Discovery Part 10
Story resumes from here...
So, yea, I wrote that letter to the Governor the night before and I'm waking up now. Around 10:00 am I receive a phone call. The gentleman on the other end of the call says, "Hello, Mrs. G.?" in a strong, Dragnet "Sgt. Joe Friday" type voice.
Me: "ummmmm, yes?"
Dragnet voice: "Mrs. G., I have a letter that's been forwarded to me from the Governor's office" (he's with DBHS)
Me: ...........
Dragnet voice: "Tell me what's going on"
Me: spills out everything that has been happening like a dormant volcano that's been waiting to erupt for a century
Dragnet voice: "Mrs. G., you moved a rock today. You are going to see what the system is supposed to do for your son."
After a few more details discussed I am informed that my son will be picked up today and that my son will be admitted to the hospital.
We petition the UPC again and before I call to check if they accept it the police are at my door. Our son is taken to UPC and the next day transferred to an acute care type behavioral hospital.
Really, should it be this hard? Imagine your husband or son is having a heart attack and you have to get the governor involved...
And so we are in shock and awe of what just occurred. We sigh a huge sigh of relief...yet it's only temporary...
Our son is in a facility we are unfamiliar with, in a terrible part of town (par for the course!) and we start the whole game...ehem, I mean process over again. After a few days the pressure begins again to release him. I hate with my entire being the place where my son is for care, yet I know it is the only choice for safety as we work to stabilize him. Not only that, our son gets punched not once, but twice by another patient. Because my husband and I are being "difficult" in the staffings...they bring in the big guns: the director.
We are bamboozled by flattery, "Why Mr. and Mrs. G., I admire you...what you have been through...blah, blah, blah"..."Why there are some fine group homes in the Valley, I have some great connections, your son can be placed in a temporary respite care for a few days while we wait for approval..."...
So we fall for it. We are tired, we are desperate. We agree. But then two days later we get word via our son's case mgr. that the respite care is full and that our son is being transferred to a loosely guarded residential apartment type facility in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Those illustrious group homes are not available either. My husband looks it up on the map and realizes that this is ground zero for drug use among other things.
It was a bait and switch.
There was no way in **** ....yep, my husband went to pick him up.
So, yea, I wrote that letter to the Governor the night before and I'm waking up now. Around 10:00 am I receive a phone call. The gentleman on the other end of the call says, "Hello, Mrs. G.?" in a strong, Dragnet "Sgt. Joe Friday" type voice.
Me: "ummmmm, yes?"
Dragnet voice: "Mrs. G., I have a letter that's been forwarded to me from the Governor's office" (he's with DBHS)
Me: ...........
Dragnet voice: "Tell me what's going on"
Me: spills out everything that has been happening like a dormant volcano that's been waiting to erupt for a century
Dragnet voice: "Mrs. G., you moved a rock today. You are going to see what the system is supposed to do for your son."
After a few more details discussed I am informed that my son will be picked up today and that my son will be admitted to the hospital.
We petition the UPC again and before I call to check if they accept it the police are at my door. Our son is taken to UPC and the next day transferred to an acute care type behavioral hospital.
Really, should it be this hard? Imagine your husband or son is having a heart attack and you have to get the governor involved...
And so we are in shock and awe of what just occurred. We sigh a huge sigh of relief...yet it's only temporary...
Our son is in a facility we are unfamiliar with, in a terrible part of town (par for the course!) and we start the whole game...ehem, I mean process over again. After a few days the pressure begins again to release him. I hate with my entire being the place where my son is for care, yet I know it is the only choice for safety as we work to stabilize him. Not only that, our son gets punched not once, but twice by another patient. Because my husband and I are being "difficult" in the staffings...they bring in the big guns: the director.
We are bamboozled by flattery, "Why Mr. and Mrs. G., I admire you...what you have been through...blah, blah, blah"..."Why there are some fine group homes in the Valley, I have some great connections, your son can be placed in a temporary respite care for a few days while we wait for approval..."...
So we fall for it. We are tired, we are desperate. We agree. But then two days later we get word via our son's case mgr. that the respite care is full and that our son is being transferred to a loosely guarded residential apartment type facility in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Those illustrious group homes are not available either. My husband looks it up on the map and realizes that this is ground zero for drug use among other things.
It was a bait and switch.
There was no way in **** ....yep, my husband went to pick him up.
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