Made a Mistake

I made a mistake.  My aunt was not put in a nursing home as I understood it, she was coerced into an assisted living facility.  That even makes it worse.  Assisted living means that there is nothing to prevent her from living in her home with a little help which she can afford to pay if it was not for my cousin who is forcing my aunt to abandon her home.  In 2014 it was so she did not have to cook.  And this time (2016)  so she could make new friends.  Tell me how ridiculous is that.  My aunt likes to prepare and eat her own food as she is a clean nut when it comes to food, and making new friends at her age ... really, she is over 100 years old. She has her church family. My aunt is being abused.  The barrier for her to tell the truth is shame in not wanting to admit that she has been manipulated and used by my cousin, Allan Barton.

I got an email from Allan's lawyer saying that I am upsetting my aunt. And I am not allowed to contact Ms. Burden ever again.  How can I possibly be upsetting my aunt when I have not talked to her since July 4 2016, the day when Allan told me that her house was being sold and when I told my aunt she said that he cannot do that. She is in Vernon and I am in Vancouver and I have not spoken to her since.  It is impossible for me to go to Vernon or even phone her.  My aunt is not upset over me, the only people that are upsetting her are the ones who are coercing her to do what she really does not want.  When this happens it is abuse.

I remember one time I recycled an envelope and sent her a card.  She phoned me and said that I was not to do that again.  What would people think about her getting such an envelope from her niece. I had crossed out a name and put her name and address on the envelope with a new stamp.  It shamed her to get such an envelope. Her values are not current, they are from eighty years ago.

One thing I do not understand why is it that she has money and yet she is being subsidized by the government when she does not even need nursing care.  Every time I think about this situation more questions need to be answered.  I was told that Allan is not accountable to anyone except my aunt who he is abusing.

And after her death, he is not accountable to anyone except himself as he is the executor of her Will.  Confidentiality only breeds corruption.  He does not have to disclose anything. How can anyone enforce the terms of a will if no one can see it.   He does not even have to tell anyone that she died. 

When I asked Allan on July 9, 2016 where Helen was he would not tell me. He said it was none of my business.

Czech Republic Rejects Euthanasia

The Prague Daily Monitor reported that the Czech Republic has rejected euthanasia.  This is counter to the Carter decision which said that it is okay to have collateral deaths.

"In these countries (countries where euthanasia is legal) cases of clear misuse of euthanasia have been proved, aimed to vacate hospital beds, as well as cases of family members pushing for euthanasia for dubious reasons, and also unpunished cases of the failure to observe the conditions set by law."

Euthanasia "would be incompatible with the protection of life from the conception until its natural end."

Counties for the people do not permit euthanasia. Countries for profit permit euthanasia.
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I asked the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons if euthanasia (MAID) was health care or not.  Because if killing is not health care, then they cannot offer it as health care.  The College has not answered me.
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The more I am into what is happening my opinion is that the health authorities are enemies of the state. They will do anything to hasten a patient's death if they decide a patient is wasting $resources.  It is called bio-ethics. Bio-ethics is what newly-schooled physicians are being taught.

There is a new book just published called The Age of "Do Harm" Medicine.  My new bible.
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I was a witness to an incident where my aunt was snake-oiled by Interior Health to agree to a plan of care to which she never was fully informed of her options. I was told that my aunt had already made her decision and she could not change her mind. That was a lie.

It was a repeat of what happened with me and Randy in 2012 that I was to respect Randy's decision to have a DNR. I suspect that family is told this and family respect whatever the snake-oil people sell them.   The family goes away not even knowing what a DNR is. The nauseating part of this is that the family is forced to abandon the patient as they do not know any better.  Informed consent includes the right of anyone to influence a patient to change his mind by offering alternative options. Like, please do not do this as doctors make mistakes. Like you want a second opinion.  Like you want to talk to a lawyer.  Like you want to talk to a priest. Like maybe you might want to talk to "your wife." IUf a patient is intent on killing himself no one will deter him.

