Is Dick Cheney's backstory anything like mine?

Published in Cumberland Times-News Friday, November 15, 2013.

"Like Mr. Cheney’s, my story, and survival, is very much about the intertwining of technology, timing and expertise – and my unshakable gratitude for God’s blessings. Sadly, my story also features 20-plus years of turbulence with dozens of doctors who wouldn’t face facts about my situation..."

 

Watching former Vice President Dick Cheney’s Oct. 20 “60 Minutes” interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, I thought, “He’s a daring man, to publish a book about his heart struggles. After all, who will read it?”

In 2006, after my second heart surgery to correct birth defects and their effects, my home health care team told me I should write a book. “Who would want to read my story?” I replied. “No one wants to hear it!”

Mine is a fascinating story, though -- to me, and my cardiologist, and a few other inquisitive folks. Interestingly, Mr. Cheney’s cardiologist and mine are colleagues. Maybe he’ll read the book. I don’t plan to.

As my cardiologist could attest, I’ve endured sufficient drama, and trauma, in my lifetime. Two difficult heart surgeries, three catheterizations, a dozen-plus other surgical procedures; an artificial aortic valve, chronic atrial fibrillation; 10 pacemaker implants, an infected pacer (and plastic surgery to remove a baseball-sized keloid and close the wound), two malfunctioning pacers, two recalled, one broken lead (that was an emergency!), one fractured lead; 10 years managing congestive heart failure -- prior to the last heart surgery, which left me with profound vision loss as a complication; near death several times: I’ve experienced just about all there is, short of a heart attack, which I hope I never do!

Like Mr. Cheney’s, my story, and survival, is very much about the intertwining of technology, timing and expertise – and my unshakable gratitude for God’s blessings.

Sadly, my story also features 20-plus years of turbulence with dozens of doctors who wouldn’t face facts about my situation and were uncooperative, disrespectful at best, manipulative, deceitful and abusive at worst. Surely, Mr. Cheney experienced this phenomenon. He didn’t mention it in the interview, but at times, Dr. Gupta showed himself to be incredulous, combative.

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, when my pacemakers malfunctioned (the leads were “improperly implanted”), my then-cardiologist expressed his concern for my symptoms as, “You’re crazy.” And there was the endocrinologist who said she didn’t need to know about my heart condition, because “that all happened before I knew you.”

Then came the dentist who wanted me to stop taking Coumadin five days prior to a routine cleaning. My current cardiologist, and the ADA, said, “No!” And my cardiologist’s response to the dermatologist who, in spite of my high risk for infection, insisted on treating my acne with daily antibiotics: “Out of the question.” That dispute got me barred from the practice!

Then there was the family doctor who swore he knew nothing about hearts, as he proceeded to commiserate with pharmacy staff to rewrite my cardiologist’s Lasix prescription for the generic, which didn’t work for me – because the pharmacy didn’t want to stock Lasix. That trick elicited a firestorm from me, which got me barred from his practice!

The dishonesty, denial and betrayal became overwhelming, and eventually, anxiety built into a breakdown, with PTSD. Enter the inept shrink who misdiagnosed me manic-depressive!

The correct diagnosis came seven years later from a competent and compassionate psychologist in Gaithersburg. With my capable cardiologist, he made two doctors I trusted by that time; well, three, including my dermatologist, who practices in Winchester.

She never balked or blinked at my heart history. Neither has my current internist, who is in Cumberland. He put me at ease in our first visit four years ago when he told me, “I’ll respect your specialists.”

I’ve assembled an ideal team, but finding them took decades of perseverance and hard work. I wonder if that is Mr. Cheney’s backstory. That I’d be interested to read.

Religious freedom events oppose HHS mandate

Published in Cumberland Times-News Wednesday, June 5, 2013.

"Whereas tyrannical maneuvers that incriminate news reporters for investigating the government, or harass taxpayers for disagreeing with the president’s policies, or cover up officials’ refusals to aid our compatriots in distress effectively compromise citizens’ livelihoods and lives, the HHS mandate endangers our immortal souls."

With public attention focused on recent Obama administration scandals, the controversy over religious freedom – ignited last year by the coercive Health and Human Services contraceptives mandate -- smolders relatively unnoticed.

Unless overturned, the HHS mandate goes into effect Aug. 1. A Health Conscience Rights Act would amend the Affordable Care Act to remedy the situation, but H.R. 940 hasn’t gotten air.

“Many religious employers, businesses operated by people of faith, and individuals will be forced to violate their religious principles to comply with the new healthcare law,” writes Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, in a May 21 email to the faithful.

A direct assault on the Catholic Church and all believers in life, the HHS mandate denies First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and religious practice by forcing people of conscience – against their teachings and God’s will -- to participate in health insurance plans that provide contraceptive services.

Whereas tyrannical maneuvers that incriminate news reporters for investigating the government, or harass taxpayers for disagreeing with the president’s policies, or cover up officials’ refusals to aid our compatriots in distress effectively compromise citizens’ livelihoods and lives, the HHS mandate endangers our immortal souls.

On April 8, Archbishop Lori thanked and commended litigants -- Catholic dioceses, Catholic and other religious non-profit organizations, and conscionable for-profit companies -- in dozens of lawsuits filed nationwide against the mandate.

In his statement, Bishop Lori quotes Cardinal Timothy Dolan, USCCB president, in his praise for business owners fighting in the courts: Dolan calls their actions “a source of encouragement, particularly because of their high rate of success in obtaining early injunctions to block the mandate.”

To further opposition to the HHS mandate, and to call attention to other increasingly egregious infringements on religious liberty in America, the USCCB will stage its second Fortnight for Freedom June 21 to July 4.

Bishop Lori calls Catholics and other faithful “to pray, study, and prayerfully act” in support of religious freedom.

H.R. 940, introduced March 4 by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-6) and in committee since March 8, would give individuals and employers the right to decline insurance coverage that contradicts their moral or religious beliefs.

The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment provides an easy format for sending an email to our representatives and the House Speaker in support of H.R. 940. Find it at http://www.votervoice.net/NCHLA/Campaigns/30688/Respond.

On a regional scale, the second Religious Freedom Walk June 9-16 will be eight days and 100 miles of camaraderie, penance and solidarity from St. Peter Catholic Church in Hancock to the National Shrine Basilica in Washington, D.C.

Along the route, the group (24 walked last year) will do education and public service outreaches; and this year, they will gather supporters’ signatures onto event t-shirts for presenting to Senators Mikulski and Cardin, and Representative Delaney.

Walkers may join start to finish, or anywhere along the way. Volunteers help in other ways, as well, and donations assist the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Baltimore and the Interfaith Service Coalition in Hancock.

For more information about the Religious Freedom Walk, call Father Jack Lombardi, director, at 301-678-6339. Video form last year’s walk can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBNKdPFsQW0.

Religious freedom is moral freedom. Our founders, having fled tyranny, guaranteed it first in the Bill of Rights. The right – indeed, obligation -- to object to oppression is fundamental to our fair and just system of laws. Without it, we are subjects. With it, we can move mountains.