41: Sue Chapman, Heather Long and Chris Reilly – Why Were Margaret and I Cancelled? 8 October 2024

 

Margaret was at death’s door on Tuesday 22 November 2022.  She had 4 broken vertebrae in her back and “several” broken ribs.  She had undergone emergency stent implants n her right kidney, duodenum and common bile duct.  Her weight had dropped off her dramatically.

On Thursday 17 November, the oncologist had rung Margaret and told her that he had persuaded a drug company to provide her with a course of immunotherapy treatment for free.  Unless the treatment had been provided for free, she would have died within days.  We did not have the money to pay for the immunotherapy.  The cost was $7,870.00 per treatment and the oncologist said Margaret would need 32 treatments.

I left Margaret in the treatment area in the Tennyson Centre and then settled in for the long wait for the treatment to be completed.

While I was waiting, I sent this message to the “friends” who had cancelled her and me and who clearly did not give a damn about the impending death of their “friend” of between 40 and 50 years.

I think my message that day was extremely restrained.

This is the message I sent while Margaret was barely able to cling to life.

 

What’s App Message Sent in Two Parts to Sue Chapman, Heather Long and Chris Reilly   Date                22 November 2022 Time:              Part 1, 12:26 pm Time:              Part 2, 12:27 pm   Hello Chris Reilly, Sue Kinnear and Heather Long. As I write this, Margaret is at Tennyson Centre having her final attempt at living a little longer. If the treatment does not work, she will be dead shortly after Christmas if she lives that long - and there is a very good chance she will not live that long. If the treatment works, then perhaps ... Although Heather has maintained contact with me since the bbq on 26 January last year, Sue and Chris have made great efforts to avoid coming anywhere near me. Chris, I last saw you at Yeti in August last year and you went out of your way to be as rude as possible - and you were very successful. Sue, the last time I saw you was 13 November last year when you looked like a kangaroo caught in headlights wondering what to do. You seemed astonished that I acted perfectly pleasantly to you. Well, I have been able to cope with your bad behaviour to me, but I think I should let you know that your bad behaviour to Margaret has been very hard to accept. The policy of punishing Margaret for being married to me is hard to accept - and it has had extremely bad effects on Margaret. Of particular concern is that you pretend that you are acting normally. Why have you acted this way? I presume it is because Anne Ryan has told you some big lies about why she decided I was no longer fit to associate with. Here are some facts. I documented everything that happened as it happened. The last time I saw Anne was in February 2021 when she supposedly came to discuss her behaviour on Australia Day. In fact, there was no discussion. She told me she no longer wanted anything to do with me and left crying. I was amazed. Anne did this to me even though I had lent her my car (free) for 15 months. I also restored her wooden box over a period when I was fairly sure my coughing was probably terminal. I thought I could not die with it unfinished. When Anne threw me in the bin, she threw Margaret into the bin too - and she persuaded the three of you to throw me into the bin too. As a by product, all four of you also threw Margaret into the bin too. Not one of you has seen Marg at home since, although Heather has tried but been unsuccessful. I am disgusted by your behaviour towards Marg. I have no hope at all regarding Anne Ryan. She arrived in Oz again on 21 October and has made no attempt to see her dying friend - obviously because of who Marg is married to. I am utterly dismayed that Marg could well die with none of you treating her with the respect she deserves - because of the actions of Anne Ryan. For the record, Anne was always seen by Marg as her very special friend - and she is utterly dismayed at Anne’s behaviour while still trying to convince herself that Anne is a decent human being. I have no such delusions about Anne. She is Marg’s Pretend Friend and nothing else. I am hoping though that you three might be slightly better. Why not do something radical? Ask me what actually happened? You have nothing to lose - and you might even regain some respect in my eyes. For the record, I was hospitalised for 4 weeks last year and near death on several occasions. Marg had to endure that too. Why did that happen? My body went into shock because of the behaviour of Anne Ryan.

 

As I wrote this blog, it is Tuesday 8 October 2024.

I am still waiting for a response from Sue Chapman, Heather Long and Chris Reilly.

****

 

 

 

Margaret and I visited the Isles of Lewis and Harris in Scotland in September 2017.  This was taken on Tuesday 12 September.

 

This is a photo of Margaret on 12 September 2017 with her great “friend” Anne Ryan.

 

40: The Battle to Make the Health Insurers Obey the Law - Part 3: 7 October 2024

To recap, Margaret had a surgical procedure on Wednesday 1 December 2021 which revealed that her death was close. 

The surgeon did a second operation in the evening of Friday 3 December.

Just before the surgeon did his operation on 3 December, I emailed my very first letters of complaint about our health insurer ignoring the law.  I sent written official complaints to HCF and the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

As soon as she could after the 3 December operation, Margaret phoned me to say I could bring her home.  With no intervening treatment between the operations on 1 and 3 December, the cancer had shrunk so dramatically that the surgeon told Margaret she could go home.