With my aunt, I told the health authorities that I could move to Vernon and live with my aunt in her home.  Between our pensions, there is enough money to pay for additional health care.  It was rejected.

The snake-oilers after I accused them of coercing my aunt into making a decision without informed consent turned it around and accused me of coercing my aunt. I was afraid for my aunt as once you are in a nursing home you die there as vocalized by Isobel MacKenzie. You always die in the middle of the night alone and you can be in pain.   And then I was told to leave. Okay I will leave but I will be back in a few hours I said.

I used the hours to phone my aunt's lawyer and my aunt's doctor.  The result of those two phone calls, I was purple dotted.  Dr. Gilhooly never called me back and the lawyer was disturbed when I told her that my aunt did not know what a power of attorney was, the lawyer, Debra Burden, drew up the power of attorney. Her defense was that she had twenty-five years experience and she knew what was she was doing. So what was she doing. She did not even ask  my aunt knew what she was signing. Dr. Gilhooly's office would not give me his email address or his fax number. Because of the urgency of this and the impending postal strike this policy of avoidance is unprofessional. The second time I phoned, his girl would not even allow me to leave a message. So much for reporting elder abuse to those who are to protect.

Informed consent also says that the patient has to have time to consider all options and understand them.  The next thing I suspect what will happen they will declare my aunt incompetent to make decisions because she could not understand things fast enough. At 100 plus 8 months it would be a foregone conclusion.  It does not matter how old you are when you agree with the snake-oilers you are competent.  If you do not agree with the snake-oilers you quickly become incompetent. And who would ever know as such medical information is confidential.

My cousin has bullied my aunt to the point where she can't make decisions for fear of offending him. A relative who put her in a nursing home so he can spend more time with his love interest in another City and is selling her home without telling her. He had to do this to make sure that he got the money as her Will said her home after her death was to be given to her church society. My cousin had no intention of following her wishes. The money would go into his pocket as confidentiality would protect him if he wanted to be dishonest because he does not have to tell anyone anything as he is the executor of the Will.  If there is no property, there is no need to probate her estate. Since this is the second time he tried this: put her in a nursing home and then attempted to sell her home.  The first time was in April/May 2014.

This mess is caused by my cousin and by extension it became the decision of the health authority to put my aunt in a nursing home.  Dr. Gilhooly should have never trusted Allan.  And he should have consulted with me as soon as he knew I was my Aunt's closest living relative and other options existed so that my aunt could remain in her home.  She did not need complex care, so it was not necessary for her to be in a nursing home at public expense.

As a note:  the worst snake-oilers are social workers. It is beyond my comprehension that doctors justify bad decisions based on biased social worker reports.  The social workers behave like they are a secret police force. Anything that can be construed as negative will be written down; opinions nt you can never see but the information will be shared.  Be aware.  Do not trust them. When I went to bereavement counselling as arranged by Coastal Health, the mental health worker knew more about me than I knew about myself.

And make sure no matter how old you are never sign a power of attorney. If you are labelled demented that does not mean you cannot make decisions.  And, think, are you sure you are demented or have just given up trying to reason with your relatives and it is easier for them to make your decisions.

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Indifference

I find it incredible to believe that my alerts to the authorities that my cousin, Allan Barton,was a abusing my aunt has met with nothing. Because my aunt is "competent" whatever that means does not mean that she is not being abusing.

This is the second time my cousin put my aunt into a nursing and attempted to sell her home from under her. He knows he is not a beneficiary under her Will as she is giving her home to charity so he has to get ahold of the money before she dies.  A power of attorney is a dangerous document in the hands of someone who thinks he is entitled.  A power of attorney is not a blank cheque.  Because Allan is also the executor of my aunt's Will, he does not have to tell anyone anything.  He is doing it now with the Power of Attorney.  He controls all the evidence so he cannot be made accountable.   If you are a crook it does not matter what the law says.

