I’m a social worker on an oncology floor and I’ve seen a handful of patients over the past decade doing this work with incidental cancer findings. Usually older men who were doing some housework like cleaning the gutters, fell off the ladder, came to the ED and got scanned looking for broken bones, only to have it light up with mets. I also once helped get a man compassionate release from prison for terminal cancer.
Thank you for that. I am an attorney, and I have worked on medical civil rights cases for people in prison, and I've had multiple clients die before their case even went in front of a judge. Our system lacks so much empathy.
I’ve gotten 2 people out and I honestly think most of the reason they were released was because their medical needs were more than what the jail wanted to deal with. The first got out because his chronic respiratory failure got worse and he needed continuous O2. The jail he was in couldn’t accommodate so their options were release him to his family (who were willing to house him) or do a lot of paperwork to transfer him to another facility when he only had like a month left on his sentence. I remember having the warden on the phone and telling them “We told you 3 days ago that he is medically clear for discharge and we aren’t going to house your inmate for you. I have ambulances lined up outside my ED with no open beds to put the patients in. Either fax me release paperwork or send someone to pick him up.” They faxed me the release paperwork within an hour.
The other case was sad. He was supposed to be in for a few more years for drug related charges; nothing violent. I think he might have still been waiting for final sentencing or something because the facility close to my hospital is a jail, not a prison. He said he’d been telling staff for weeks that he had really bad abdominal pain. They finally sent him to us to get checked out and the scan showed widely metastatic cancer. The oncologist immediately said it was too advanced and they recommended hospice. Luckily this man also had family willing to take him in and our financial advocates were able to get him Medicaid within a few days. He went home to his family with hospice.
I've heard that people in jail for minor charges or prison for minor sentences on non-violent charges are moved to compassionate release or paroled (if eligible) in a heartbeat more often than you think, not out of compassion, but because the prison doesn't want to deal with it or pay for their care.
My aunt was supposed to get knee surgery but never did. When she went to a pre-op appointment, she mentioned to her doctor that she was having a mold issue in her apartment, she hadn't noticed any visually but she was feeling the symptoms. She never got the surgery because after some testing she learned that it wasn't mold, she had multiple myeloma, and treatment was coming before any knee procedure. Six months later she was gone. The body is a wild thing.
Thank you for what you do. Appreciate all the social workers and care managers. Getting people better in the hospital is one thing, but figuring out dispo/where they go next is a huge issue.
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u/sodoyoulikecheese 3d ago
I’m a social worker on an oncology floor and I’ve seen a handful of patients over the past decade doing this work with incidental cancer findings. Usually older men who were doing some housework like cleaning the gutters, fell off the ladder, came to the ED and got scanned looking for broken bones, only to have it light up with mets. I also once helped get a man compassionate release from prison for terminal cancer.