Thanks to my cute little red haired brother Richard, I got to talk with Jasmine today and I am going to tell you about our conversation as close as I can recall. If I’ve gotten something wrong, you will just have to forgive me, give me the right info and I will make sure everyone gets the correction.
Okay. So. Here goes.
Jazzi says that things are hard for her right now. Baby Eric, born with CHARGE Syndrome almost a year ago now, is sick a lot and there have been many trips to the hospital.
“I tried to take him to the hospital here and after having to explain CHARGE Syndrome to them, they sent me home.” I could hear the frustration and tears in Jasmine’s voice. “They told me I had all the equipment and I knew more about it than they did and they sent me home!” And she ended up not getting any help at all and having to deal with it on her own.
Nursing is another challenge for Jazzi. “There are times I may not have nursing help for days at a time and Eric can’t be left alone. I try to stay up all night with him - with the help of energy drinks - and I’m exhausted. There was one time I set my alarm and laid down for a couple of hours and when I got up to check on him he was blue.” I could hear how scared she was when that happened because it came through in her voice. “If you could hear him breathe you would hear how raspy it is. He can’t clear his lungs himself and he has to be suctioned all the time. And he doesn’t eat yet either, he’s still on a tube.”
Transportation is another issue that she deals with. She doesn’t have a car and relies on friends. “My girlfriend used to take me whenever I needed to take Eric for his appointments but she wrecked her car and I’ve had to miss a lot of appointments.”
I know that some members of my family help Jazzi on a regular basis. “I can’t cash checks unless I can get a ride to the bank,” she told me.
“Would postal money orders work better for you?”
“I don’t know how to cash them. I never saw one before until Rosemary sent me one not very long ago. I had a ride that day so I took it to the bank and cashed it.”
“I think you can cash postal money orders right at the post office,” I told her.
“If that’s true than that would work better for me than a check,” she said.
“And I’ve got like a four page letter sitting here for Rosemary. I want to copy it and send it to everyone and just change the name. I really hate to do that but I don’t have the time to write everyone a personalized letter.”
I understand that one completely! I used to do that, write one letter and change the name, eighteen years ago when I first started writing, then I gave that up and went with a general, ‘Hi everyone,’ greeting, and now I don’t always bother with a greeting. Personally, I don’t care if it is addressed to me or not. If we are all going to get the same news anyway, why not just copy it and send it to everyone? Would you rather have no news at all? Not me! Send me a copy! I’m good with that! And I said so to Jasmine.
Jazzi and the girls love the clothes and things that Rosemary and her friends send to them and she told me that the girls, Destini and Jaiyden, both wrote thank-you notes but she doesn’t know if they ever got into the mail or not. I guess it’s hard living on the edge of exhaustion all the time.
I asked about Eric Sr. and Jasmine expects - or maybe just has high hopes - that he will be home in April. “He had a pre-parole board hearing and one of the guys there said he wouldn’t vote for Eric to be released because he isn’t remorseful.” I’m thinking that boy better learn how to act remorseful even if he’s not if he wants to get out! But I didn’t say anything, I let Jasmine talk. “The guys on the pre-parole board aren’t necessarily the same ones he’ll see when his hearing comes up. They moved him down to Pittsburg. There’s two jails there and he’s in the one in the city, I think it’s called Western, and he likes it better there, but I still don’t have a way to get there to go see him. I’ll be so glad when he gets home and can help me.”
Lastly, I asked about communicating with her. Her phone gets turned off a lot and presently has been off since the beginning of November but she can take a tablet up to the convenience store and use their wi-fi and she can get on Facebook.
After hanging up with Jasmine I got on FB and that is where I got the photos for this note.
I asked if her mail was delivered to her house and she said it is so I got her address for us.
Jasmine Platt
402 South Front Street
Wrightsville PA 17368
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