The current star of the Insurance Industry cabal is Shona Holmes, a whisky-voiced Toronto woman of ample aggregate and dubious honesty. See TV Spot Here.

According to Ms Holmes, she was diagnosed with a “brain tumor” sometime in 2005. In scores of interviews, she consistently claimed she could not receive timely treatment in Toronto and was forced to seek medical care at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Shona is a wannabe-be poster child for the Worldwide failings of government run Healthcare. She spins a shocking yarn, one that would make Socialists everywhere bow their Public Option heads in shame –

if only her story was true.

Over the 4 years since Ms Holmes’ cyst was removed from the ample cavity between her ears, her condition has worsened. Not her actual physical condition, but rather, the ubiquitously reheard and revised description of her medical odyssey.

Back in the Summer of 2007, the propaganda machine at the Mayo Clinic decided to print Ms Holme’s human interest story in an internal Clinic publication. Her healthcare horrors served nicely as a double-sided win for Mayo. On one side was the sweet story about the Clinic’s responsiveness to Ms Holme’s plight as well as the Clinic's ample expertise in repairing her medical problem. Secondly, it served as a bonus dig against the growing call for Public Healthcare in the U.S. by painting the Canadian system in a negative light. After all, the mere words "Public Healthcare" are the bane of the usury Private Insurance companies and Hospitals administrators alike. But more interesting was the Mayo Clinic’s choice to reprint

IMPORTANT UPDATE NOTE: THE "REPRINT" LINK IS NOW BROKEN - THE MAYO CLINIC REMOVED MS HOLMES' STORY (#39) FROM THEIR WEBSITE 2 DAYS AFTER THIS DIARY WAS PUBLISHED. STORY #s 38 & 40 ABOUT OTHER MC PATIENTS ARE STILL UP. THE MISSING HOLMES STORY MAY BE FOUND IN AN UPDATE #4, BELOW.

the story this Summer, and this time, afford it a prominent berth on their Web site – just in time for the Healthcare reform battle. Yet, the most fascinating information was to be found in the Mayo Clinic’s own description of Ms Holme’s medical condition.

Quoting the Clinic:

"Dr. Naresh Patel, neurosurgeon, diagnosed Holmes as having a Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC). The rare, fluid-filled sac grows near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain and eventually can cause hormone and vision problems. Dr. Patel joined forces with Drs. David W. Dodick, neurologist, and Michael D. Whitaker, endocrinologist, to work on Holmes' case."

Rathke’s Cleft Cyst can indeed cause more serious symptoms if left untreated, but it is generally very treatable through minimally invasive surgery and NOT a “brain tumor” as both Ms Holmes and Right wing hack writers contend. It's a fluid build-up and has nothing to do with cell division as occurs in Tumors.

Additionally, the direness in the retelling of Ms Holmes’ story grew progressively more horrifying after the Presidential election and as the Healthcare battle began to percolate.

Horror stories of waiting non-specific "months" for treatment in Canada soon gave way to claims of four to six month delays (an experience 180 degrees contrary to that of the scores of Canadians I've personally seen or heard quoted on the subject).

Here is a modest sampling of the plethora of Right Wing reportage on our Ms Holmes:

Sept 7, 2007

"In spite of these symptoms - and an MRI scan revealing the tumour causing them - Ontario's health system told Shona that she would have to wait four months to see a neurologist and six months to see an endocrinologist."

July 15, 2008

"Shona found out that the free health care she was promised came with life threatening strings. She was told that she could not see a specialist for at least six months...six months which, according to the Mayo Doctors, she didn't have the luxury of waiting for."

The tumor claim was no misquote, for on every occasion, Holmes didn’t hesitate to confirm this bogus diagnosis. Obviously, a tumor sounds bad –whereas a cyst, albeit a surgically complex one to excise, sounds like no more than a glorified pimple.

If you want sympathy, go with the tumor alibi. Here’s just one of many examples from Shona’s personal press tour that began anew just as the general election campaign was about to heat up.

July 19, 2008

“No one should be forced to travel thousands of miles to obtain accessible good care. Yet that is exactly what I was forced to do after being diagnosed with a brain tumor three years ago.”

By May of this year, Shona’s tall story was to take another turn for the worse - this time, courtesy of Fox News, and just in time for the shank of the Healthcare debate now raging on the Hill.

