him as much as we are today.

Love, Kelly