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Thurs. April 30th Update- By Mumia's Lawyer, Bret Grote
I had a legal phone call with Mumia today. On that call I informed him of the medical opinion of the doctor that Mumia has chosen to assist in his diagnosis and treatment. He authorized me to share the following:
The doctor we are working with is recommending that Mumia be seen by an oncologist and given an occult malignancy workup, including a skin biopsy, in order to detect the potential presence of a hidden cancer. This workup should search for a Lymphoma, including the Exfoliative/Eczematous form of Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma. This is especially so given that medical records obtained this week indicate that a CT scan from April 15, 2015 showed abnormal lymph nodes in the groin and around the aorta. It is imperative that Mumia obtain a diagnosis of the underlying condition, whatever it may be, that has been responsible for the severe skin rash that has lasted several months so that a treatment plan can be developed and implemented immediately.
Mumia told me today that prison medical staff came to see him around 2:00pm yesterday to check his lymph nodes and tell him they may do a biopsy. This occurred approximately two hours after I sent the DOC the recommendations of Mumia's doctor that he be seen by an oncologist, given an occult malignancy workup, including a biopsy, and searching for the presence of a Lymphoma.
I will be visiting Mumia tomorrow.
Mumia is still in the infirmary. He is no longer being given cyclosporine. His lower extremities are still swollen but not as severely as they were a few days ago he reports. His skin condition is the same as it has been, with a rash over much of his body, extremely itchy, dry, and flaking. His blood sugar levels have been stable, he is no longer on insulin but is taking glucophage twice per day.
Mumia sends his love to everybody.
Filed Under: info, news Tagged With: diabetes, glucophage, Mumia, Mumia Abu-Jamal, oncologist
Make the Calls For Mumia's Life!
MOVE and ICFFMAJ Statement on the Prison's Attempt to Murder Mumia
This government is actively killing Mumia right now at SCI Mahanoy. When Mumia was transferred to general population in December of 2012, Maureen Faulkner and the Fraternal Order of Police made it clear that they intended for him to die there. Maureen Faulkner stated that now the time "doesn't seem so far off" before Mumia "stands before his ultimate judge." She hinted that she hoped he'd be killed by another inmate. They are currently carrying out that exact plan with prison doctors! Mumia was held in isolation for thirty years. When they saw that he had emerged from that strong, healthy, and determined, they decided to come at him another way. Despite being shot and beaten on December 9th, 1981, Mumia survived. They failed at executing him despite two execution dates, and after thirty years of isolation they couldn't break his spirit. Mumia's medical condition goes far beyond medical neglect or incompetence– this is deliberate murder.
Mumia's wife, Wadiya Jamal, visited him twice this week and witnessed that his condition is way worse than the previous week. Mumia came into the visiting room walking baby steps, in severe pain, and talking slowly and quietly. His face was sunken in, his skin is blackened like a burn victim with open wounds, and his arms, torso, legs and testicles are severely swollen with skin that is tightened and hard from swelling. Sitting down and standing up are both painful.
Prison doctors say they don't know exactly what's wrong with Mumia and yet they won't allow outside doctors in to see him. It isn't that they don't know, it's that they know exactly what's happening and it is exactly what they intend to happen! One of the drugs Mumia is being given, Cyclosporine, is known to lower the immune system and to cause many of the symptoms Mumia is being tortured by: chills, aches, problems with speech or walking, muscle weakness, tremors or muscle spasms. Mumia is suffering horribly and he is stuck choosing between having no medical care or being treated by the people employed by an institution which is set on his murder. The only solution is for Mumia to be home with his family!
It's no accident that this attack on Mumia comes as people are rising up across the country to protest the police murders of Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Freddie Gray and many more. Mumia's voice has been key in educating the world about these killings and in uniting people in struggle. As masses of people are rising up in rebellion they need Mumia silenced more now than ever. We must unite like never before to fight against this police terrorism and bring Mumia home! Mumia has given his life for this movement, he has sacrificed everything for true justice, now is the time to pay it back!
Flood The Phone lines of John Kerestes superintendent of SCI Mahonoy and demand that Mumia be allowed to see an outside doctor and get the complete adequate medical care he needs immediately
Demand that Mumia Abu-Jamal see an outside doctor ASAP.