I know with certainty that Margaret’s life was extended because I had decided to force the health insurers to obey the law.  I knew I would never permit the health insurers to continue scamming cancer patients who used the services offered by Lift Cancer Care Services.

At that point, I did not know that the then Australian Health Minister Mr Greg Hunt, senior officers in the Australian Health Department who reported to Greg Hunt, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and a wide range of other government agencies had zero interest in stopping the health insurance scams.

An objective, outside observer might well form the view - yes this is indeed legal jargon, but there are good reasons for the jargon - that the Minister, the Health Department and the Ombudsman had secret reasons for wanting to allow the health insurance scams to continue.

****

These are the responses I received from the Ombudsman to my letter of complaint sent on 3 December 2021.

Email received on 14 December 2021

Our Ref: PHI-2021-101690  Dear Thomas Thank you for contacting the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman about the issues you have experienced with HCF. Your complaint reference number is PHI-2021-101690. I have considered the information you have provided. In this case, I am giving HCF a final opportunity to resolve the matter with you directly. I have escalated your complaint to a senior staff member of HCF for further review and response. The insurer has been asked to contact you within 3 business days to discuss the issues you have raised. Once the insurer has reached an outcome with you, they will provide our Office with a copy of the response. If HCF does not contact you by close of business on Monday, 20 December 2021, or you are dissatisfied with the response and want to pursue the matter further, please contact me by email at ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au or on 1300 362 072.  Thank you for raising your concerns with this Office. Kind regards, Sarah De Sade Complaints Officer Private Health Insurance Commonwealth Ombudsman Phone:   1300 362 072 Email:     ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au Website: ombudsman.gov.au

 

I sent this reply to the Ombudsman on 20 December 2020

Attention: Sarah De Sade   Dear Sarah, Thank you for your email dated 15 December concerning my complaint regarding HCF. In your email, you advised that you had given HCF a “final opportunity to resolve the matter” with me directly, that you had “escalated” my complaint to “a senior member of HCF for further review and response” and that I should contact you again if I do not receive a satisfactory response from HCF by close of business on Monday 20 December 2021. I have received no substantive response to my complaint from HCF and I therefore request that the Ombudsman intervene to resolve this complaint as soon as possible. This is the response that I received from HCF by email at 4.10 pm today Monday 20 December 2021. “Dear Mr Hankin, HCF have recently been approached by the Office of the Private health Insurance ombudsman (PHIO), querying your HCF policy, specifically services received by Lift Cancer Care. Firstly, we wish to acknowledge the concerns raised. We are actively investigating this matter and continue to do so, during this time we will be in contact with updates and to provide our response once we have finalised our review. If you do have any questions, we can be reached on 02 9290 8872 between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday, AEDT or by email on jlindsay@hcf.com.au Please let us know if you have any questions.   Kind regards,  Junita “

 You may have already guessed it, but these emails were the most informative emails I got from either HCF or the Ombudsman - ever.

The Ombudsman and HCF simply ignored my complaints.

From: Sarah De Sade <Sarah.DeSade@ombudsman.gov.au> Sent: Tuesday, 21 December 2021 1:05 PM To: johnhankin@internode.on.net Subject: Commonwealth Ombudsman complaint - Ref PHI-2021-101690 [SEC=OFFICIAL]   OFFICIAL  Dear John  Thank you for your recent email.  HCF appear to have responded within the three day timeframe requested by the Office to advise “we are actively investigating this matter and continue to do so, during this time we will be in contact with updates and to provide our response once we have finalised our review”  In my experience internal fund investigations such as this can take anywhere upwards of 10 days to complete depending on the complexity of the issues.   Our Office will need to wait until there is an outcome from HCFs review in order to decide if there is anything further to pursue in this case.  Please note that our Office closes for Xmas shutdown from 24 Dec – 4th Jan.   Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Kind regards  Sarah de Sade   Senior Complaints Officer  Private Health Insurance COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN phone 1300 362 072 email phi@ombudsman.gov.au website www.ombudsman.gov.au  The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and present.

 My wife and other patients of Lift were deadly ill because of cancer but the Ombudsman did not give a rat’s arse.  It was irrelevant that Margaret and the others might die if they did not get the treatments their health insurance was supposed to guarantee them – but it was vitally important for the Ombudsman to tell me how much it respected Australia’s unnamed Aboriginal elders past and present.

There was no further correspondence from either the Ombudsman or HCF in 2021. 

 

 

 

****

 This was Margaret with her “wonderful” friend Anne Ryan on 18 April 2018, 2 years before her cancer diagnosis.  This is the same Anne Ryan whose cancelled Margaret and refused to come to her funeral on 31 August 2023.  Anne told me that her retirement pension from Maynooth University was €63,000 per year.  She is prosperous and definitely had the money for the air fare to Adelaide for the funeral.  I ensured the gap between Margaret’s death and the funeral was sufficient to permit her to come to the funeral.  

