Health
In 2011 Alice was diagnosed with cervical stenosis caused by a bad fall in 2003. By 2014 steroid injections were no longer effective in treating this condition, and the pain had become so intense that she was forced to retire on disability. This condition worsened until the pain became unbearable, and she was forced to have cervical discectomy and fusion surgery in April 2019 . She now has metal implants in her neck. These X-rays are of Alice’s neck.
Alice is Disabled
Alice suffers from degenerative disc disease, cervical stenosis, chronic sciatica, polymyalgia rheumatica, shingles, ulnar nerve entrapment, rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathy, and lives in great pain. When she leaves her house for events that involve standing or sitting for lengthy periods, she must do so in a wheelchair. In this photo, Alice was at the Central Missouri Renaissance Festival a few years ago, something she loved doing in historical costumes which she made herself, although she could only attend in her wheelchair. Alice also has Severe Gluten Intolerance, and cannot eat most normal food without experiencing severe abdominal pain.
Deteriorating Health in Jail
Alice’s health deteriorated quickly during her week of confinement. Her rheumatoid arthritis kept her in constant pain and she was refused the same medications that had been prescribed by her outside physicians. Alice slept on a hard steel slab with a thin foam mattress which inflamed her spine and neck conditions. Her food allergies made most jail food indigestible, and the jail had no system for providing gluten-free meals to inmates. Her autoimmune issues made Covid-19 a serious health risk during her incarceration.