John Kerestes, Superintendent SCI Mahanoy: 570-773-2158 x8102 |570-783-2008 Fax | 301 Morea Road, Frackville PA 17932
Tom Wolf, PA Gvrnr: 717-787-2500 | governor@PA.gov | 508 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg PA 17120
John Wetzel, PA DOC: 717-728-4109 | 717-728-4178 Fax | ra-contactdoc@poc.gov | 1920 Technology Pkwy, Mechanicsburg PA 17050
Susan McNaughton, DOC Press secretary 717-728-4025. PA Docsmcnaughton@pa.gov
DEMAND THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA RELEASE MUMIA FROM PRISON SO THAT HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS CAN PROVIDE HIM WITH THE MEDICAL CARE HE NEEDS!
Click below to contribute in getting Mumia the immediate medical care he needs
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mumia-abu-jamal-needs-medical-care-now
Filed Under: info, news, philadelphia Tagged With: call, diabetes, ICFFMAJ, MOVE, MOVE Organization, Mumia Abu-Jamal, protest
Stop Killing My Husband!!! Free Mumia Nowww!!!
Visit with Mumia & Medical Update
Wadiya Jamal
With Great Pride
On Thursday April 9, 2015 I visited my husband Mumia Abu-Jamal at SCI Mahanoy, with Rachel Wolkenstein my lawyer and sister.I had seen Mumia in the ICU at the hospital, where he was sitting upright, hand cuffed to a chair. I saw the photos taken of Mumia during the visit on Monday, April 6 with my sister Pam Africa, Abdul Jon and Johanna Fernandez. I cried when I saw those photos. But I still wasn't prepared for how Mumia looked seeing him in the prison visiting room, he was worse. I felt my husband is about to die. …
Mumia had to bring himself down to the visiting room from the prison infirmary in an old wheelchair, not motorized, had to use his arms that were weak and in pain; his breathing was labored.
I was in shock at how he looked. We embraced and kissed. When I saw him reading legal papers his hands were shaking hard. I put my hands on his hands and tried to steady him so he could read the information. He was shivering so hard, my hands were shaking as well. I put my arms around him and my head to his chest to hear his heart and to bring some warmth to his body because he said he was freezing. And then the guard comes and tells us "no hugging." I was just trying to keep him warm. (Other couples were sitting close and snuggling.)
My husband is innocent. He killed no one. I've said it before and I'll say it again, his only crime is he survived a severe gun shot to the chest and a serious ass-whipping by "Philly's finest" and then they attempted to kill him in his hospital bed by stepping on his urine bag by flushing the poison back on him. And now they are trying to do it again.
The way my husband looks today, it looks like they are going to succeed, unless we get some real doctors up there to take care of him, I mean for real… Mumia's life is at risk. It is execution by medical neglect and mistreatment… The only way I see that Mumia is going to survive this is if he is free, because I can't trust any of them.
Mumia didn't have a history of diabetes. Did you see the picture of Mumia, before his illness, how strong he is, how big he is? You see the difference in him now?!! I've never seen him so weak like this in my life. You have to understand that I am angry. I'm hurting. I was rubbing his arms and shoulders, he said baby, keep on rubbing them. I could feel his shoulder blades—that's how thin he is. I was rubbing his thighs and I could feel the scabs underneath the jump suit. Whatever this stuff is, it is killing Mumia….and it's on purpose…
I've never seen eczema look like that before – this beautiful brown skin, and I know his whole body from his head to his toes, for his body to be like we saw it today and how thin and weak he is…. [See the pictures we took of him showing the bumps and scabs on his arms.] Mumia's skin was itching and he started scratching and I said to him let me do it and I started patting and that eased it. I was doing it for him and talking to him at the same time. But he's in pain and I've had enough children that I can feel where infection is in your body. I can touch a certain wound or bruise and I can feel heat – that means infection is there.
Mumia said another prisoner, Major Tillery, kept after Mumia, telling him he was really sick, being damaged physically and emotionally; that Mumia needed real medical help. Major told Mumia that he was "fucked up" and "out of it." Major Tillery filed grievances about the prison conditions leading to skin rashes. Major Tillery had gone directly to SCI Mahanoy Superintendent John Kerestes and point blank said he needed to get Mumia to the hospital. Major Tillery told the Superintendent, "Mumia is dying." Kerestes told Major Tillery to "take care of himself."Major answered back, "taking care of Mumia is taking care of myself." We just learned that yesterday morning Major Tillery was transferred out of Mahanoy to SCI Frackville, where he had previously been kept in the hole. This is retaliation for fighting for Mumia.
Send your message back to me via Facebook at:
http://Facebook.com/WadiyaJamal
Write to me at: Wadiya Jamal, PO Box 19404, Kingsessing Station, Philadelphia, Pa. 19143-9998
Medical Summary
Rachel Wolkenstein (lawyer) and Wadiya Jamal (wife) visit a very ill Mumia Abu-Jamal
There was medical neglect and mistreatment of Mumia. In January Mumia asked for treatment for an increasingly serious skin problem that spread over his entire body. He was treated with antibiotics and steroids, both crèmes and pills.