I took the photo of Margaret and Anne Ryan during a visit to the Buddhist Temple at Sellick’s Hill, south of Adelaide.  The temple is beautiful.

The photo above is of the statue of the Boddhisatva Kwan Yin, located at the temple.  Kwan Yin is the embodiment of compassion and Anne expressed great admiration for the qualities of compassion represented by Kwan Yin

 

This is Margaret in Ireland with Aine Ryan, wife of Paul Ryan on 1 September 2017.  Paul is brother of Anne Ryan.  Neither Paul, Aine nor their daughter Paula had the decency to send any messages of condolence to me when Margaret died.  I have no idea what they were told by Anne Ryan to make them act in such a despicable fashion, but the lies told them must have been great whopping lies.

 

39: The Battle to Make the Health Insurers Obey the Law - Part 2: 6 October 2024

To recap, Margaret had a surgical procedure on Wednesday 1 December 2021 and the operation revealed that cancer had spread and death was close.  Despite what he saw, the surgeon scheduled another “look see” operation for about 6.00 pm on Friday 3 December.  Margaret stayed in hospital.  If she had gone home, the covid restrictions would have prevented her from being readmitted to the hospital for the follow up operation. 

****

Throughout Friday 3 December 2021, I worked frantically on letters of complaint to our health insurer HCF and to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.  In theory, the Ombudsman was the government agency which, in conjunction with the Australian Health Department, enforced the laws governing private health insurance.

At about 4.30 in the afternoon, I emailed this letter of complaint to HCF.

Dear HCF, My name is John Hankin and I write to lodge a serious complaint about what seems to be a systemic refusal by HCF to respond to claims for reimbursement of medical expenses which are clearly covered by the policy of private health insurance which my wife and I have had with HCF since 2014. My membership number is xxx and the policy covers both myself and my wife Margaret Redden. My wife Margaret was diagnosed in July 2020 with what may well prove to be incurable ampullar cancer of her ampullar. My understanding is that the ampullar is a junction point just outside the pancreas where the bile duct and the pancreatic duct meet in a T junction. The growth of the cancer in this location is likely to result in the failure of the digestive system. If Margaret’s digestive system fails, she will die. Margaret commenced chemotherapy and radiotherapy in December 2020 and this treatment continued through January 2021. The cancer went into remission in March 2021 but it surged back into renewed life in September 2021. As I write this letter of complaint, Margaret is an in patient in hospital receiving treatment. Part of the treatment program recommended by Margaret’s treating oncologist was attendance at a registered day hospital called Lift Cancer Care Services. My understanding is that when she attends Lift, she is admitted as a patient and given treatment by registered professionals. Each treatment consists of an initial medical examination by qualified medical personnel who then recommend an exercise program which is then undertaken on the premises of Lift. The exercise program is closely supervised by Lift personnel and adjusted on an ongoing basis during each treatment session. As I understand it, the aim of the programs provided by Lift is to increase the physical strength of cancer patients so that their ability to survive and gain benefit from the specific cancer treatments recommended by their medical practitioners, is enhanced. To be eligible to undertake the services provided by Lift, participants in the Lift program must have received a formal diagnosis of cancer and, in addition, their treating medical practitioners must decide that the cancer treatment regime is likely to be enhanced if participants take part in the Lift program. Margaret began to take part in the Lift program in January 2021. She has found the program to be of great benefit to her physical and mental health while she is in the midst of an extreme threat to her ongoing physical existence. The relevant legal relationship between Margaret and Lift is that Lift provides services to Margaret and in return for the provision of those services, Margaret has a legal obligation to pay the agreed amount for those services. In order to make the process as easy as possible for Margaret and for the other participants in its program, Lift acts as agent for Margaret and submits claims to HCF on Margaret’s behalf after the conclusion of each therapy program that Margaret attends at Lift. If and when HCH accept the claims made by Lift on Margaret’s behalf, Lift accepts the insurance reimbursement provided by HCF as full payment by Margaret for the services it has provided to her. As a matter of law, when Lift submits a claim to HCF under Margaret’s private health insurance policy with HCF, it is Margaret – or if you like, me as the official policy holder – who is making the claim under the health insurance policy. Lift is not making any claim on its own behalf. It acts purely as an agent to assist its program participants – every one of whom has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness. All actions taken by HCF in relation to claims made by Lift are actions taken not in relation to Lift but in relation to each and every patient on whose behalf Lift has submitted a claim. Lift has now advised Margaret and me that contrary to what we had believed to be the case, HCF has, for the most part, either responded with spurious and legally incompetent reasons for rejecting claims, or completely ignored the claims and not bothered to provide any response at all. Because of the callous disregard by HCF of its legal obligations under the policy of private health insurance between it and ourselves (and other cancer patients who have attended Lift), Lift has not been paid for multiple treatments provided to its patients. In Margaret’s specific case, as at the date of this letter, HCF has either refused to pay or completely ignored thirty (30) separate claims made by Margaret under our policy of private health insurance. Because of the callous and cavalier attitude displayed by HCF, Lift is now able to provide services only if patients pay for their treatment on the day of service and then seek reimbursement individually from HCF. I am utterly disgusted by the actions of HCF and under cover of this letter, I am now making 30 separate complaints to HCF about its failure to respond to its legal obligations under our health insurance policy. I attach as Table 1, a complete listing as at the date of this letter of all claims that have either been refused or ignored by HCF. This Table includes the dates of the treatments, the Lift invoice numbers, the item claim numbers submitted by Lift and – where a formal refusal of the claim has occurred- a statement of the reasons asserted by HCF as justifying the refusal. I also attach as Table 2, a complete listing as at the date of this letter of the seven (7) occasions on which claims have been accepted by HCF. I note that on six of the occasions when claims were paid by HCF, the item number in question attached to the claims was Item 37. All of the claims which have been rejected or ignored by HCF have Item 37 attached to the claims. On some occasions, HCF asserts – falsely – that Item 37 is not a valid item number, while on other occasions HCF has actually paid claims under this item number. The specific action that we require to satisfy the 30 complaints itemised in Table 1 is payment in full to Lift of the complete amount payable under our policy of private health insurance either to us for on payment to Lift, or payment by HCF directly to Lift as our agent. I stress that we reject completely any assertion by HCF that the claims in question are not payable because of the reasons set out in Table 1, viz – • Item number 37 is not a valid item number on HC21 claim form; • Outpatient services are not payable by HCF; • Please note that Item 37 is not valid; • Please provide valid item number for Hospital admission billed as it cannot be billed as Item 37. On each occasion that Margaret has attended Lift, she has been admitted as a patient, not as an outpatient. If item 37 is not technically correct, HCF has a legal duty to advise the item number that HCF asserts should be cited in the claim. We look forward to the speedy rectification of the matters raised in this letter. Simultaneously with sending this formal letter itemising our 30 separate complaints regarding the actions of HCF - and often failure to act - I have made 30 separate formal complaints to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. I have asked the Ombudsman to commence formal investigation of the complaints made to the Ombudsman once a period of fourteen (14) days has expired from the date of this letter. Unless we receive full satisfaction of all of the complaints set out in Table 1 attached to this letter by no later than close of business on 27 December 2021, action by the Ombudsman will commence. In the final paragraph of my letter to the Ombudsman, I have said the following: “Notwithstanding the fact that I have given HCF 14 days in which to respond to Margaret’s specific matters, the matters raised in my letter to HCF are of significant importance to all cancer patients. I understand that other providers of services similar to those available at Lift – and their cancer patients – have been treated in a cavalier manner similar to that in which Margaret has been treated. Because of the general importance of this issue to multiple numbers of cancer patients, it is probably appropriate that the Ombudsman investigate this matter because of the community wide nature of the issues raised in my letter to HCF, because of its general importance to the Australian community as a whole.  In my view, because of the community wide nature of the issues raised in my letter to HCF, immediate intervention by the Ombudsman is appropriate.” Margaret and I look forward to seeing a speedy resolution of her unpaid insurance claims. In addition, we hope that intervention by the Commonwealth Ombudsman will lead to a more general cessation by HCF of the reprehensible way in which it has treated other cancer patients in addition to Margaret.

