Sharon Mitchell of AIM was out of the office last week getting her face freshened up. In other words, Mitch was getting laser-op surgery on some persistent facial wrinkles. "It wasn't a big deal," Mitchell said. "It freshens the skin really well. What they do is laser-op the first two layers of your skin. It makes everything just a little brighter."
Mitchell: "It takes about an hour. You're a little burnt and a little cranky [after the procedure]. You have to take some pain pills for a couple of days. I just needed the time off anyway. I saw a lot of movies and caught up with a lot of reading and relaxed. Dr. Mark Kerner's [of Northridge Hospital] fantastic. He comes in here [AIM] and does consultations one night a month. Girls are always asking about this type of stuff. AIM doesn't get anything out of it, but we'd rather have the girls see somebody good. He'll be here on March 30 at 6pm. He does everybody. He does laser for lots of the girls. He's done my nose. He's a wonderful person, not only is he a board certified plastic surgeon but an actual ears, nose and throat surgeon as well. When I needed sinus work done on the inside, he did the outside as well and did a really great job. He's a good friend of AIM health care."
The next AIM benefit is March 30 at the Dragonfly Niteclub [6510 Santa Monica Blvd. doors open at 9:30 pm.] "The Dragonfly donated the last Tuesday of every month to us," says Mitchell. "We get the door. We're only charging 10 bucks, and there's a chance for everybody to come and perform. Madison, Johnny Toxxxic and Nina Whett are going to perform along with Bomfog and Mark Woods' band. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's a nice club with a nice backyard."
Mitchell says AIM now has full tax exempt status. "We're just like a charity," she says. "We're completely tax exempt, we're not just necessarily ordinary business expense. Our 501 C3 has come through with a letter from IRS and everything. So anything that you donate to AIM healthcare is completely, 100% tax deductible. It's just like a church. I think it says a lot that the IRS really believes in us and is willing to give us that chance. So we're real happy."
Mitchell says AIM is now doing screenings for A, B and C hepatitis for $50. "That's really cheap," she says. "We also offer the vaccinations at cost for A and B. But for C, if we have a positive we have to go through a whole different protocol. So, I needed to get some specialists which we've picked up from St. Vincent's in downtown Los Angeles. They're going to be working with us. I also think we're going to have a large seminar, too, on the dangers of hepatitis." Mitchell alludes to a problem with a "young lady" in the industry several weeks ago. "It was a nightmare," says Mitchell.
Mitchell: "There was finger-pointing about someone who was supposed to have been hep C-positive working on a set. People wanted us to police. The young lady asked me not to mention her name. Because it was a rumor, it traveled. Everybody wants to find a monster. Everyone wants to hunt that person down. Just like Marc [Wallice]. People want to blame others for their neglect. It's so easy to point fingers in this situation. So it was important that we take the time to develop the proper screenings and protocol. We do the tests. We do them for cheap. I'm trying to get county health to pick up a little of the testing finances for both the HIV and the hepatitis. We'll see how that goes. We have a place [St. Vincent's Hospital] that is grant-funded that will take our positive people. I've met with the specialists over there, and they've been extremely helpful to me. They'll be there for us, and they are one of the best in hepatitis C that you could even get. We know this involves a lot of very expensive testing - viral load testing which is about a $400 test and ultrasound testing. We want to make sure that there is a grant-funded facility where we can send people. We know that people don't have that kind of money when they're positive. It's my job to really make sure that that's available to them."