Shona had become the star of her own :30 second TV spot, engendered through the combined effort of Wingnut fantasy and Insurance Industry money. Now, Shona was to get her 15 minutes of fame on Fox News, dutifully and dramatically retelling her story for the umpteenth time – but this time with a twist that only Fox News could conjure. As Shona is introduced to Fox viewers, the Chyron reads:

"Cancer Patient Says Canadian Health Care Nearly Killed Her."

patient

It seems nothing short of “brain cancer” would be sufficient for "Faux News"..

Certainly, no one would confuse a "brain cancer" diagnosis with a pimple!

Poor Shona Holmes – at this rate of deterioration, she’ll be dead by…well…2005.

UPDATE Courtesy of Numinous:

"Her (Holmes) treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona cost $100,000, and she and her husband put a second mortgage on their home and borrowed from family and friends to pay for it."

As Numinous commented, that fact alone proves the point that we need healthcare reform in this country.

UPDATE 2: For more information on the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, I recommend reading last month's DKos Diary by annie em. The Diary includes comments about the Group from Think Progress as well as some telling video from inside their front group, Patients United Now. Additionally, Media Matters debunks the PUN spot, HERE. Thanks annie for the heads-up!

UPDATE 3: And this Diary from June, written by SaraBeth, an American living in Canada. Thanks for your comment, and for pointing the way to your personal experience with a quality healthcare system.

UPDATE 4: Here is the copy from Shona Holmes' story as it appeared on the Mayo Clinic's Web site before the Clinic mysteriously shut it down:

Shona Holmes was in trouble: The list of her symptoms included headaches,

sleeplessness, dizziness, low libido and, worst of all, rapidly deteriorating vision. Her family

doctor in Canada ordered an MRI, and a brain tumor was detected. But it would take

months for her to get on the appointment calendar of a neurologist or endocrinologist in

Canada.

"I knew in my gut that I had to see someone and could not wait five to six months," she

says. So she called Mayo Clinic and got an appointment the same day.

For Holmes, a 31-year-old native of Waterdown, Ontario, traveling far from her husband,

other family members and friends was difficult. She knew there would be several

appointments and a battery of diagnostic tests. But she knew it had to be done. So, flying

solo, she headed for Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Once there, her fears were instantly calmed. "I received the most humane treatment of my

entire life," she says. "Everything was wonderful — the ambiance — from my treatments to

my first encounter at the check-in registration desk, every physician and nurse, was absolutely out of this world."

Dr. Naresh Patel, neurosurgeon, diagnosed Holmes as having a Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC). The rare, fluid-filled sac grows near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain and eventually can cause hormone and vision problems. Dr. Patel joined forces with Drs. David W. Dodick, neurologist, and Michael D. Whitaker, endocrinologist, to work on Holmes' case.

Their further tests revealed an increase in the size of her cyst over a short period of time as well as progressively worsening vision. "I was concerned that the pressure on Shona's nerves were causing her to become blind," says Dr. Patel. "We needed to remove the cyst to save her vision."

No time to waste

Within 10 days, Holmes returned to Canada with a confirmed diagnosis — and a growing sense of dread. She needed brain surgery immediately, and the thought of leaving home again was daunting: "Traveling so far from home and being far away from my family was a big deal for me, and then having them go into my brain — this was huge!"

Holmes returned to Mayo Clinic for several weeks of tests, and then got ready for the surgery. This time, her husband, David, was by her side.

By accessing Holmes' brain through her nose and sinuses, surgeons were able to remove

the cyst without a single incision on her face. Holmes was discharged from the hospital

four days later, cured of her disease.

"I've never been sorry for a second," says Holmes. "And how fortunate I was to have Dr. Patel as my surgeon." When she first saw Dr. Patel, Holmes had lost half the vision in her right eye and 25 percent in her left eye. After the surgery, her vision was 100 percent restored.

"Dr. Patel is my hero," she says. "We laughed, giggled and cried together." Holmes said she also was comforted by the fact that some of her doctors were Canadian. "It made me realize there really are no borders," she says. She's safely back in Canada now, reunited with family, friends and her golden retriever, Magnum. "It was a big deal leaving home for treatment, and not having that support with me in Arizona," she says. "But my husband was

determined to get me help — and I found it at Mayo."



xxx

A few comments from Canadians and U.S. Doctors concerning the lying liars who produced this spot: