Why You Should NOT Tell Me Your Story About UBH

I have thoroughly enjoyed helping each and every person who asked me for help with their situation regarding UBH Denton.  As much as I hated seeing anyone go through the nightmare that I went through, it was vindicating to know that it wasn’t “just me.”

But, please please please…. if you are dealing with UBH at this point in time, do NOT write me or post any comments to my blog.  You see, Mr. John Dozier, of www.cybertriallawyer.com, thinks it’s all in good fun to name everyone who posted something that Richard Kresch and Atique Khan didn’t like as co-defendants in the lawsuit against me.  If you post anything on this blog, even as an innocent comment, you could ultimately be named as a co-defendant as well.  Don’t risk it.

IF you need help or advice, please e-mail me at info@ubhdentonsucks.com with your phone number and ask me to call you.  I will call you back as soon as I can, and then I can give you the name of an attorney who will help you, and, I can answer any questions you have.  But, do NOT write anything on my blog as a comment, please.  You are leaving yourself wide open to have John Dozier try to make an example out of you and I’d hate to see you have to spend the kind of cash I’m spending on a lawyer just because you feel the need to tell the truth about this “hospital.”  I just have to put that word in quotes because it’s NOT a real hospital in the medical sense of the word, IN MY OPINION, WHICH I AM STILL ENTITLED TO.  

As much as I hated seeing anyone else go through the hell that I went through, it has been a pleasure to help everyone who needed me when they had a loved one stuck in this “hospital.”  It made something positive come out of my experience.  And, if I lose the lawsuit?  I still win, for two reasons:

1.  I’ve managed to show the true colors of UBH and Ascend and Richard Kresch and John “Bull-y” Dozier.  (Yes, John, I’m calling you a bully.  Because IN MY OPINION WHICH I AM STILL ENTITLED TO, I think you are one.)
2.  I know, in my heart, I did the right thing the entire way through, and, I did it for the right reasons.

This post, and this entire website, is dedicated to Jack. 

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I Just Threw Up In My Mouth a Little Bit

http://blog.polaris.vc/2012/06/04/universal-health-services-acquisition-of-pvp-backed-ascend-affirms-new-model-for-behavioral-health/

Yes, I realize it’s all about the money, but IN MY OPINION (and yes, I can still have one, even if I am getting my pants sued off), that’s kind of how it was when I was in UBH…. all about the money.  That, IN MY OPINION, didn’t do much for the quality of care I got or the success of the treatment.  It was just about the money.  And if you’re a good business person?  That will make perfect sense to you.  Until someone you love–someone who is important to you–ends up in a hospital like this.  Just ask my son.  Or my parents.  Or my then-boyfriend.

And by the way, I posted this comment to their blog post. It is “await moderation” and I’m sure it won’t make it to publication, but, I wrote it just the same and I’m proud of it:

“ubhdenton on June 17, 2012 at 11:45 am said:Your comment is awaiting moderation.

“I have debated for a week whether or not to post here.  And I figure, “What else can Richard Kresch and Ascend “Healthcare” do to me?”  You’re already suing me for $6 million.

“Mr. Chee needs to seriously look at the business practices of his boy, Richard, before bragging about how he “improves” healthcare services.  I don’t begrude you the right to make such an astronomical profit, but please do not mislead the public about how you did it.”

 

FYI…. they didn’t ever publish my comment on their blog, at least not as of this writing.

It Must Be Da’ Money!

Check out all the good news going on over at Ascend Health…   http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2012/06/polaris-venture-partners-reports-10x.html

Today I also stumbled upon this little gem of a website that you really must read about another Ascend health facility that I have not focused on much since it’s unfamiliar to me.  In particular, look at the comments section and note the similarities between the things said on my blog and what these people say about this facility:

http://thelundreport.org/resource/private_cedar_hills_hospital_raises_eyebrows

In particular, note this doctor’s comment (reprinted in its entirety, and without any editing, but I’m putting certain parts in RED for emphasis).