Mumia had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic they gave him. His body broke out violently in blisters. From the steroids Mumia described swelling up from his feet to his head, like a balloon, his skin ready to bust. He had trouble breathing.
Mumia told us a prison doctor said he looked like he was "in a suit of armor," his skin was so tight and crusted, his chest raised up to his chin, to create space to breathe."
It was Mumia who told the doctors he was having an allergic reaction to the medicine he was given. Mumia had at least three blood tests and also ultrasounds. Ultrasounds showed he had a patch of pneumonia and gallstones. Mumia was admitted into the prison infirmary for a week in February. On February 17 Mumia weighed 268 pounds. When he was discharged from the infirmary a week later he had lost over twenty pounds. On March 30, when he was taken to the hospital in a diabetic shock, his weight had dropped to 184 pounds. That's a loss of 80 pounds in five weeks. His blood sugar levels registered high since at least February. Mumia's blood pressure was high and the prison was monitoring it periodically.
Blood tests taken on March 6, showed his blood sugar level of over 400. This is a dangerously high level indicating a medical emergency. Almost three weeks later on March 30, Mumia went into diabetic shock—his sugar glucose when he got to the hospital ICU was near 800, which can be fatal. When Mumia collapsed he had gone to the infirmary for a blood pressure check. His sodium level was also dangerously high and he was dehydrated. If Mumia had gone into the diabetic shock at night in his cell, he would likely have died.
Mumia was not previously a diabetic. This condition grew within a period of about three months during treatment for his skin—which is still covered with scabs. He was told he had eczema because there is a family history. But we heard from other prisoners that they had a similar developing skin condition and grievances were filed at the prison, but no responses.
Wadiya was given medical updates a few times from the Chief Medical Care Adminstrator at SCI Mahanoy. But since Wednesday, April 8, he was not available or his phone line not answered.
Mumia's physical condition is far from stable. His blood sugar levels are in great flux now, from quite low (below 70) and back up to highs in the 200s.
Mumia told us the special diet he is now given is a 2500 daily calorie diet, with some meats, cereal, white bread and fruit, mostly oranges. But a diabetic diet is not a question of calories, but what foods are made available for him as part of a particularized diet, exercise and regulation of his blood sugars as best for him.
We are all fighting to get a specialist to examine Mumia and set up a treatment plan for him. The question will be what it will take to get that enforced over a continued period of time.
Check Mumia's Facebook and the websites of organizations fighting for Mumia: International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Move organization, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.com, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.com for more information.
WE NEED TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE.
Let SCI Mahanoy Superintendent John Kerestes and Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel know we insist that Mumia have medical specialists of his own choosing examine and treat him.
SCI Mahanoy
Superintendent John Kerestes
Chief Health Care Administrator Steinhardt
Christopher Oppman
Director, PA Department of Corrections Health Care Services
John Wetzel
Secretary, PA Department of Corrections
Support and Contribute to the Indiegogo online campaign to raise money to help pay from the legal and medical campaign for Mumia, including costs for Mumia's family, friends and core organizers to travel to see Mumia.
Filed Under: info, news, philadelphia Tagged With: diabetes, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Rachel Wolkenstein, Wadiya Jamal
It's Time to Stop Trying to Kill My Husband and Free Him Now!!
Enough is enough!!! Today is my birthday. April 24 is Mumia's 61st birthday. But today my husband is in critical condition in a cell in the infirmary at SCI Mahanoy. We need Mumia free and home!!!
This rotten ass system has made many attempts on my husband's life when his only crime is that on December 9, 1981 he survived a cop's gunshot to the chest through his lungs to the liver, a serious ass whipping by cops on the street of 13th and Locust, then cops surrounding his hospital bed stepping on his urine bag making the poison go back up into his body.
He is innocent in the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner and the cops on the scene all knew that. But Mumia was convicted for a murder he did not commit and sentenced to death.
For over 30 years my husband was on death row in solitary confinement!!! where he was caged 24 hours a day, in his cell and even when outside. In general population these past three years, he has yet to receive his correct diet,!!! He developed a skin disease that spread over his whole body, treated with wrong medicine that he was allergic to, had pneumonia and last Monday, March 30, he went into diabetic shock with a blood sugar level of a deadly high of 779 and rushed to the hospital and put into the ICU on an insulin drip.
