LETTERS

‘Medical tourist’ tells her R.I. story

Posted 6/23/16

To the Editor:

On March 20, 2016, the Beacon published an article about a new development in an article titled “Development would mean 400 jobs” as well as a couple of others about this …

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LETTERS

‘Medical tourist’ tells her R.I. story

Posted

To the Editor:

On March 20, 2016, the Beacon published an article about a new development in an article titled “Development would mean 400 jobs” as well as a couple of others about this project.

While the couple of comments made were slightly irritating, it showed the lack of information about “medical tourism.” I am currently recovering in a hotel in Warwick for ten days after having a life saving surgery on my spinal cord on June 14 at Rhode Island Hospital. I am a medical tourist. I traveled from Chesapeake, Va. to come here because Dr. Petra Klinge, a neurosurgeon here in Rhode Island, was the only person I could find who could diagnose and treat the very rare combination of diseases that confounded every other doctor I went to for help.

I have irreversible spinal cord damage but now, after my surgery, I have so much optimism for what my future holds. And, I am not alone, I am one of thousands who struggle with finding doctors who can 1) believe me when I explain the symptoms, 2) know the answers and don’t think I’m crazy, and 3) offer answers, treatments, surgeries, and hope. Those of us, with conditions like myself, seek out specialists all over the country. We are close knit and when we hear that medical facilities offering rehab, therapies, doctors, and ADA accessible rooms will be next to some of the top doctors and experts in the world, well, we spread the word.

In one day, I was able to share the newspaper article about this project with over 5,000 people across the country in one hour. Thank you for writing this article and I am happy to share any part of my story with you to help the community see that this project is not just a collective where people can travel to, say, “I hurt my back,” easily obtain addictive prescription drugs they don’t need, and camp out in a hotel for a few days getting high.

This would have been a blessing for me here during this trip, but will be just that for someone else in the very near future.

Julie Rauch

Chesapeake, VA

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