‘Angels Among Us’ are uplifting anecdotes that appear throughout my book You and the Broken American Healthcare System. These anecdotes share the hope Americans have for salvaging the patient-focused healthcare system in this country, describing doctors who are dedicated to healing, medical technicians who still care, and healthcare staff who know the system is broken.
After the aggressive brain cancer took my husband’s life, I changed doctors. I could no longer subsidize doctors who refused to treat my husband with dignity and care. So when I received the first copy of my book, I went to my new doctor and placed it on the desk before him.
I immediately began a monologue: “The doctors hated me with a passion,” I said!
- - - - “They disliked you because you had an opinion.” The doctor responded.
“In my book, I describe an American study that ‘borrowed’ foster children from seven states because they tested HIV positive. They gave these children powerful AIDS drugs and drug cocktails manufactured for adults. Many of the children, ages five to thirteen, were harmed or killed,” I said.
- -- - - - - -“They chose these children for testing because they didn’t have a voice.” The doctor responded.
“Have you thought about the influence and pressure from government, insurance, and Big Pharma,” he asked?
“Yes,” I said. “Each had their hand in this study.” Then I opened my book to the page describing the rape of American doctors. I watched my doctor read and I watched him raise and lower his head in agreement.
He read: “Big Government, Big Insurance, and Big Pharma have gagged, bound and raped many doctors in this country. They have killed their ingenuity, their pride, and their every day common sense. If I were the prosecuting attorney presenting the closing argument to the jury regarding the murder of America’s physicians, I would say - - - - - -“
When the doctor finished reading the passage, he looked at me and said, “You may be happy to know that we aren’t all like that.”
Other doctors also were not afraid to condemn the monster system that employs them. One doctor surprised me by taking genuine care of my dying husband in one of the hospital emergency rooms. After hearing our story, he said, “No matter what happens, you must remember one thing. You are not crazy. The system is!” He told me this once as he worked with my husband and then he told me again as I pushed my husband in his wheelchair toward the emergency room exit. “Just remember,” he called. “You are not crazy, the - - - - “
Our experiences in the depths of the ‘white-coat’ war zone made us watchful, hardened, and on alert. When these unexpected kindnesses poured upon us, our veneer of cynicism began to crack. We were relieved. We were grateful. We cried.
