Great HospitalTo the Editor:To the citizens of the Santa Clara Valley, I want to inform you of what great care is provided at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. I had abdominal surgery on Wednesday February 26th and was released three days later on Saturday March 1st. During my entire stay, the staff was very friendly, caring, and professional. They answered all of my numerous questions, and provided me with anything I needed. They checked on me regularly, never leaving it up to me to have to ring for something needed. Every staff member I had contact with was friendly and outgoing, and often would come back to see how I was doing. They really personalized the visit.After my surgery I was informed by others in the medical field not associated with Santa Paula Hospital, that our hospital has some of the newest, best and up-to date surgical eqiupment in the entire county. This equipment allows the doctors to do surgical procedures without the need to open up the abdominal cavity. This eliminates large scars, is less traumatic on the body, and allows for a quicker recovery. This equipment was used on my surgery. I have had very little pain after the surgery, and will have a few small scars, which are less than one inch long.Let’s do whatever we can to keep the Hospital as a fixture in our community. Support whatever proposal is approved to keep it open. If we lose it, we will never get it back. Personalized care makes the difference.Roger BrooksSanta PaulaRE: “Outraged”To the Editor:It is nice to see Douglas Smith “Outraged” in his Letter to the Editor published on Feb. 14th. I’ll join him in being outraged but for a slightly different reason. He has every right to his opinion. Preferably, it would be nicer to have his facts correct.He writes, “Polls about this very divisive subject consistently reveal that about 60 to 65% of Americans prefer that a woman have the right to terminate those pregnancies safely and legally.”Gallup polls over the years seem to tell a different story. Date Pro-choice Pro-life Mixed/neither2000-JUL 50% 40% 4%2000-MAR 48% 43% 2%1999-APR 48% 42% 3%1998-JAN 48% 45% 3%1997-AUG 47% 44% 3%1996-MAR 56% 37% 5%1995-SEP 56% 33% 5%“Abortion Issues,” Gallup Poll, at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/indicators/indabortion.asp http:/ www.religioustolerance.org/abo_poll2.htmMr. Smith writes, “....RU486, the pharmaceutical method of terminating pregnancy proven safe and effective in France for a decade.”A chemical abortion involving RU-486, which goes by the trade name Mifeprex, followed by a second drug, Cytotec (misoprostol) which is unapproved for this purpose, has some serious complications including severe hemorrhaging, incomplete abortion requiring surgical intervention, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, severe cramping, and vomiting, The latest statistics show that the abortion drug fails to complete an abortion 8 percent of the time. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of the women using the pill have experienced some sort of pain when taking it, and 1 percent require hospitalization. www.cnsnews.com http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2000/cytote.htm Mr. Smith belittles Mrs. Kay Wilson Bolton about her concern that abortion ended the lives of 42 million Americans by writing, “I don’t think that is true.”Well, Mr. Smith, it is true. More than 25% of the younger generation has been killed. www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3026398.html Mr. Smith writes: “Dr. Bob Rubin said that the earth might be able to sustain a population of 4 billion humans, but now it has six, and climbing.”Well, Mr. Smith, if Dr. Bob is correct, just how does the earth support an increasing population that it can’t “sustain”? An unsustainable population has a negative growth rate. If there is a growing world population, obviously the world’s food supply is available to feed more than 6 billion people. Since we both know that there is starvation, the real problem is food distribution and poverty.Mr. Smith writes, “...each person can have moral or religious beliefs and practices as he chooses, as long as that doesn’t impinge on the rights of others.” Mr. Smith, what rights do those scissors “impinge” upon as they are inserted into the back of the skull of a partially born child? Mr. Smith, was that partially born child charged with some crime, brought to trial before a jury of his peers, convicted of some crime, a death sentence pronounced, and then it was legally carried out? No, it was simply unwanted by its mother. Unwanted, Mr. Smith, simply unwanted. Mr. Smith, where is our democracy for that partially born child? Science has shown us that human life begins at conception. All genetic characteristics of a distinct individual are present from the moment of conception. 65% of 67,000 respondents believed life begins at conception. www.time.com Nov. 11, 2002 A Zogby Dec. 2000 poll reports that a significant majority (58%) favor the president signing a bill to ban partial-birth abortions if Congress passes such legislation. In contrast, 32% believe the president should veto any bill Congress passes making partial-birth abortions illegal. That’s democracy, Mr. Smith.Mr. Smith laments the decreased funding for Planned Parenthood. Maybe Planned Parenthood can save a little money by not paying Ohio high school students $100 to be “outreach workers” who receive an additional $5 for each patient that they refer. U.S. Newswire, 25 Nov. 2002.Mr. Smith seems concerned about women not having a legal choice to end an unwanted pregnancy. I would imagine he wouldn’t want to go back to the dangerous pre-Roe vs. Wade times either, where a woman would be at the mercy of unlicensed providers. In 1972, the year before Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal, only 39 women died from illegal abortions. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5109.pdf Table 19, p. 28 Dr. Bernard Nathanson who founded the National Abortion Rights Action League admitted that the frightening 5,000 to 10,000 pre-Roe vs. Wade “back alley” abortion death statistics were completely fabricated. B. Nathanson, “Aborting America” Doubleday, 1979, p. 193.Mr. Smith, now that you know some of the true facts, are you additionally outraged but not at Mrs. Bolton?David SwansonGlendale
Letters to the Editor
March 07, 2003
Opinion
Thanks for the Prayers!