During these years on death row and now slow death row, Mumia has lost his mother, his sister, a brother, our brother Jahlani, my mother, my father, and our baby girl Goldii who was very active in trying to free him 'til the end of her life. Every single one of them expected to see him come home a free man, because like us all they believe in his innocence. May Allah bless and have mercy on their sweet souls!!!!
The prison didn't even let me know my husband had been rushed to the hospital and put into the ICU. I was told by Rachel Wolkenstein and then I called to find out what happened and where Mumia was taken. And then the prison blocked my visit at the hospital until the international campaign flooded the prison and PA Department of Corrections with protest calls. Guards stood outside the hospital room and one was inside the room with Mumia. I was shocked at his condition, he had lost over 40 pounds, was weak, barely able to sit up and keep his head up, handcuffed to his chair, with labored breathing, and dry mouth. I told him about all the love outpouring for him and that the world is watching!!!
News media waited outside the hospital for our report after Mumia's brother Keith Cook and I visited Mumia. It took all my strength and the memory of our daughter Goldii for me to be able to speak to the press after seeing my very ill, weak husband. The press did report Mumia's serious medical condition … But the press wouldn't report my statement that Mumia is innocent, he should never have been arrested or convicted!!! He should never have been in prison. This medical condition should never have happened. Mumia needs to be free!!!
The prison Superintendent promised that Keith and I and other family members would be able to visit Mumia again the next day. But when we arrived for the visit, we were refused, with the new "Mumia rule" that a person could have only one visit a week with a prisoner. After more protests, the prison allowed Mumia's eldest son, Jamal Hart, who had driven over 400 miles, and his younger brother, Bill Cook to visit. They described Mumia as in worse condition than he was the day before. Jamal came out, saying, "I couldn't stand there and watch my father in pain. I kissed and hugged him and left."
Jamal and I had medical consults with the attending doctors and the ICU nurse. They described my husband's arrival in the ICU with a blood sugar level of 779, an abnormal kidney, and dangerously high sodium levels. They had Mumia on an insulin drip and later tested him for gallstones, which they found he had. When asked, the hospital admitted that they didn't have a diabetes specialist. That morning his blood sugar level was still a very high 333. The attending doctor told us they needed his bed in the ICU for other patients. But the kidney doctor said that he would check my husband the next morning as to whether his kidney function was normal.
Yet, just a few hours later, without letting us know, Mumia was sent back to the prison, without an expert medical diagnosis or a treatment plan or his sugar levels under control. He was transferred back to the prison infirmary with a temperature of 102 degrees, to the same people who knew for weeks and didn't treat his "new onset diabetes" before he collapsed and went into diabetic shock.
This is execution by medical neglect and mistreatment.
On Thursday, April 2, 2015, I spoke with the Chief Health Care Administrator at SCI Mahanoy who gave me a report and said that I could call and get medical updates on Mumia's health day or night. But from my first call late Thursday night through this weekend, my attempts to reach the infirmary were blocked.
On Friday, April 3, 2015, some family and friends were able to visit Mumia. Instead of allowing visits in the infirmary, they had Mumia brought down to the general visiting room in a wheelchair. He had to go through security checks between the infirmary and the visiting area, meaning taking his clothes on and off and a body search.
His brother Keith Cook, who had seen Mumia on Tuesday said Mumia appeared worse. My sister, Rachel Wolkenstein, said Mumia appeared very sick, and was so weak he was barely able to hold a pen to sign a legal document. Mumia told those visiting, also including Mike Africa, Abdul John and Johanna Fernandez, that his morning blood sugar was 186 and spiked again to around 330 after a lunch of spaghetti! Mumia was very tired but alert and asked about the court hearing on the "Silencing Act" went and whether there was a decision yet.
We have no new information on Mumia's condition. Pam Africa and Johanna Fernandez are attempting to visit him Monday, April 6. I will be visiting on Thursday.
Diabetes is a deadly disease. My mother had diabetes. It requires constant care and healthy food. It can lead to loss of eyesight, nerve damage, amputation and loss of kidney function. Mumia has had problems with his feet and leg for years, also not adequately treated.
Send your letters and cards with love and news to Mumia. His address is: Mumia Abu-Jamal, #AM 8335, SCI Mahanoy, 301 Morea Dr., Frackville, PA 17932.
To all those people around the world who have stated their love and support for Mumia over the years, please, please, please ACT NOW!!!!
MUMIA MUST LIVE!!!! . HE NEEDS MEDICAL CARE AND ATTENTION. WE NEED TO FIGHT FOR HIM TO GET THAT CARE NOW. BUT WE NEED TO FIGHT TO GET MUMIA OUT OF PRISON, FREE AND HOME, NOW!!!