I suspect I am not considered credible but someone who has an agenda to defraud her has.  And the agencies will not do anything because they did not do what they were suppose to do in the first place.  As to her medical condition and housing she was not given informed consent.  All of them believed my cousin who said she needed nursing home care.  This is a lie. She has always had for the last two decades had hired help/companions.

A few years ago my cousin volunteered to look after my aunt, she did not want him to do so. To keep peace she just let him.  He made her redecorate her house at great expense.  She told me she did not want him to do it but like aways she agreed to keep peace.  The reason for the redecoration was to make the house easier to sell.  Of course my aunt did not know that.  He told her it was to freshen up the house.  Her house was immaculate and tasteful there was no need for him to force this on her.

In defense of my cousin, when he was young he was very very good, but now that he is old, he is very very bad.

I was at a recent meeting where Isobel MacKenzie, BC Senior Advocate, said once you go to a nursing home you never leave. Helen escaped once in 2014 but this time she may not be able to if she does not have a home to go to.

I have no agenda except to follow what Helen told me and what I believe is her true wishes and that is she does not want to live in a nursing home and she does not want to sell her home. She told me some stupid reasons why Allan told her she had to live in a nursing facility.  I told her not to believe him and just say you want to go home. I do not know what happened after that as I have not been able to talk with her since. And when I tried to talk to Allen he said it was none of my business. My cousin is a control freak.

I cannot say Helen cannot be influenced to make a bad decision but at 100.5 years old who would believe that she has free will.  Being competent does not mean that she cannot be abused.

My cousin wants to spend all his time in Chilliwack. He has a love interest there. He wants to abandon Helen and leave her to die alone. He was never in Vernon full time anyways. He just supervised her care.

At her assisted care facilitly she does not have 24/7 care.  She only has a call bell.  Let us say she is in medical distress, her door is closed, she cannot access her call bell, what then.  Even if she could access her call bell what happens if a nurse's aid does not come running.  Helen might as well have a call bell at home with a direct alert to 911.

Prior to Allan's attempt to sell her home in 2013 I thought he would never try it again.  He did.  This time he did everything possible to poison my relationship with my aunt. Up until 2014 I had no problem with Allan.  My cousin worked for over a decade in nursing home administration so he knows how easy it is to defraud an elder.  He would have seen it happen every day at his work.

And for all the authorities I will be demanding how did they handle my complaint. Just telling me they investigated it is not going to to be good enough. What are they going to do, talk to the abusers: those that did not do their jobs.

Telling me that my aunt at 100.5 years and is allowed to make a bad decision isn't good enough. No one is so stupid to believe a woman of that age is totally competent.

Because her doctor, Dr. Tim Gilhooly, recommended that she be put in a nursing home because my cousin told him that would be the best place for her to go because he does not want to supervise her and there was no one else, is not true. Dr. Gilhooly is the one that cemented what would happen to her based on $administrative expediency. He did not want to determine if Helen had other alternatives.  He is more to blame than my cousin for forcing her to do something she does not want to as his true duty is to protect my Aunt from abuse.    He abandoned her. Therefore, he also abused her.  My first contact was with Dr. Gilhooly on July 4 2016.  He refused to talk to me although I left messages.  Instead of reassessing the situation he hide.

I cannot believe that no one understands what elder abuse is.  Lying to a senior is despicable.  And that means keeping pertinent information from her that would affect her ability to make a good or bad decision. And also preventing those that might be advising her.  From what is in the legislative acts a patient is entitled to have others counsel her and also for time for her to make a decision.  This is not what happened.

Just a note.  My aunt does not require COMPLEX care so there is no reason for her not to be in her home which is also the mandate of the government that seniors remain in their home for as long as possible. That means the health authorities and doctors have to have a good reason why they are being removed from their homes. Nursing homes are the place of last resort and not for the convenience of relatives. I have not been able to determine how much the government is subsiding/paying for her incarceration.  I am sure they are as she was getting home support from Interior Health.


I was just at a senior's meeting at Oakridge yesterday and the talk was about living in assisted/supportive housing. It took all my restraint to be polite and not to argue as to the cons..


