George Pritting

I have been watching this disease with my father. He is almost at the same point in his ALS development. BTW, there is no real treatment or cure for ALS anywhere, not just Indonesia. There are clinical trials, some occupational therapy (not much at his stage), and ventilators. I understand his desire to be around his family though.
I would also not be surprised if he will not get immediate medical assistance when he gets to Tennessee. He will get an immediate approval from Medicare, but it is a 6 month wait to get payment for treatment. I have had this conversation this week with an elder care lawyer. I am not familiar with the programs of Tennessee.

He obviously has ALS. I am skeptical of donation pages though. I have read the response from the U.S. embassy and his youtube videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAVN1mFM2no&feature=youtu.be
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14196110_1106260249464117_3712482396488665443_o.png

They contradict the gofund me page. His go fund me requests $5000 for a trip back to the U.S. and states that his family has given him $10,000. The Embassy responses and his youtube videos state that the money is for his rent, food, and care takers for his stay in Jakarta. He states in his youtube video that it is $100,000 to go home.
Some of his statements in his Youtube video are completely false. He claims that he can only travel in the U.S. by medivac or ambulance. I have traveled to ALS treatment facilities. People come and go in wheel chairs and ventilators. Yes, they usually have assistance, but they are in worse condition than him and not traveling by ambulance. Also the U.S. department of state says they have arranged for him to be transported once he gets into the U.S.

I donated, but his clear exaggerations and misstatements only harden my heart.

I have done a few charity fundraisers for ALS charities in the U.S. and I will reach out to try and get them in contact with each other.

He did say something very telling in his video. "I should have gone home 6 months ago when I knew and I could walk."

Many ALS patients can fly without disruption from the airlines.
http://alsn.mda.org/article/air-travel-als-advance-planning-key
http://www.alsa.org/als-care/living-with-als/traveling-with-a-disability.html
The requirements and cost he proposed are surprising.
From my understanding, at his stage, without a ventilator, the most he needs is an attendant to change his diaper, help wheel him on and off the plane, and feed him. There is no "getting sick" with ALS. I also believe, all U.S. based carriers are required to be setup comply based on the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are U.S. airlines that fly direct flights to Singapore both round trip and one way are the same at $1400 on United (weird) There are ferries from Jakarta to Batam to Singapore. It would be a long complete pain the ass trip for a person with ALS, but it would be cheaper and easier than what he claims from dealing with Asian airlines.
 
^
Enlightening Jukung. Now I get even more suspicious it is the same George I mentioned before. (With so many half truths: A leopard can not change its spots?)

What also becomes very clear from your explanation and the earlier posts and videos, are the regrets with "what if" and "I should have" statements. And that's something that is very obvious in both (for lack of a better word) G & G stories*; because of not taking any precautions, having no insurance, not considering a safety net and naively assuming everything will be a piece of cake when moving to a third world country, on a certain moment they hit the wall. (And this might come across as very rude but, some people just seem to 'attract' trouble and problems. No matter what country they live in.)

Now that doesn't mean these people should not be helped. But what could/should be the role of friends and family at home and the social security and embassy of the home country?

And in a country where there is so much poverty and where many people live in substandard circumstances, I'm not convinced if the expat community should not look further 'than their own'.

And I do applaud B_a for being kind at heart.
 
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this george p, yes im confused as much as everybody. I am only doing what my embassy says my choices are. first price from SOS international was 100k, then 80k now embassy says new medivac company is 50k, Embassy says airlines are requiring doctor and nurse. they say airline is worried i will get sick or die during flight. then they will have to emergency land. then have a lawsuit. i tried 1 gofundme but it did not get donation, this new one i trying is to just get some money for medical equipment i need for everyday here. i can not talk or breath good or eat good anymore, honestly i just want to be sedated and not eat and just fly home fastest way but embassy has my passport, yes i made mistakes and bad decisions but i never been this sick before and dealt with these kind of things. i have nothing to hide but my stupidity. anybody can come visit me, since i have ALS my medicare is approved fast, its not even that i just want go home and die not here alone in a kost. i been told so many diff things, many people give so many ideas but im told its what the airlines want. IDK THANK YOU for everybodys concern.
 
