A Local Miracle

So last night, as usual, I was spending too much time on FaceBook (tm). Wifey and I had a very lazy weekend, with a throwback component. Saturday night we went to both the Falls and Dadeland, two local malls where we spent a lot of time when the Ds were small, but places I rarely go these days.

At Dadeland, I bought some water shoes for Maine, at Foot Locker, on sale for $19.99. I like when stuff I need is cheap. We then went to the Food Court, where Wifey and I would often eat when we lived at Les Chalet, and apartment building a few blocks away from the mall. Wifey got some Hate Chicken, which is what I call Chick Fi'let, since they're anti LGBTQrstuv.  I got some Thai chicken from, as far as I know, a politically inert vendor.

Yesterday we visited my suegra, with the added attraction of D1 and Joey! Rachel was in great spirits having us all there -- Joey marveled at how well she was doing for someone creeping up on 95. And then, to keep things 80s style -- we went to Canton, the Chinese place we often visited when Wifey and I were dating. But, alas, we avoided the honey chicken in favor of skinless chicken, vegetables, and brown rice...

So there I was, reading the latest from the world of social media, when I came across a post on Rabbi Lipskar's page. I call him Handsome Rabbi, since he is -- like movie star good looking underneath the beard. And his wife is a beauty, too. Not that one should notice stuff like that.

Anyway, there was a post called "Help Save Eliana," and it was an appeal for money for a little girl fighting a rare form of muscular dystrophy that will paralyze her without treatment. Well, there IS treatment -- a just FDA approved biologic that must be given BEFORE age 2. And, amazingly, it costs $2.2M for the single dose. To add to the drama, the little girl turns 2 on July 18, and the drug cannot be given after age 2.

The whole thing struck me as fantastical, though Rabbi Lipskar is a legit guy. So I researched both the rare form of the neuromuscular disease, as well as this "miracle cure." Turns out -- it's legitimate! The magic cure was just approved last May, and if the adorable girl, who looks like D2 at age 2, doesn't get it, she never would.

Apparently the family had health insurance, but the carrier balked. Knowing the evil these companies do, it wouldn't surprise me if some bean counter figured they'd deny coverage until payment was moot -- i.e., the girl exceeded the allowable age. I actually had a case like that years ago -- United Health refused to pay for a pancreas/kidney transplant, claiming it was "investigational." My old boss Ed and I tried the case in front of long deceased Judge Lenore Nesbitt, in Federal Court. We won, and won again in the Appellate Court -- bastards were willing to fight forever rather than pay. They ultimately DID pay (the client had borrowed the money for the transplant from friends), and our fee was minimal. The Magistrate, very conservative, didn't think we were entitled to more than about $100 per hour. It was the only ERISSA case I would ever handle.

I made a small donation once I learned the campaign was for real. The total raised was about $800k.

I checked this afternoon -- the campaign was a success! They raised well over the $2.2M needed. Over 23,000 people donated.

The little girl is going to get the miracle drug. Big Man willing, she will do tremendously well.

There is so much negativity and toxicity in the world. Often FaceBook is a vehicle for anger. I know I've "unfriended" a few people for their extreme political views. One very conservative friend "unfriended" me for always making fun of his Fox News made up posts. Interestingly, several of my extreme Lefty friends did the same -- they didn't enjoy my making fun of the likes of the anti semitic Congresswoman Omar.

But social media allowed a true miracle to happen today. It warmed me -- not that we need any warming in Miami in July.

I hope to hear wonderful things from this family -- a local miracle.