May 19 1999

My sister's name was Karly Long. She died this past Saturday at the age of 29. She was a beautiful person that lived her life in constant turmoil. She died a victim. A victim of the system. We as a family tried for several years to find help for Karly. We called Doctors. psychiatrists, and Hospitals, and anyone else that would listen. We screamed we cried and we begged for help. No one would listen. There answer, prescribe her more drugs and send her home. We knew 10 days ago things were getting desperate. She was picked up by the police.  If we could just get her in a contained environment. They said this is not a good idea for a person that is manic depressive bi-polar. The police officer suggested we take her with them to the Doctor's office and have her sign a Form 1 to have her committed for assessment for 72 hours. We did this thinking we finally had the answer. We took Karly and the form 1 to the Hospital. They left us waiting and we spent our time running around trying to keep her from leaving. We spoke to the nurses, the admitting and no one would listen. All they said is that a Doctor will see her. Finally a doctor saw her for less than an hour and sent her home. So much for the FORM 1. They told her to return to the day hospital on Tuesday. She did, it was Thursday or Friday before she would even see a psychiatrist. In the meantime she visited several Walk in Clinics and emergency rooms looking for Drugs to numb the pain. We even called the Hospital and warned them of this. Their answer, give her percocet and send her home. We found her a private hospital that was willing to take her, but we couldn't get a Doctor to sign the referral. She fought a valiant battle and wanted to beat this and have a normal life. She died on Saturday, alone an apparent victim of a mix of the many drugs she was prescribed. Not an intentional overdose but rather a mix of the wrong drugs prescribed to her. We as a family intend to change the system. We want to  try to convince the government that we are in need of a central registry of prescriptions to prevent people from doing things like this. It is too easy to walk into a Doctors office and get a prescription for Narcotics. We also believe that the mental health system is in serious need of an overhaul.

Today we will bury my sister and hope that no one else ever has to feel the heartbreak we are living now.