geo p said:
this george p, yes im confused as much as everybody. I am only doing what my embassy says my choices are. first price from SOS international was 100k, then 80k now embassy says new medivac company is 50k, Embassy says airlines are requiring doctor and nurse. they say airline is worried i will get sick or die during flight. then they will have to emergency land. then have a lawsuit. i tried 1 gofundme but it did not get donation, this new one i trying is to just get some money for medical equipment i need for everyday here. i can not talk or breath good or eat good anymore, honestly i just want to be sedated and not eat and just fly home fastest way but embassy has my passport, yes i made mistakes and bad decisions but i never been this sick before and dealt with these kind of things. i have nothing to hide but my stupidity. anybody can come visit me, since i have ALS my medicare is approved fast, its not even that i just want go home and die not here alone in a kost. i been told so many diff things, many people give so many ideas but im told its what the airlines want. IDK THANK YOU for everybodys concern.
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Thank you for commenting George.
I am sorry that you are in such a lousy situation, I truly am.
I am sorry that you have to keep defending your situation all the time- but I do understand that kinda comes with the territory when asking for assistance.
You are human as are all the other posters who make criticisms.
I am sure you have made so mistakes in your life- I have made many, some of us are given the luxury of time and good health to be able to learn from and try to rectify our errors.
Some aren't.


To my knowledge GP had insurance that got sucked dry by his condition. He had a wife and family - who abandoned him (not unusual here) and I can imagine the world of hurt that would cause on top of a progressive illness such as ALS.

I am curious- do you have some friends and visitors George?
Do you have anyone helping with your daily care needs?
I apologise for asking as I know it is hard for you to write now.
 
Bad_azz said:
Thank you for commenting George.
I am sorry that you are in such a lousy situation, I truly am.
I am sorry that you have to keep defending your situation all the time- but I do understand that kinda comes with the territory when asking for assistance.
You are human as are all the other posters who make criticisms.
I am sure you have made so mistakes in your life- I have made many, some of us are given the luxury of time and good health to be able to learn from and try to rectify our errors.
Some aren't.


To my knowledge GP had insurance that got sucked dry by his condition. He had a wife and family - who abandoned him (not unusual here) and I can imagine the world of hurt that would cause on top of a progressive illness such as ALS.

I am curious- do you have some friends and visitors George?
Do you have anyone helping with your daily care needs?
I apologise for asking as I know it is hard for you to write now.
Click to expand...


thank you Bad azz for your kind words and concern, yes you are right about what you said. yes i had insurance but not anymore. it was only cheap insurance from my job here. yes my indo wife threw me out with nothing. i have no true good friends that come, maybe just visit once a month. I do have a women that helps me everyday but she just gets more attitude and more angry everyday. so my care is getting worse and everything else. this is my biggest problem im getting more stress so its getting harder for my mental state. dealing with more problems then i can handle. doctor said the stress and abuse is whats making me sick faster. i can not walk or stand or get up by myself anymore. my right arm is basically all that works.my situation is very bad. this morning she got angry and left me in bed 6 hours. i poop and pee my bed. i scream for help but people just ignored or were laughing.if i complain or say anything i get threatened and have no other choices but to be abandoned again.
 
geo p said:
thank you Bad azz for your kind words and concern, yes you are right about what you said. yes i had insurance but not anymore. it was only cheap insurance from my job here. yes my indo wife threw me out with nothing. i have no true good friends that come, maybe just visit once a month. I do have a women that helps me everyday but she just gets more attitude and more angry everyday. so my care is getting worse and everything else. this is my biggest problem im getting more stress so its getting harder for my mental state. dealing with more problems then i can handle. doctor said the stress and abuse is whats making me sick faster. i can not walk or stand or get up by myself anymore. my right arm is basically all that works.my situation is very bad. this morning she got angry and left me in bed 6 hours. i poop and pee my bed. i scream for help but people just ignored or were laughing.if i complain or say anything i get threatened and have no other choices but to be abandoned again.
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I feel so sorry that you are in such an appalling situation.
I am not in South Jakarta or even Jakarta- so I am not in a position to offer you practical support - otherwise I would.
I spent many years in the UK caring for people in such circumstances, so I know what I am doing - but I just cannot see how I could assist you in such practical manners due to the distance.