“I’m a doc that has worked for companies like this one. First: don’t believe *everything* you read above, BUT believe a lot of it. Second: When you hear “It’s all about the money,” you can be sure that is correct when you are talking about administration. If the staff wanted to make money, they would have picked different careers. The trick is figuring out if the company has a balance between profit to stay open/relevant and providing high quality care. When you hear how miserable the staff is at a place like this (search the net for staff satisfaction scores), you can be sure that the place doesn’t have a decent balance. If they treat the staff like rubbish, they will have rubbish for staff…So Third: look at the history of the corporate leadership. They’ve built several low-quality profit machines and sold them quickly. Do you want those guys directing your program?”

Sing it Nelly…. “Haaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy… it MUST da Money!”

Get yer’ Pants On!

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” — Winston Churchill

Four weeks ago today I got smacked upside the head with the lawsuit.   I confess…the first few days I was in shock.  It’s embarrassing, frightening, and unnerving on a good day, but even moreso if you are flying to another continent 12 hours after being served.  Trust me, that is one miserable plane ride.   But, eventually I found a wonderful group of attorneys to represent me and the rest of my trip was delightful and I haven’t lost too much sleep over it since.

As I have proven having survived the last 4+ years, what doesn’t kill me just makes me stronger.   This lawsuit experience is no different.  It’s going to be messy and expensive, but, it’s going to allow the truth to finally get its pants on and catch up to everyone who needs to hear it.  As my buddy Winston C. would say….

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

Meanwhile, I’m finding lots more great quotes from Winston Churchill that seem to apply to this situation and I’m enjoying reading more and more about him.  Here’s another one I am very fond of:

“One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!”

Okay, I won’t!

The Games Begin

On March 7, 2012, a private investigator showed up at my door and served me with a lawsuit filed by Ascend Health Corporation, UHP, LP (d/b/a University Behavioral Health of Denton), Richard Kresch, M.D., and Atique Khan, M.D.  They ask for a bunch of money they know I don’t have, plus ownership of all my websites, which include this WordPress blog and http://www.ubhdentonsucks.com

I have entirely too much respect for the American legal system to drag all the details out here on a blog, plus, that would be kind of stupid on my part. So, don’t look for updates or notices about how things are going.  I guess as long as the site is here, you’ll know I haven’t gotten my butt kicked.  If it disappears?  Well, you’ll know I have shoe prints on my backside.  But, I did think that everyone who chooses to do business with UBH and Ascend Health should know how they operate, in addition to all the other things I’ve revealed on my blog to date.

The date I was served with the lawsuit corresponded with my departure the following day for a three week trip overseas. And in Federal court, you have 21 days to respond to a lawsuit.  How convenient for them that they had such fortunate timing to serve me less than 12 hours before I left for the airport!  I wonder if that unfriendly private investigator who served me had been keeping an eye on me?  I can’t prove that, but it sure seems like convenient timing that I got served when I would be at the greatest disadvantage.

It is my opinion that it was also quite unsportsmanlike of them to refuse my request for an eixtension of time to respond to the suit, given the circumstances.  But hey, that’s John “Bull Dozier” Dozier, the  www.cybertriallawyer.com for ya!

Please note I did NOT make up that nickname, nor am I calling him “names.”  The “Bull Dozier” moniker is featured in an article that he shares on his own website, in an article about being a SuperLawyer (2006).   Apparently he is a Super Lawyer!  Well, I take that back… he was in 2006 and 2007 but not now, at least according to the Super Lawyer website.   (I have to wonder what caused him to lose his super powers?)

There was never any attempt to talk this out, or even to send me a nasty letter.  For those of you who think that our court system is used frivolously, just consider that they filed a lawsuit for millions of dollars that they know I don’t have before simply asking me to stop blogging, which they never once did.

Now Mr. Dozier can call all of this “defamatory” if he likes, but, the truth is never defamatory, nor is a personal opinion.  Everything noted above is either the truth or it’s an opinion I am sharing with my readers.

I have always been completely candid and transparent about who I am and why I’m doing this.  I’ve helped a lot of people since I launched this site in September of 2010.  So, even if I lose… even if a judge orders me to stop blogging about this company?  I still win because I did the right thing and I stood up for what I believed in.  I also stood up for myself against a bully.  My family is proud of me for that, my friends are proud of me, and I can look myself in the mirror and sleep well at night.  I wonder if the plaintiffs in this lawsuit can say the same thing?

ATTENTION ALL VICTIMS OF UBH DENTON/ASCEND HEALTH

I previously misrepresented the facts surrounding the lawsuit filed against me by Ascend Health.  I stated previously that they sued me for $1 million, and, I want to make it clear that my statement regarding that was made in haste, and, was not accurate.  My apologies to Ascend Health.

As it turns out, they are actually suing me for $5.5 million plus attorney’s fees.

Again, I apologize for the mistake I made in publishing this information.

And you think it just can’t get any worse…..

My 83 year old mother lost her husband (my father) of 65 years in August 2011, then on December 21, 2011, she fell and shattered her femur prompting surgery to implant a steel rod from her knee to her hip. Shortly following the surgery she was transported to Good Samaritan Denton Village for physical therapy (PT) rehabilitation. Since entering the rehab program she has deteriorated both physically and mentally. We visit her daily and had noticed the decline. On February 2 the nurses began discussing that she was severely depressed and that it was being recommended that she go to the Mayhill Hospital for medication monitoring and adjustment. We were lead to believe that it was a geriatric hospital that specialized in medication adjustment/monitoring and that my mother would continue to get physical therapy……none of this was true.

My mother was done a grave injustice and I do not believe that she should have ever been sent to a psychiatric hospital. She is an elderly woman who lost her husband, her independence and her life as she knew it………who wouldn’t be depressed? She couldn’t hurt herself or anyone else as she is too incapacitated.

She spent a total of eight days in Mayhill Hospital and I cannot begin to tell you the toll that this has taken on my her both mentally and physically as well as my husband and me. Because I was in bed with pneumonia when she was self-admitted, I was unable to see her for five days. On day six at Mayhill I was finally able to go to the hospital and when they were wheeling her toward me, I didn’t even recognize her……I completely lost control of all emotions. She didn’t even look like my mother. In those six days she had lost considerable weight, was physically weakened to the point of shaking and her eyes were gaunt and had no life in them. She did not look like she had had a bath since being admitted as her hair was very oily and dirty, she had crusted food on her mouth, cheek and neck and even under her fingernails were very dirty. I was horrified beyond belief……. She didn’t have her teeth in and when I asked the nurse to get her teeth, she exclaimed “she has teeth?” and I said “yes” she then looked at the other nurse and said “well maybe that’s why she hasn’t been eating”. I told her to go get her teeth and an hour later she returned and said that she couldn’t find them.

They also lost her eyeglasses. Her ankle was wrapped in a bandage and they said she had a sore on the back of her heel from her shoes. Later we learned it was a bed sore. There were adult patients walking up and down the hall cursing and saying vulgarities. It was obvious that mother was frightened and she was too drugged and afraid to asked to be released. She said that she would tell them she wanted to leave, but that they always gave her excuses. I told them that I wanted her released and they gave me a lot of excuses and told me that she was the only one that could ask to be released and that the doctor had to make the final decision. They had her so drugged, she didn’t know how to be persistent in asking to be released. One day she didn’t even know my husband or her own name.

I called three days in a row asking to speak to Dr. Islam, the attending physician, and he was never there and did not return my phone calls until I threatened to contact the media…..at that point, he called back within one hour. He gave me a lot of lip service and untruths and pretty much dismissed my concerns. <SENTENCE DELETED>   She was slowly dying a little each and every day.. At Mayhill Hospital she was in total isolation except for the company of some very mentally unbalanced individuals, we could only visit her for 1 1/2 hour each day at their designated time, we had to meet her in a common area, were not allowed to see her room, she had no TV in her room, she could not have a phone, we could not bring her outside food and her <PHRASE DELETED>.  In her final days on earth, she should not be subjected to such mistreatment, she needed her friends and family around her, not isolation and crazy people. On Monday, February 13, I contacted a lawyer and within 24 hours my Mother was released.

During the seven days <PHRASE DELETED> they lost her upper dentures, prescription glasses and several items of clothing. When we went through the bags that they sent home we found several items of clothing that did not belong to her. My husband returned them to the hospital the day after her discharge and asked that they look for her missing clothes. He had a photo of her the day she was admitted, in their facility, and that entire outfit is missing. They would not agree to look for anything and became very rude because I had refused to go over the inventory list as my mother was being wheeled out the door the day before. I had been in their facility for 20 minutes waiting for them to bring my mother out and then when the paramedics were bringing her out the door, they then wanted to go over the inventory list. I told them I didn’t have time and would return later to sign their paperwork. I needed to be with my Mother. This place is nothing more than a human warehouse that is taking in the cash without regard for the humans involved. I cannot simply walk away and let these people get away with the wrong that they have done to my poor mother and I certainly do not want this to happen to anyone else. For eight days I felt like I was living in the Twilight Zone.

I believe Mayhill Hospital is guilty of dishonest practices and patient negligence. I firmly believe that they have falsely advertised their mission to the local nursing homes in the hopes of getting referals. I do not believe that if the nurses at the skilled nursing centers really knew what went on at Mayhill that they would recommend it to anyone. I believe that Dr. Islam at Mayhill is incompetent and that the sole mission for the people who own Mayhill Hospital, UBH and other entities is to make money and lots of it.

This has been a horrible experience for all of us, but a tragedy for my mother who since her experience at Mayhill Hospital has slipped into very progressed Dementia. Three monthe ago she lived alone, drove her car and read the daily paper. Now she has to rely on someone to take care of all of her personal needs. It is horrible what Mayhill Hospital did to my mother and I want to shout it from the rooftop. I am so glad that I found your webpage and I pray that we are successful in stopping this insanity. I asked Donnal Fielder with the Denton Record Chronicle to investigate and she declined. I have written every State and Federal Agency that I know of but to no avail. Three weeks ago I asked for my mother’s medical records and I have yet to get them and to put icing on the cake, I have to pay $130 in cash before I can get them. No credit cards or checks accepted. Unbelievable.

More Atrocities… would you want this for yourself (or your wife, or your mom?)

I am still reeling from the stories that pour in here.  But most recently was the 59 year old woman who asked to leave the hospital.  When she signed her “AMA” (against medical advice) letter, they began to shun her, refuse to feed her, and the patient advocate threatened to send her to the state mental hospital in Wichita Falls.

But what was most disturbing to me was where they housed her.  She was forced to sleep in the MEN’S unit.  And, apparently there can be no closed doors, not even in the bathroom.  So, when she went to the bathroom and tried to have a little privacy, she had MEN telling her she had to leave the door open.   Talk about the potential for sexual assault–a woman confined to the men’s wing!   This is completely unacceptable.

You know the other thing that troubled me was her husband said that someone there named Gary, I believe, had told him to call at 11:30 a.m. one day to discuss her situation.  The husband called four times and left four messages.  Gary would never take his call.  I hear this a lot from the victims of UBH, and basically what they are doing is operating by hiding behind their closed and locked doors.  I have heard from several people that they went to the hospital and just sat in the waiting room to demand answers or to see a doctor, and, nobody would ever help them or see them.  This is not only inexcusable, it is absolutely crappy customer service.

 

Another Story… this time she’s 16

i was entered into UBH about two months ago and was there for a week. i was surrounded by complete chaos and NO BODY knew what the hell they were doing. i am 16 and was one of maybe 2 or 3 girls who were calm like i was. i kept my sanity so i could leave there ASAP, but all the staff and doctors other than nurse kathy were the same. not everyone needs to be put on medicine or pills and when i was put on pills they made me very irritable and tired so i wasnt participating in “group therapy” which made me stay longer than i needed to be there. the only people that helped me was nurse kathy, she needs a promotion, and a paramedic named jimmy who was the nicest person to me the whole time there. the girls admitted there with me needed more than help. they all went crazy on purpose trying to get “booty juiced” or were fighting each other, some girls were even dating each other! some girls were even bragging about how the kissed/were seeing the girls there. this is a mental hospital, not match.com! the staff needs/needed to pay WAY more attention to the children and young adults and less to their drama and trying to build relationships with them. kids were beating each other up, it was probably the worst week of my life.

Victims’ Meeting

A strategy meeting is being planned now for all the victims of UBH/Mayhill.  If you have any interest in the meeting, please e-mail info@ubhdentonsucks.com    to express your interest.  You will be contacted later with the details.

This is a grass-roots movement meeting.  No attorneys are organizing or sponsoring this meeting.  However, if you have legal representation that you would like to accompany you, you will have a chance to register that person to also attend.  At this stage we are determining how many people will want to participate and then making arrangements accordingly.  Please let us know how many people you will want to include in this session.