 

My letter to HCF was completely ignored apart from a formal “yes, we got your letter and we are giving it a thorough investigation” response.

I expect companies such as HCF to treat complaints in a cavalier manner.  If government agencies such as the Health Department and the Ombudsman are known to refuse to enforce the law, companies such as HCF will routinely ignore the law.  HCF acted in exactly the way I expect big companies to act; insurance companies routinely reject claims that should not be rejected.

My letter to the Ombudsman was also completely ignored.  I received no communication of substance from the Ombudsman until a I got a phone call in very late January 2022.  The phone call told me that this was a very complex matter and that the Ombudsman would get back to me.

Unlike the health insurers, the Ombudsman was legally obliged to enforce the law, but it was obviously known to the health insurers that it rarely if ever did.  In my opinion, the relevant senior officers employed at the Ombudsman were almost certainly corrupt.  Incompetence makes no sense as an excuse.  The health insurers knew that neither the Health Department nor the Ombudsman would do anything of substance to enforce the law.  HCF ignored my letter because it knew it could ignore it and there would be no legal consequences.

My beautiful wife Margaret might well die if she was unable to access the treatments provided by Lift Cancer Care, but that was irrelevant to HCF.  In a competition to make more money or spend a little to save a life, HCF was always going to go for the money.

My letters were addressed to one company that was greedy and held the law in contempt and to a government agency that did not give a damn about doing its job.

****

But neither HCF nor the Ombudsman had the incentive to keep going in this struggle that I had.

At about 7.30 pm in the evening of Friday 3 December 2021, I received a phone call from Margaret.