In recent months I have been to three meetings about seniors and each one of them said no to power of attorneys because they are abused so frequently.  There is no need for someone to pay one's bills.  Pension monies are now automatically deposited and other bills can be paid automatically as well.  So what is the argument for them except to defraud.

The terrible thing about a power of attorney is that the giver can believe that she cannot tear it up.  She might not know or she might fear retribution from her family.

Isobel MacKenzie the Seniors Advocate of BC said that she has seen over and over again competent seniors being forced to believe that they are becoming incapable when in fact it is because those around her keep telling them and they soon become to believe it themselves or it is easier for them to acquiesce than fight. Who is to protect them.

Another note: once you are in nursing care, you always die alone.  Even if staff knows you are dying, and they do know, they will wait until the next shift who will call you.  And it is always a "painless" death in the middle of the night. And it is common for those with powers of attorney to tell the nursing facility not to contact them until the relative is death. Of course the relative does not know this and the relative dies alone and a natural death is not without pain.

Altruism

I suffer from Altruism. A perfect response when someone asks me why should I care. The problem with altruism is that no good deed goes unpunished.

Elder Abuse and Interior Health Authority

On July 4 2016 when I realized that my aunt was being elder abused by my cousin I did what is required report the abuse to Vernon Jubilee Hospital (Interior Health Authority) and they refused to do anything.  I was told my aunt was competent and that my cousin had a power of attorney. 

If they cannot recognize that elder abuse is usually done by those with powers of attorney then there is cause for alarm.  They tell me my aunt is competent.  So, what.  Does she even know that she is being abused. 

It was up to Interior Health to investigate suspected abused when it comes to serious decision-making that might affect a patient's health.

I was told by Vernon Jubilee Hospital when I asked for the name of my aunt's doctor so I could discuss this abuse they refused to give it to me as it was confidential.  What invasion of a person's privacy is that.  Even my aunt's wrist band which would tell me the name of her doctor was removed.  I was told that I would have to go to the abuser to get the name of the doctor.  The abuser would not even give me his cell phone number and he told my aunt not to give it to me either so how could I do that.

A few hours later I was told by the social worker/nursing that I was not to discuss my aunt's housing with her or I would get banned.  What a stupid demand when a patient has a right to privacy and to talk in private to anyone she wants to.  And she also has the right to be fully informed as to housing options not just what my cousin wants. And how would I know if she was being abused if I cannot discuss topics relating to her well-being. 

She did not need complex care so why would she want to go to a nursing home if she had a home of her own.

Elder Abuse and the RCMP

This past week I went to Vernon to visit my aunt who was in the hospital.  She phoned me and I decided to go and see her as she was there for ten days and no one called me.  I am her closest living relative.

To make a long story short I discovered my cousin was arranging to send her to a nursing facility with the complicity of Interior Health Authority.  My aunt is 100.5 years old and is reasonably mobile and reasonably competent but is subject to undue influence. In this case it was worse, she was given incomplete information as to her options for health care. No informed consent.

She told me that she did not want to go to the nursing home but she had to.

I asked the social worker why was that and was told that she might pee on her bedding in the middle of the night. And my cousin does not want to supervise her any more but he does not want to forfeit his power of attorney. For the past sixteen years my aunt has had paid help in her home. I told Interior Health to send her home and not to a nursing home. My aunt is capable enough: she does not need a power of attorney.

Later that day (Monday), my cousin, Allan Barton of Chilliwack, told me that if I returned to Vernon that I would have nowhere to stay as he was selling Helen's home.

It took me a few hours to process that information. Just before I left Vernon to return to Vancouver I  asked my aunt did she know Allan was selling her home.  She said no.  She said Allan cannot sell her home as she was on title. And she did not want her home sold until she died.

The point is I told the RCMP in Vernon that my aunt was being elder abused and it did nothing but give me stupid advice which was go see a lawyer. Why.