You do not need to thank me for my concern- I am sure anyone with a humane bone in their body must be concerned about your situation... the point is how the hell do we do something to alleviate things for you and help you get at the very least some reasonable care.
 
Just a suggestion- I do not know if you have already been in touch - The Salvation Army have a base in Jakarta.
http://www.salvationarmy.or.id/ins/contact


and their mission statement is this :
" MISSION STATEMENTThe Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.
Its message is based on the Bible.
Its ministry is motivated by the love of God.
Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination."

Now I don't know if you are a religious man or not- but I figure they might be worth a shout.
 
There are many people on Facebook trying to help George.
What I have seen so far is many donations to help him with his rent and day to day care.
I have promised to cover any short fall in his rent, along with one or two others. That is not to say i will pay the rent every month, at the moment many people are helping, however if this is not enough i will cover the rest. I will do this as long as it is required.

It is a situation that nobody want to be in. Constructive ideas are always welcome, however i dont think we are here to judge.
 
I would say be more proactive and not just listen to what the Embassy tells you. I doubt they have experience with the disease. If I recall correctly, only around 20,000 Americans are diagnosed with it.
For traveling it can be treated as any other degenerative muscular disease.
There is a lot of information on the web and for traveling with ALS.
Something in this is not clicking right for me because personally know ALS patients that fly even if they are wheel chair bound. Just two weeks ago they had the symposium in Clearwater, FL that hundreds of ALS patients attended, in wheel chairs and on ventilators.
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/als/alsconferencesevents.aspx
I knew people planning to attend but decided not to because of the hurricane.
What you need is to get to an American Air Carrier so that you are covered by the Americans with Disability Act.
The closest I found to your physical location was Singapore and United. So the problem is to get from Jakarta to Singapore.
Traveling in Singapore is wheelchair friendly and the Batam/Singapore ferry is used by wheelchair bound people, but you have to probably tip the porters to carry you on and off the boat. People have done it.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...m_Riau_Archipelago_Riau_Islands_Province.html


The majority of ALS patient travelers in the U.S. simply travel with relatives for caretakers. There is no medical certification requirement. I believe if employing someone in most states, they only have to be a certified nursing assistant. The majority of long term care facilities do not employ doctors or even registered nurses to care for the patients.

If you can hire a nursing assistant to help with your trip (preferably a larger male to help move you), you could be home in a week. Indonesia has some of the lowest wage rates in the world. I don't know how the laws of Singapore will pertain to your personal attendant getting you from the border to the airport, but as long as they don't try to check into immigration in the U.S., you don't have to worry about a visa for them or worry about U.S. wage laws applying. If you do have an in with the embassy because of your condition, they may be able to approve a visitor visa for your attendant. It would be a nice way to treat the person that gets you home if they could see the U.S. or meet your family.

My family has given all they have. 10,000usd to help
Click to expand...
you wrote as of September 29, 2016.

You should be able to get home on this.

I won't lie, it will be a hard painful trip. It is for people without disabilities, and will be especially hard for you. The mental fortitude to pull yourself up and get through it will be something all together different. Considering you have had the many setbacks of a terminal disabling condition and the loss of a spouse, you may need mental health help also.

I have spent a few hours researching this and I donated a little. I am sorry I cannot spend more time helping.
 
thank you jukung for all this info, first thing is the 10,000k from my family, i just said that because so many people say if my family not help me why should they help. im trying anything i can to get help, BIPAP Machine, yes i can fly the way you say but with bllod clots and my breathing im scared, if i fly the way you say embassy not pay or help. 50k is the only way they will help. if not i hve pay the bill. honestly i confused, scared, worried. worry airline kick me off, getting to singapore or home, i have dementia, can not talk or change diaper, have to lay down to change. embassy has wasted so much time with BS. I CAN TRY too fly anyway just to get home but i think it will be 10k for machine, pay nurse, all. i dont have. 40 hours is very very long for me, i thinking this be the trip. you so so kind and caring to do all this, thank you so much. the embassy has cancelled my loan now i just read but he said can reopen my case if get more money, i was hoping my gofundme would get a lil money just get medical equipment for here and trip. just worrying day by day here having help 24 hours, food and money has been and is hard for me. its not been easy as people think, this very hard in my condition plus no other brain here with me everyday next to me figuring all out.sorry for my one finger typing and grammar. cant see good anymore and the pain from writing. if i had the money and someone setup and do what needs be done, come here and say lets go home, i would be gone. im lucky i have help getting up from bed, feed me or anything.
 