Despite zero treatment since Wednesday 1 December 2021, the surgeon had the astounding news that the cancer had again retreated.  He told Margaret that he had never seen her cancer so small.

Margaret was free to come home that night and I made sure she did just that.

Margaret slept at home that night and her cancer had once again done something unheard of.

I had written letters demanding justice for Margaret and for all cancer patients.

My reward was another extension of Margaret’s life.

If keeping Margaret alive meant an all out battle with the health insurers, I would gladly accept the battle.

I would never willingly allow Margaret to die if there was anything at all I could do to keep her alive. 

If the health insurers had been able to read my mind that night, they would have known there was no possibility that they would ever win.  I was unbeatable for one simple reason – Margaret’s continued life – and the lives of many other cancer patients – depended on me forcing the health insurers to obey the law.

The end result was never in doubt after Margaret told me I could bring her home.  The only unclear aspect was the exact road which would lead to the insurers obeying the law.

 

Above is a photo of Margaret in Ireland on 20 September 2018.

View from our cabin window on 2 September 2016 in Alaska.

View from the deck of the ship in Alaska on 2 September 2016.

While Margaret was alive, we were like these two birds – joyously flying everywhere together.

 38: The Battle to Make the Health Insurers Obey the Law - Part 1: 5 October 2024

In March 2021, the cat scans gave us the astonishing news that Margaret’s course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy had been wildly and unexpectedly successful.  Before the grueling 6 weeks of treatment started in December 2020 (it finished on 20 January 2021), the oncologist had warned us that the likely most optimistic outcome would be an extension of Margaret’s life by perhaps another 2 or 3 months to perhaps April or May 2021 

I have already described the barbecue we held on 26 January 2021 to in effect jointly say goodbye to our friends.  That was the barbecue which was used as an excuse by Anne Ryan and most of our other friends to vastly reduce contact with Margaret and to completely eliminate all contact with me.

After the barbecue, none of our invited guests ever came to our house again.  In the wake of the cancellation, I became so ill that I knew death was close on many occasions.  I survived by grim willpower; I refused to abandon Margaret and force her to deal with her deadly cancer by herself.

We were both completely shocked when the March 2021 cat scans revealed that miraculously, the cancer had nearly vanished.  The stunned oncologist had no explanation for what had happened.

Margaret’s apparent cure happened just as my own struggle to live, became a grim daily ordeal to breathe, to eat, to stop coughing and to somehow cope with the agonising pain in my stomach.  My grim struggle to stay alive became a daily feature of my life on 26 January 2021 after the barbecue.  One result of our cancellation was my health collapse.

****

Once the chemotherapy and radiotherapy finished on 20 January 2021, the oncologist urged Margaret attend a licensed hospital called Lift Cancer Care Services.  Lift offers one on one supervised exercise – exercise medicine.  To undertake exercise medicine, the patient must be recommended for the treatment by the treating doctor.  Before any exercise therapy session can commence, every patient must be examined by a doctor.  All exercise therapy sessions were conducted as directed by the doctor, in light of the patient’s physical capacity on attendance.

****

Australia has both a publicly funded health care system and a privately funded health care system.  The private health care system requires that you have private health insurance.  If you have private health insurance – at least in theory - you do not have to wait months for a specialist appointment and then wait several more months for the public health system to provide give you with potentially life saving treatment.  The insurance – in theory – enables you to get treated before you ever could in the public health system.

****

We had full private health insurance.  This meant that if our insurer HCF obeyed the law and paid the money that the law said it was required to pay, the greater part of the cost of Margaret’s treatments at Lift Cancer Care Services would be funded by our health insurer HCF.

In theory, the system operated like this.  When Margaret attended Lift for a treatment, she paid the “gap” between what the government required HCF to pay to Lift Cancer Care Services and the fee actually charged by Lift Cancer Care for the treatments it gave to Margaret.  The gap fee paid by Margaret for her treatments – which were often twice per week in 2021 – averaged $20 per treatment in 2021.

****

In the previous paragraphs, I used the words “in theory” to describe the legal obligations of HCF and the other health insurers.  The legal theory differed a great deal from the reality.  The health insurers certainly knew that the government had minimal interest in enforcing its laws against the health insurers. 

I believe that a senior executive (or perhaps more than one senior executive) in the Australian Health Department had been corrupted.  I cannot find any other reasonable explanation for the refusal of the Health Department to enforce the private health insurance legislation.  The possibility of mere incompetence on a massive scale is in my opinion, extremely unlikely.

The “backstop” government regulator of the private health insurance legislation is a government agency called the Commonwealth Ombudsman. 

I believe that a senior executive (or perhaps more than one senior executive) in the Commonwealth Ombudsman had also been corrupted.  I cannot find any other reasonable explanation for the refusal of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to enforce the private health insurance legislation.  Once again, the possibility of mere incompetence on a massive scale by the Ombudsman is in my opinion, extremely unlikely.