To the Editor:I always wanted to go to UCSD, but they didn’t offer my chosen major. Little did I know it would take a carcinoid (benign, slow-growing) tumor in my left lung to get me there!After years of watching my breathing get more and more laborious and noisy, local doctors recommended I seek out the help of the pulmonary and thoracic specialists at UCSD Medical Center. The surgeon proved his skill when I went in for surgery on January 8th. He removed the 1" x 3" tumor and managed to save my entire lung! They said my lung had become over 90% blocked - I thank God they found it and removed it when they did!The day after surgery I began experiencing complications; the first being that I aspirated, motivating the team of doctors to induce a coma and put me on a ventilator for 12 days. I “slept” through the critical periods, the pain from the surgery, and the other complications that ensued. As awful as it was to be in a coma, I had the easy part, as far as I’m concerned. It was my loving parents, family, and friends that had the hard part: waiting, watching, hoping, praying, and remaining strong and faithful. Once I was finally stable and my lungs were healing well, they took me off the sedation, paralytic, and ventilator. One of the first things I said to my dad was, “I’m not ready to give up yet!” He knowingly responded, “Of course you’re not. You’re through the rough part now.”After four weeks in the hospital in San Diego, with my mom by my side the entire time, encouraging me and helping me, I was released. I’ve been recovering successfully ever since, thanks to all the prayers and thoughts. Believe me, I felt and needed every one of them, and God responded! As someone said to me, I must have been levitating over that hospital bed with all those prayers.And now, ultimately pain-free and gradually regaining my strength and endurance, I want to thank everyone for all the love and support you’ve shown my family and me during this challenging, or should I say “character-building,” time. I can honestly say I’ve got a new lease on life - and a set of healthy lungs to boot! Now I’ve got some dancing to do! Thank you, all!Christina BartelsonVenturaDemocraticfreedomTo the Editor:Maiya Herrera wrote in last week’s Letters to the Editor: “...all of you people that protest, march and demean our President and our government policy are damn lucky you live in this country. If you didn’t you would probably be dead and nobody would care! My question to you is ‘Why are you still here?’ leave and don’t come back!”I agree with Ms. Herrera that I am “damn lucky” to live here in America. I’m concerned, however, because the last time I checked we still operated under a two-party (at least) system, and just because we lose at the ballot box we are not required to sit back silently and watch events without comment or involvement. In fact, for an active democracy we are urged to do otherwise.Whether I agree with the President or not about the war situation, I have a right (those “freedoms” mentioned by Ms. Herrera) to express my opinion about the political process in this country. Those are the rights fought for by previous generations, and I will cherish and utilize that right as a citizen of this democratic society.Suzi SkutleySanta PaulaSoroptimisthonorsTo the Editor:On February 19th the Soroptimist International of Santa Paula had the pleasure of honoring four outstanding women at their annual Women of Distinction dinner held at Logsdon’s Restaurant. Logsdon’s really set the stage with everything set up to perfection.We want to thank those women honored who are distinguished in their profession: Helen Butler for Economic and Social Development, Karen Karayan for Human Rights/Status of women, Mary Stillman and Margaret Booker for Education.Peggy Kelly, our Mistress of Ceremonies, gets a big group hug for telling their story as only Peggy can.A special thanks to all those on the committee: Leslie Cornejo, Cynthia Dunbar, Jane Lax, Teresa Badour, Laura Wingo and Rosemary Newby. With their help everything just flowed perfectly.Everyone enjoyed the evening and left with a warm fuzzy.Donna StewartChairpersonSoroptimist International of Santa PaulaHospitaltakeover fearsTo the Editor:I am distressed to hear of a certain petition being circulated at the request of Supervisor Kathy Long, in favor of the County of Ventura taking over our Santa Paula Hospital. If we in Santa Paula allow that to happen, all of the so-called middle class people of Santa Paula will not be able to be treated in Santa Paula. Not only inpatient, but no laboratory or x-ray. The Ventura County Medical Center CANNOT ACCEPT your HMO insurance. No Secure Horizons, no HMO Health Net, no Blue Cross or Blue Shield or Kaiser. The only insurance the county can accept is Medicare, Medicare, Medi-Cal, the County employee insurance coverage and any private insurance or PPO insurance. Is this what we want for Santa Paula? I listened while a person I thought was quite knowledgeable told me that the County would only be managing the hospital and would not dictate insurance coverage. Has the County ever only managed any project handed to them on a platter such as this? Think about it. I hear people who think Community Memorial Hospital is the villain because they “only offered a guarantee of keeping the hospital open for five years.” How many years does it take a business, either one that is brand new or one that has failed, such as our hospital, to turn around and make a profit? Guaranteeing five years is just good business. Community Memorial Hospital is not in the red. It appears to me that the administration knows how to run a business, and isn’t that what we need? I don’t know all of the 500 misguided people who signed the petition, but I hope they are either very wealthy and can afford to pay for their treatment in the County facility or they are on Medi-Cal programs, because we who are caught in the middle cannot be treated in the Santa Paula Memorial Hospital if the County of Ventura takes over.Joyce RoundsSanta Paula