UBH…you really shouldn’t have done that.

I just got off the phone with your latest victim, who I will call “Mary.”  And UBH… you REALLY shouldn’t have done that.  First of all, preparing to send someone to court to defend themselves and their freedom without giving them advance notice, and, without making sure their husband had time to find a lawyer?  Absolutely inexcusable.

Coleen, Miss “Patient Advocate?”  I heard you threatened Mary this morning.  Because she “caused all that trouble.”  What trouble?  She asked to leave the facility.  And, signed an “Against Medical Advice” letter asking to leave.  So as she left for court (where she was granted her freedom), she was threatened by you with being put in a van and transported to the state mental hospital in Wichita Falls?  You’re a mean spirited bitch of an “advocate,” aren’t you?

Listen Nurse Ratched (and I suspect there’s more than one of you involved in this)….denying a woman with pneumonia meals and medication is NOT treatment, and it’s not therapy.  My favorite story, though, was about the woman who needed her medication.  She begged and pleaded for it.  While the nurses and doctor Jacobsen (nice job, Dr. Quack) ignored her.  Then she had a Grand Mal seizure, and had to be taken to the emergency room.

Your staff is either incompetent or they’re under orders to be grossly neglectful of the patients in their care.  Either way, they should all be fired and the management team should be put in jail for reckless endangerment.  My lawyer reminds me to say “That is my humble opinion,” but something tells me there are others who will share it with me.

The stories keep pouring in and I’ll keep posting them as long as they do.

It’s the Little Things that Mean So Much

How would you like it if….

1.  Your loved one was in UBH and asked to leave there by filling out the appropriate paperwork.  After that, they were denied one or more meals?

2.  You called the “patient advocate” at UBH and asked questions, and, he told you that you should call back at a certain time for answers.  And, after four calls and messages left for him, plus several hours, you still don’t have your answers?

3.  Your family member… or you… were told by UBH that if you didn’t cooperate, they would transfer you to Wichita Falls, TX, to the state mental institution?

4.  Your spouse was given doses of the same medication that they overdosed on in the first place, thus requiring admission to UBH?

These are just some of the things that happen at this hospital.  Some.   There is strength in numbers, folks, and it is time to stop putting up with this.    Please share this site with everyone you know who works in the medical field in the North Texas area so that everyone may be warned.

Calling All Witnesses!

We are looking for current and former UBH employees willing to serve as witnesses to the types of things that go on in the hospital.   If you or someone you know can provide verification of anything that happens there please e-mail us at info@ubhdentonsucks.com     You do not have agree to testify in court or go “on the record,” but, every piece of information we can gather at this point is crucial to preparing a case.

Let’s Sue the Bastards… POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

If you have been a patient at either UBH Denton or Mayhill Hospitals, and held against your will (especially after signing yourself in voluntarily), it is imperative that you contact me immediately.  E-mail me at info@ubhdentonsucks.com   with a brief summary of your story.  I have at least one attorney (and am talking to others) willing to listen to you, and, consider representing a large group of you.  Hey, my lawsuit didn’t work out, but your’s just might!  There is strength in numbers in the legal system, the more of you that come together, the better.

The bottom line is that UBH is billing, now, $2,100 per night.  Every night they can force someone to stay at their facility, that’s another $2,100 in the bank.  Even if the insurance companies that reimburse them only do so at a rate of 50%, that’s still $1,050.  And, let me assure you, as someone who has been on the inside, they aren’t providing any services or facilities that are remotely worthy of such charges.

If you ask to leave… or your parents want to take you out.. they hold you against your will for just “one more day.”  Sometimes two, or three… and always under the promise that they will get a court order to keep you.  <SENTENCE DELETED>

<SENTENCE DELETED>  Why health insurers keep putting up with this I’ll never know, but my guess is their insureds aren’t telling them what’s happening.  After all, it’s embarrassing enough to be in a psychiatric hospital in the first place.  It’s even more demeaning to be held or commitment.  By the time most people get out of this poor excuse for a hospital, they are so broken and worn out they just want to put the experience behind them.

<SENTENCE DELETED>  They let them walk  as soon as they insisted on leaving.  So no, you weren’t crazy.  And you didn’t deserve to be “committed.”  <SENTENCE DELETED>  Plain and simple.  Don’t be embarrassed, or ashamed.  Be PISSED OFF.

Even if no lawyer takes this case, I assure you, there will be strength in our numbers.  I have e-mailed tonight every person who has ever contacted me privately about their experience to ask them to send me contact information.  It is time to pull together and it is time to find someone who will be your voice.  We’ll find that person, and, if we don’t?  We’ll create our own voice.  I promise you, I’ve already figured out how.

Sex Offenders at UBH? Now hear this!

Sex offenders?  In a behavioral health hospital?  I’d surely hope not.  But this was e-mailed to me by a former patient at UBH.  I cannot speak, really.  Both because I wasn’t there at the time this happened, and, because I’m utterly speechless:

“…we had several female individuals who were in a program strictly for recovery for sexual trauma. After 10 days of intense therapy, during wrap up group one of the gentleman held on the same wing admitted that he was a sex offender and had raped and molested his daughter and nieces for years. There were several females who were extremely disturbed by this admission and asked that either he, or they be moved to another wing.

“Their request was refused and these poor women were forced to resume their intensive sexual trauma therapy locked up with a pedophile living 10 feet away from them, eating with them at lunch, constantly watching them. Many of them broke down into extreme psychosis or left the hospital because of this. This was a very hard experience to watch. I wish they would have moved or discharged him. I watched too many tears shed over such a stupid stubborn decision to keep him on the ward. It was supposed to be a safe place for these women to heal, but instead they were trapped in fear of what brought them there in the first place.”

Tales from a UBH Employee

I got permission from the employee who sent this to me to share it with you.  Of course, like most folks affiliated with UBH, he/she does not want to be identified.  But, I think you will find this very interesting just the same….  (my comments are noted in red below each statement)

“The place was complete chaos. None of the patient’s wore arm bands, therefore I can easily see how patient’s could get mixed up.”  

I will say everyone wore armbands when I was there.  The doctors didn’t give a crap about who each person was, and no one ever looked at the arm bands except for the RNs who handed out medication.  I will say they were great ladies, every one of them.  

“…meeting were with the whole treatment team…the nurses, docs, and counselors, and of course the people in accounting.  ….  <SENTENCE DELETED>  If the patient actually belonged there and had real mental problems they would discharge them with a couple days to spare so that they could come back.”

Every health insurer in the state of Texas should be taking this dung heap of a hospital off their acceptable providers list.  Every taxpayer in Texas should be PISSED because the state health plan (Blue Cross Blue Shield) pays for people to go here, too.      

“There was a foster parent that would bring her “out-of-control” teenagers to the facility on a regular basis. Since they were foster kids, their insurance is paid for by the government.  These kids would stay for weeks.”

I have heard similar stories about military personnel who wanted off active duty so they would do things to get sent here.  <SENTENCE DELETED>  I don’t know how true that is, but, I’m sure if it’s not someone will let me know in good time.  But what does that tell you about how our country values the military who risk their lives for our freedom?  

“<SENTENCE DELETED>  I don’t know what the outcome was…”

Wow.  I remembered looking at the barrier between our wing and the more critical wing.  I heard some pretty loud scary noises coming from over there, and, I saw one of the RNs come in from there one day in tears, just hysterical about something that had happened.  (I’m amazed they didn’t offer her some klonopin.  Hell, maybe they did!)  I realized right away that there really wasn’t much separating the two areas and that it was probably not the safest place to be.  

In short, THIS Is what the state of mental health “care” is at UBH Denton.  Richard Kresch should be ashamed of himself for owning such a hospital, and, if he is any kind of doctor he will clean the place up.  He can’t say he hasn’t been informed about the things that go on there, can he?

Happy Mother’s Day

Today I am reminded of three years ago. On Mother’s Day, I was still reeling from my stay at UBH. And the incorrect diagnosis of “bipolar disorder.” Little did I know my health was going to get a lot worse before it got better.

Today I have completed my first week of Weight Watcher’s, to finally get the weight off that came on when my thyroid decided to go haywire from the lithium. Yes, that cause and effect relationship has been confirmed by an endocrinologist. She indicated that lithium “wreaks havoc on the thyroid.”