****

 

In October 2021 we were told by Lift Cancer Care Services that our health insurer HCF and two other health insurers - Teachers’ Health and NIB - had for multiple consecutive months, refused to make the insurance payments to Lift Cancer Care Services that the private health insurance laws theoretically obligated them to pay.

As From 1 December 2021, we would have to pay the full fee for the services provided to Margaret by Lift and we would then have to have our own argument with HCF to extract payment from HCF of the money that the law in theory said HCF was obliged to pay.  Patients at Lift who were insured with HCF, Teachers’ Health and NIB would also have to pay in full on the day and then try and force their health insurers to pay what the legislation said they had to pay.

Lift Cancer Care Services did NOT ask its patients to pay the money that the health insurers had refused to pay in the past.  Lift Cancer Care was prepared to somehow find the “missing" money out of its own pocket

****

The news from Lift Cancer Care signaled the beginning of what became a desperate battle by me to force the three health insurers to obey the law.  It became very clear to me at the beginning of this struggle that the continuation of Margaret’s life depended on me refusing to allow the health insurers to continue to defy the law.

****

By July 2021 my own battle to stay alive had been successfully completed when my lung specialist worked out that my health issues had been caused by my own immune system.  Once I commenced injections every 4 weeks in mid July 2021, my health stabilized and I have had no significant health issues since then.

****

Within two weeks of my final stay in hospital, Margaret’s cat scan revealed that her cancer was back with a vengeance and that it had now spread into her lymph nodes.

My understanding of the lymph node system – as given to me my Margaret – is that it circulates fluids within the body.  It is similar to the blood circulatory system but different in that the one fluid it does not carry, is blood.  Once cancer has made its way into the lymph nodes, it has a super highway to every part of the body.  If it gets into the lymph nodes, the cancer is guaranteed the ability to spread everywhere throughout the body and kill.

****

The presence of the cancer in Margaret’s lymph nodes was confirmed by two “look see” operations and by a PET scan in August 2021.  We did our best to prepare for Margaret’s death.

On the second of the “look see” operation where the surgeon physically saw the cancer in Margaret’s lymph nodes, he took some tissue samples.  The oncologist looked stunned when he told us the result of the testing of the lymph node tissue samples.

Margaret’s cancer was still there, but she had made it disappear from her lymph nodes.  I have the written report setting out this unbelievable finding.

****

Although the cancer had been driven out of Margret’s lymph nodes, she still had the cancer; it most definitely had not gone away.

****

The surgeon decided to have another “look see” operation on 1 December 2021.  This was the date that the new payment arrangements were to commence at Lift Cancer Care Services.  This was the new payment system which became necessary because of the refusal of our insurer HCH, Teachers’ Health and NIB to make the insurance payments that the law most definitely required them to make to patients who attended Lift Cancer Care Services.

****

Margaret had her surgical procedure on 1 December 2021.

The result could not have been more depressing.  The cancer had spread and she needed to prepare for an early death.  Despite this, the surgeon wanted to have another “look see” operation on 3 December, so Margaret stayed in hospital.

Margaret told me on 2 December that when we had finished our coffee, she would visit Palliative Care on the hospital grounds to see what help it could offer in the final days of her life.

****

I did not know it on 2 December 2021, but I was about to start a grim struggle to keep Margaret alive.  My struggle was to ensure that Margaret and the other patients at Lift Cancer Care Services got what the law said they were supposed to get – payment of their treatment costs by their health insurers.

My grim struggle with the health insurers lasted until July 2022.  I kept it up because I knew that so long as I kept trying to force the health insurers to obey the law, Margaret would continue to live.  I knew that Margaret’s life – quite literally - depended on how I acted towards the health insurers.  If I let the insurers get away with their bad behaviour, she was doomed.  This meant – of course - there was never any possibility that I would let the health insurers continue to break the law. 

****

This is a photo of Margaret on Thursday 2 January 2020 while we were in New Zealand.  Before she became so desperately ill, Margaret always insisted on lighting a cigarette whenever I tried to take a photo of her.  Margaret lost 20 kilograms during the 9 days that we were in New Zealand.

 

This is a photo of one of the women Margaret wrongly believed was one of her close friends.  This is Sue Chapman; she holidayed in New Zealand with us immediately after Christman 2019.  This photo was taken on Thursday 2 January 2020.

Anne Ryan also holidayed with us in New Zealand just after Christmas 2019.  This photo of Anne Ryan and Sue Chapman was taken on Monday 6 January 2020 in Christchurch.  Anne and Sue were close friends.

 

Margaret and I visited Croagh Patrick with Sue Chapman and Anne Ryan on Monday 16 September 2019.  They walked with me up the lowest slopes of Croagh Patrick on that day.  Margaret stayed in the café at the foot of Croagh Patrick.

 

This is Margaret on Monday 23 September 2019.  We stayed in Killashee House to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of our marriage in Killashee House on 30 July 2009.  Margaret did her best to stop me taking this photo.

 

 37: King Arthur’s Lake – Martin Mere in Lancashire, Part 2: 4 October 2024

The Romans were fixated on war and killing.  Roman culture taught that the only society of any value was Roman society and the mission of Rome was to civilize the parts of the world it had not yet conquered.  In Roman thought, civilizing people and places meant that the people and places in question had to become replicas of Rome itself.  Anyone who opposed Roman ways was not simply someone who thought differently from the Romans, any such person had to be exterminated.  The Roman mission was very similar to that of Doctor Who’s Daleks - “Exterminate”.

But the Romans did not try and civilize the whole of the world; they only attacked and conquered places where they thought they could get a return on their investment.  It cost money to invade Britain and it cost even more money to maintain a standing army in a country that clearly did not want the Romans there at all.  The return they got on their money was access to the mineral riches of Britain.  Although those mineral riches were produced by slaves who were never paid wages, it did cost money to feed and clothe the slaves.

The cost of the conquest of Britain was undoubtedly higher than the Romans originally expected because of the trouble involved in dealing with the British, Celtic inhabitants.  Queen Boudicca’s revolt was suppressed with extreme difficulty and only after extreme slaughter of the original inhabitants of Britain.

All of this meant that the Romans stayed away from those parts of Britain that did not offer them an easy and quick financial return.  Lancashire was one of the places the Romans stayed away from unless they REALLY had to go there.  The Romans didn’t even have a name for Lancashire – and neither did the French conquerors who arrived under William the Conqueror in 1066.  When William 1 ordered the Domesday Book to be created so he would know how much property was left in England for him to steal, his Domesday assessors did not even have a name for Lancashire.  The name for Lancashire arrived only 200 years after William the Conqueror.  Wiki says this about Lancashire.

Lancashire was founded in the 12th century; in the Domesday Book of 1086 much of what would become the county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire. Until the Early Modern period the county was a comparatively poor backwater, although in 1351 it became a palatine, with a semi-independent judicial system. This changed during the Industrial Revolution, when the county rapidly industrialised; until 1974 it included both Liverpool, a major port, and Manchester, which with its surrounding towns dominated the manufacture of textiles. The Lancashire coalfield was also exploited, with many collieries opening. By 1971 Lancashire had a population of 5,118,405, which made it the most heavily populated county in the United Kingdom after Greater London.

 

If the Romans were aware there was anything in Lancashire worth mining and stealing, they must have decided it was too expensive – even with slave labour – to be worth stealing.  So instead of embarking on large scale theft as elsewhere, they Romans hurried through the land of the Lancashire flood plains as quickly as they could.  They built some roads to take them to places that mattered to them, but they never really tried to settle and live in Lancashire.

Martin Mere was not disturbed by the Romans and the local Britons – my ancestors – were largely left alone.  The Goddess of Martin Mere – called Vivian in the tales of King Arthur – was unchallenged.  This enabled my ancestors to get on with the job of turning a swamp into one of the most productive food producing areas in the world.  The flood plains were guided into channels and ditches, leaving land that could be used to grow food. 

This diagram shows the network of Roman roads on the western side of Britain.

 

Although Chester, Ribchester, Lancaster and Watercrook were all occupied by Roman troops until the late fourth century, these Roman bases were mostly like islands in the sea of Lancashire swamp – or were they?  

Did all of the Roman cavalry units leave Ribchester when the desperate Emperor in Rome ordered them to all go to Europe and fight the invaders from Germany?  Some of them probably did, but those who had been born in Britain probably saw no point in uprooting their families to defend an Empire that was now unable to defend the place they had called home for the whole of their lives.

So at least some of the Roman heavy cavalry units stayed in Ribchester – and the legends of King Arthur were born.  As the wave of encroaching darkness crept over the whole of Britain, the former Roman cavalry units tried to maintain something that looked like the old Roamn system of law and order.

Martin Mere was the largest freshwater lake in the whole of England.  Magical legends and stories were attracted to it like iron filings to a magnet.

And centuries later, the property developers saw their opportunity and pounced.  Martin Mere is no more, but if the pumps fail at Crossens, it could easily come back.

This is a photo of the pumping station at Crossens.

If and when the pumping station fails, the Goddess of the Lake will resume her place as supreme ruler of this part of Lancashire.  Until that day comes, farms such as Sandyways Farm will continue to provide wholesome food for the people of Britain.

A Confession

Sandyways Farm is operated by Robert and Mandy Gorst and it is one of the ancestral farms operated by my ancestors.  Robert and Mandy are two of the finest people you are ever likely to meet.  If you enlarge the clock face on the phot immediately above, you will be able to read the words "Sandyways Farm".

 

 36: Cheryl Scopazzi - Why Were Margaret and I Cancelled? 3 October 2024

This is a copy of an email I sent on 23 September 2024 to a friend who cancelled me in January 2024 after she had borrowed $2,000.00 from me.  Like the earlier cancellations of both Margaret and me in February 2021, I was given no warning that this cancellation was imminent. 