Elder abuse is a criminal offence (being the umbrella for other offences).  It is up to the police to investigate complaints and seek out the appropriate evidence and charge offenders accordingly.  This is done in Los Angeles within hours of a complaint the intent to stop the abuse from escalating.  So why is it not done here. It is all the fault of the mayor as he won't authorize a budget to pay for an elder abuse investigator.  The RCMP is too busy dealing with more serious issues, like giving traffic tickets.

And the City of Vernon is afraid that it might get sued as my cousin might sue them for harassment.  This is bizarre but as I sent an email to every member of council.  What blatant stupidity from elected officials. They should be looking after voters not just spent voters' money. Do you think my cousin the criminal is going to sue council. The much at City Hall are idiots. How did they even get elected.

When I phoned my cousin Friday evening, he told me it was none of my business where Helen was.  If I do not know where she is and the police will not help I am effectively banned so I would not be able to see her or know what is happening to her.  I suspect even her doctor will not tell me as it is confidential information. I left word a week ago with the doctor and today his receptionist would not even let me leave a message.

If anyone knows of elder abuse, the best way to deal with it is to speak out.  So I spoke out and those that should have done something did nothing. When I spoke to the RCMP it threatened to charget me for mischief.  He too did not want to listen to me.  This is why we have elder abuse and it is getting worse as more people learn that nothing is going to happen to them..  No one is going to spend their own dime to pay for a lawyer to try to eliminate a known abuse. Those that are suppose to protect do not and the abusers know it.  Even amateur abusers get into the act. It is so easy.

Theft by person holding power of attorney Section 331 and 336 Criminal Code of Canada

331 Every one commits theft who, being entrusted, whether solely or jointly with another person, with a power of attorney for the sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of real or personal property, fraudulently sells, mortgages, pledges or otherwise disposes of the property or any part of it, or fraudulently converts the proceeds of a sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of the property, or any part of the proceeds, to a purpose other than that for which he was entrusted by the power of attorney.

The RCMP in Vernon/Kelowna and also the Vancouver Police Department said that theft by a person holding a power of attorney is not a criminal offence as did Interior Health which should have investigated any allegations of abuse of a patient. They are all wrong. 

I hope the Vernon RCMP arrest my cousin, put him in jail with a cold floor and a pbj sandwich and then a week later ask him questions. Then, they can release him.   This is not the USA, my cousin does not have any civil rights. They might even want to arrest Chriz Mazurkewich, the CEO of Interior Health, who knew of this as well.  The two of them as they were/are partners in crime might want to become best friends in jail. I am sure there must be a charge of conspiracy to commit theft of elders if the house has not been sold yet which they can be jointly charged. I am with humour seeing a judge coming down on these two with all the power of the state saying "don't do it again."

What type of death is euthanasia

I am confused about Bill C-14.  Does Bill C-14 cause natural death or not.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia is not considered a natural death.  In Belgium euthanasia is considered a natural death.

I go with the Netherlands.

Fall Out from Bill C-14 and other mischief

From www.epcc.com    June 28 2016.   Italics are my comments.

What do you do when your husband has been approved for euthanasia and you are opposed to euthanasia? This is the situation that we (EPC) faced last week when we received a call from a woman who needed help and advice after her husband had been approved for euthanasia. Due to privacy, I cannot provide more information, but the woman, who deeply loves and cares for her husband, was emotionally upset.

There is nothing in Bill C-14 that addresses confidentiality. When it comes to end-of-life decisions nothing should be confidential. 

Today we received a call from a woman whose husband became quadriplegic from an accident and now the hospital is pressuring her family to remove his ventilator.

The family has nothing to do with the decision of the husband.   A few weeks later the hospital might remove the ventilator and say the patient told it to do it and the patient did not want his family to know.  Who would know. When it comes to medical treatment or end-of-life options, the family as a courtesy, will be involved if the doctor/patient feels the family will not oppose. Otherwise the family does not have to know.  the family will be told that he died from his underlying medical condition and not from withdrawal of his ventilator.  

End-of -life decisions before a patient is euthanized should be published in the newspaper.  If public money is being used to kill someone, then we the public should know who is being killed.