Wadiya Jamal, with Big Pride
Send your message back to me via my Facebook "in box" at: http://Facebook.com/WadiyaJamal
Let SCI Mahanoy Superintendent John Kerestes and Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel know we insist that Mumia have a diabetes specialist examine and treat him.
"My father is still considered to be a dangerous individual … his mind is what they fear, there is over-whelming evidence that would exonerate him of his conviction.
"He is an innocent man and the commonwealth has always known this, but being too Black, too smart, and too strong … The government will silence anyone that possesses the power to open the minds of the people." —Goldii (Mumia's daughter Samiya)
Samiya (Goldii) Performs at Mumia's 55th
Birthday & Book Release Party (2009)
Filed Under: info, news, philadelphia Tagged With: Bill Cook, Christopher Oppman, diabetes, Goldii, Jamal Hart, John Kerestes, John Wetzel, Keith Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Rachel Wolkenstein, Samiya, SCI Mahanoy, Wadiya Jamal
Mumia sicker. Needs independent doctor. Demos Fri. & Monday. Keep calling!
WE ARE GOING BACK TO CAMP HILL ON MONDAY, APRIL 6, TO FOLLOW UP WITH PA DOC SECRETARY, JOHN WETZEL! JOIN US IF YOU CAN!
CALL 212 330 8029 IF YOU CAN JOIN US. THE PRESSURE MUST CONTINUE!
Dear Sisters, Brothers, Comrades, Friends, and Supporters:Friends and Supporters of Mumia:
Yesterday, Saturday April 3, a caravan of about 15 cars coming from Philadelphia, NYC, and DC gathered at Mahanoy Prison in a dramatic presence on the road. With banners, signs, videos, interviews, and chanting the prison was well aware of our presence. We were demanding that Mumia's family and supporters be allowed in and that Mumia be seen by outside doctors to treat his very serious medical problems.
The prison initially refused to allow anyone in, but with increasing phone calls and our physical presence they ultimately relented and allowed five visitors to come in for one hour. Though not enough, this was surely a victory and surely a response to the relentless international pressure which continued through the time we were at the prison. After much negotiating and arbitrary changing rules, the five people did enter.
Their report was very troubling. On the positive side, our people including Mumia's brother, Keith, got into the prison and actually saw Mumia, let him know about the worldwide support. They said Mumia's spirit remains strong, he was completely alert, and responsive. On the negative side, Mumia was brought in in a wheelchair, his blood sugar went up again, he is very weak, he has lost an enormous amount of weight, approximately 80 pounds or so in three months, and he is clearly uncomfortable. The diet he is being given is completely inappropriate, and dangerous, for someone suffering from such a life threatening condition of diabetes.
We then went to Camp Hill, headquarters of the Department of Corrections of Pennsylvania, right outside Harrisburg. With our banners, t shirts, sweatshirts, cameras etc, arriving at about 4 PM when they were closing, we were more than visible. The usual "No, no one is available", etc. etc. and our usual "We demand that we meet with the Secretary Wetzel or his representative now" scenario played out and we did get a meeting. It was a stand up, disrespectful way of meeting with us, but nonetheless we met with the Press Secretary and let her know in no uncertain terms that we want outside doctors to see Mumia, evaluate and treat him, and that the prison system has so far brought him close to death. We were very insistent with this one demand: we want outside medical doctors to evaluate and treat Mumia immediately. We said we would return on Monday to follow up on this demand.
Phone calls to Wetzel's office in particular, but also to Kerestres should continue as much as possible reiterating this demand: Mumia is deathly ill, the prison system has made him sicker and sicker, and has certainly not shown any signs of helping him recover his health. We, therefore, demand that outside doctors of Mumia's choosing be allowed to evaluate and treat him immediately. Connect with institutional connections if you can.
PA Secretary of Department of Corrections
John Wetzel: 717 728 4109
Ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov
Superintendent of SCI Mahanoy, John Kerestes
In the face of this life threatening crisis for Mumia,, caused by the Department of Corrections willfully, in yet another attempt to silence Mumia once and for all, the international movement in support of Mumia, has been amazing! With demonstrations in Berlin and Paris two days ago, that we know of, three demonstrations yesterday between Mahanoy and Camp Hill, Philadelphia, and New York, we are surely on the move! We will be planning more activities and an overall all out battle plan! In the meantime, we will be confronting Wetzel at Camp Hill again tomorrow. Please join us if you can.
In the struggle with revolutionary love,
Suzanne Ross
info@freemumia.com
Filed Under: info, news, philadelphia Tagged With: call, diabetes, mechanicsburg, Mumia, Mumia Abu-Jamal, protest