Dear Cheryl, I am fairly certain, but not quite 100% certain, that you will not answer this email, but I thought I would give it a try even though I am probably wasting my time. As you know, I was cancelled and so was Margaret, by Anne Ryan, Chris Reilly, Heather Long, Nez Fernandez and Sue Chapman shortly after I sent my letter sent to Anne immediately after Australia Day 2021.  You are also well aware of the immense harm this inflicted on both Margaret and me.  You were the only friend of Margaret’s who bothered to maintain any sort of relationship with her throughout the long period of vast suffering that  she underwent after the cancellation.  I was grateful that you did maintain contact with her.  I was also grateful that out of the whole lot of them, you continued to talk to me. The physical suffering that Margaret underwent was immense.  I was there throughout every hour of her suffering and as you well know, I would have gladly taken her suffering for my own if this would have helped her in any way.  Unfortunately, I was not given this possibility. The agony that Margaret and I suffered because of her illness was something that you cannot begin to imagine.  And yes, I have not forgotten that you had to watch John die over many years, but if anything, going through that process ought to have made you even more acutely aware than ever of the need to support Margaret and me.  Of course, having to watch my gorgeous wife suffer and die was made significantly worse by my own near deadly illness and my own near deadly illness was itself a direct result of helping Anne by restoring her wooden chest.   This is all set out in my blogs so I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about. Throughout the whole process of Margaret being ill and eventually dying, you knew precisely why Anne and Margaret’s other friends had cancelled her and me but every time I asked you why, you said you could not break obligations of confidentiality.  I accepted this at the time because I had no choice.  It is of course, a bullshit excuse. I have recounted this aspect of what you already know because I want to underline your personal knowledge of the immensely harmful affect that the cancellation had on both Margaret and me.  Unlike those in the cancellation party, you had first hand knowledge of the impact caused by the bad behaviour of the cancellers. It is against this background of your personal knowledge of the harm done by the cancellation that I find your behaviour of joining the cancellation party in January 2024, so immensely hurtful. I have never done you a bad turn – never ever – and yet despite this and despite your personal knowledge of how much I completely loved Margaret and the great lengths I went to try and help her when nearly everyone else she knew refused to help her or even come near her, you decided to cancel me also in January this year.  I have a simple question.  Why have you acted so badly when I have never done anything but help you in every way I could?  Why do you continue the pretence that you have obligations to Anne Ryan and Margaret’s other friends which prevent you from telling me the reasons for the cancellation of both of us by the people who were supposedly Margaret’s closest friends?  Why did you feel I was a good enough friend to borrow $2,000.00 from shortly after Margaret died, but not a good enough friend to maintain contact with after January this year? I know you and Margaret’s cancelling friends have been reading my blogs.  You know how much suffering the cancellations have caused.  Break the Cone of Silence and let your conscience speak.  I am entitled to know what my crimes are supposed to have been.  It is unspeakably malicious that I have been put on trial, convicted and punished without ever being told what my crimes are supposed to have been.  I am like the unnamed central character in the book The Trial by Franz Kafka.  In The Trial the protagonist was refused all information about his alleged crime on the basis that he had  committed the crime, so he already knew what his crime was.  A believer in fairness who I once knew (called Cheryl Scopazzi) would once have fiercely denounced something as obscene as this, but that version of Cheryl Scopazzi seems to no  longer exist. I once thought you, Anne Ryan, Sue and Heather were good examples of very fine human beings, but the cancellation behaviour has completely eliminated my previous good opinions.  In a sense, your cancellation of me is even worse than their cancellation, because yours happened long after Margaret had died and at a time when you had no possible doubt about the effect the bad behaviour had had on me when it was combined with the particularly tragic death of Margaret after she had completely beaten the cancer. For your information, I specifically invited Anne to say goodbye to Margaret at Croagh Patrick and I am still waiting for a reply. I dare you.  Find some courage, break the Cone of Silence and rediscover the ethics you once had.  Tell me what my crimes are supposed to have been.

****

As at the date of this blog, I have received no response at all from Cheryl to my request for the reasons behind the cancellation   

My assumption is that while Margaret was ill, Cheryl was asked by the cancellers to be Margaret's "Designated Friend" - the canceller who had to stay in touch with Margaret and me to provide reports to the cancellers on how close Margaret was to death.  By January 2024, this assignment was redundant.  Having extracted $2,000 from me under the pretence of friendship, Cheryl ditched the veneer of friendship - it was no longer necessary to pretend because Margaret was now dead.

Like the character in The Trial, I have zero information about the crimes I am accused of having committed.  I presume that as with the character in The Trial, the cancellers claim to themselves that because the cancellers know I committed the unnamed crimes, they can be certain that I already know what my crimes were - after all, don’t all accused criminals have full knowledge of the crimes they have committed?