George I empathize with the situation.
I would suggest you talk with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta and ask if they would write to their membership on your behalf requesting a donation of frequent flyer miles -either corporate or personal. Your embassy contact could probably help set this up with you and coordinate the request to the US airline carriers.
Hope this helps.
 
rugby said:
George I empathize with the situation.
I would suggest you talk with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta and ask if they would write to their membership on your behalf requesting a donation of frequent flyer miles -either corporate or personal. Your embassy contact could probably help set this up with you and coordinate the request to the US airline carriers.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Wow, what a curious and interesting idea. Would that be enough to cover the medical side of things too though?
 
rugby said:
George I empathize with the situation.
I would suggest you talk with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta and ask if they would write to their membership on your behalf requesting a donation of frequent flyer miles -either corporate or personal. Your embassy contact could probably help set this up with you and coordinate the request to the US airline carriers.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Frequent flyer miles will just get you a normal seat. These can be more flexible, if you need to change dates.
 
The whole medical team pre-requisite from the airline thing seems a little weird for an ALS sufferer's requirement but like George said - there is none with him that can provide guidance or demand some clarifications. Hopefully the Americans can assist one of their fellow compatriots in a desperate time of need. George - I can send you a few pulsa if needed - PM me.
 
hi everybody, thank you so much for all the info. i am trying to work on it all now. like i said before i only know what embassy tells me. if i fly regular and with someone i have to sign waiver with embassy saying their not responsible anymore. remember i dont even have money for food, i cant even get good help i need 24 hours now. i worry every minute how i can just help to pee or move.so i dont have airfare money. plus im told if i get on plane and the flight crew says i can not fly, no refund. when people see my condition they want to run away, i am 75 percent paralyzed you can say. i know i need medical on plane to. bbecause im not getting good care now to stay healthy. to much waiting from embassy red tape BS, i have not had anybody next to me helping with thinking or calling or much anything. i been doing myself. i dont have a phone, you can not understand my speech, slurred. i not got any help from any big org, embassy asked, i asked but no replies. i guess people think why waste money on a dying person. i havent had help from embassy now for 3 weeks, they pretty said they tried everything nobody wants to help. so honestly im lost on most everything and dont know what to do, tired and so confused, im worried about how to just survive tomorrow , thank you everybody again, thank so much, i took over hour to write this.
 
hi rugby thank you but i dont have a phone, i can not use one, only laptop, thank for the info to.
 
George,

You had a nice lady helping you every day, the lady whose account we sent money too.

Is she still there? Do you still have daily care? Is the money that has been sent still getting to you?
 
Jim69 said:
There are many people on Facebook trying to help George.
What I have seen so far is many donations to help him with his rent and day to day care.
I have promised to cover any short fall in his rent, along with one or two others. That is not to say i will pay the rent every month, at the moment many people are helping, however if this is not enough i will cover the rest. I will do this as long as it is required.

It is a situation that nobody want to be in. Constructive ideas are always welcome, however i dont think we are here to judge.
Click to expand...

yes and thank you so much jim you been such a saint and caring man, thank you so much, thanks to everybody thats helped me.
 
Jim69 said:
George,

You had a nice lady helping you every day, the lady whose account we sent money too.

Is she still there? Do you still have daily care? Is the money that has been sent still getting to you?
Click to expand...

hi jim, yes she still helps but she can only do so much, she has to have her life plus she gets upset fast, so sometimes im alone because i dont have any more help. . i need 2 people now because she is small and im big and well she runsaway to. i need professional care really, help with moving, exercise, etc. now just lucky get basic care. yes i get my money she is very honest
 
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