Which leads me to wonder why in the hell any competent doctor would decide after less than 24 hours of treating a patient to put them on such strong, serious medication. Lithium is not something to be taken lightly, it’s literally a “heavy metal” and it has horrific side effects in people who are NOT bipolar. But everyone in that god-forsaken hospital was on it. Everyone was bipolar, except for my roommate who had tried to commit suicide and was there only for depression. I don’t know how she escaped the bipolar diagnosis, other than the fact she was being treated by a competent physician who was NOT affiliated with UBH.

Three years ago on this mother’s day I was so thankful for my freedom, and for simply being alive. I survived Chantix, and I survived UBH. Today, I’m a lot stronger for having gone through all that. I’ll get this weight off, and I’ll be a lot healthier for having done so.

An Interesting Comment on the Blog…. We Saved Another One!

Well, perhaps “save” is too strong of a word. But read this comment posted a few days ago from a woman who almost went to work at UBH Denton:

“I am so disappointed right now. I am searching for a job in the mental health field in the metroplex and was thrilled to discover UBH’s website and the many job opportunities. The website makes it look like a perfect place with such special programs. Then I couldn’t help but be suspicious when looking more closely at the job listings. Why are there so many jobs in every aspect of the hospital? I feared the worst and a google search has confirmed my fears. My heart breaks reading the stories of you and the others posting here. Mental health and families are my passion and I mourn the traumatic experiences of people that are supposed to be cared for in places like UBH.”

You can see the original post here.

It never occurred to me when I started this blog that I might be saving someone from a career mistake.  I guess I always try to see the positive in everything, in spite of what happened to me at this place.  I recall two years ago a lot of things were going wrong with a closing on my house.  I arrived in my new town to find that the stupid mortgage broker didn’t get a mortgage for me.  With three U-Hauls loaded slap full, I discovered I had no place to live.  My poor mother doesn’t deal well with stuff like that, and she was kind of freaked out, but didn’t say anything at the time.  Later, after I was moved in and the house had closed and it was all mine, she confessed to me her anxiety over my situation:

“I just knew you shouldn’t have bought that house… you should have rented something first and then bought something later…”

I told her (from my new home, which was and still is FAB-U-LOUS!) and this was absolutely true:

“I never worried for a minute, and I didn’t let it bother me.  Mom, after you’ve been locked up in a mental hospital and threatened with a commitment hearing, and not really knowing if you’d ever get out, or when you’d get out?  You just don’t sweat the small stuff anymore.  I always know, no matter how bad things are in my life at the moment, they could be worse–I could still be in UBH.”  

She laughed and said, “I never looked at it that way.”

So, I guess I should thank Dr. Khan and Drunk Randy for my new outlook on life?  Maybe that was part of their so-called “treatment plan” all along?  “Hey, let’s just make our patients so damned miserable they vow to never come back here again!”

Nah… they’re not that smart.

I am REALLY starting to get irritated

Here is an e-mail I just got from someone who was in UBH. I am deleting enough information about him/her so that the hospital will not readily know who it is, at least until I have their permission to share more:

“…. It was hell to be there. I reported overdose symptoms to the doctor assigned to me and he was nonresponsive. My whole life turned upside down. One month after release I still do not have release to work…”

The reality is this person is a medical professional who would know the signs of overdose.   I’m sure there’s more to the story that I’ll be able to share soon enough.

I AM COMPLETELY DISGUSTED!!!!

At one time there were two psychiatric and behavioral health hospitals in Denton, Texas: Mayhill Hospital and UBH Denton.  After my experience at UBH I knew several doctors and therapists who said they would never use UBH again (at least not unless some things changed there). 

And now, guess who owns Mayhill? The same Quack Shack company that owns UBH Denton! I got this little nugget of joy from here:

January 5, 2011
Ascend Health Opens New Hospitals in Arizona and Utah and Expands Operations in Texas

NEW YORK, NY — Ascend Health Corporation announced the opening of two new freestanding psychiatric hospitals as well as the acquisition of two freestanding psychiatric hospitals. All hospitals offer a full range of inpatient, day hospital and chemical dependency services.

…. In late 2010, Ascend acquired…Mayhill Hospital, a 60-bed psychiatric hospital, in Denton, TX.

How tragic for the people of that area.  I wonder if they’ll use the same “innovative approaches” that UBH Denton uses for patient care?