“This must be part of the punishment that the DOC promises you get during your incarceration. On the outside, if your friends are in hospice, you can visit when you’re up to it and process it afterward with a martini. Here in Perryville, there is no escape…..I have to watch as my friends die slowly from cancer right before my eyes. And there’s no martini. Nothing to soften the anguish of seeing Rebecca and Melissa disintegrate from the ravages of cancer, one of the stomach and the other of the parathyroid. Both cancers that never would have existed were it not for the for-profit, prison health vendor Naphcare.

You’ve read their stories on this blog, at least about the medical angle and how these cancers were so preventable in their early stages. Recently, Melissa finally got to see an ENT physician for the first time. She describes the doctor’s incredulous looks as he reviewed her records and kept asking her, ” And this is the first time in four years you’ve seen an Ear Nose Throat specialist? ” Then Melissa said, “You’re the first DOCTOR I’ve seen in four years.” Melissa said the physician was so angry he turned red. But by then the doctor knew she’d had cancer for quite awhile, and it was probably inoperable.

That’s the medical part….how about the personal story of these ladies? Melissa was practically still on her honeymoon when she was sent to Perryville. Her devoted husband has been her rock and visits regularly. The prison returns his once healthy bride to him riddled with cancer.

Rebecca has a strong family that had many plans for her return, but those plans will revolve around hospice….. IF she even makes it out of prison alive. The prognosis for Rebecca is not good. She spends her time begging the prison for basics like a softer mattress so she doesn’t get bedsores. So far no luck with that. Rebecca has done grievances so the prison will at least acknowledge people with disabilities. The pedestrian gate to travel to the vehicle gate, is not even paved…..rocks, dirt, potholes, so easy to stumble and fall from a walker or cane.

Hospice out there offers COMFORT, hospice inside offers STRUGGLE and PAIN. And then there’s the pain of the friends who have to watch. I can tell you from experience, watching is no picnic….it turns you into a real Debbie downer.

So, when you get the time, call your state legislature or Ryan Thornell himself, and continue to advocate for all the women of Perryville.”