Hello all! My name is Paul Klein - this is my (now edited) health care story that I sent to Congress:



In May of 2006 I was still a young man. And I was a healthy young man at that. I know because my heart surgeon told me so once I'd finally woken up after two months in a coma and a triple bypass... He'd held my heart in his own two hands, he had put a catheter camera through my arteries - there were no plaques - only clots. That picture of health up there is me and my dinner just about a year or so before my heart attack...

It had seemingly come from nowhere. All they knew was that something had stopped my liver's Vitamin K production, and that loss of function then started a cascade of clotting that led to myocardial infarction. A chance in millions they said - I'd won the wrong lottery...

Be it poison, bacteria, virus, mold, fungus or otherwise, something had struck me down in my prime, put me into a coma and left me with brain damage and a chronically debilitating disease known as congestive heart failure (CHF). It took me months just to relearn how to walk, hold a pencil and feed myself.

Just sitting in a chair, I get these panicked feelings like I've held my breath too long under water and need to surface immediately. I have to stop and rest up after walking short distances. My thyroid glands were damaged too. So now I don't make enough thyroid hormone and I've gained 86 pounds because of a lower metabolic rate and the relative inactivity from fatigue. (I've since lost 45 of those pounds thankfully! - And still on task!)

My lungs bleed internally because the pressure can't be (easily) redistributed around my body by my heart and so it builds up and bursts capillaries in the air sacs. These internal cuts make it much more likely that I'll catch a flu virus or lung infection. Or it can cause a clot that brings on pulmonary edema and consequent death. I have to sleep in a chair because it helps drain the fluid from my lungs. And that extra fluid also makes it much more likely that I'll die from an infection if I were to get pneumonia. Basically it's like a long, slow drowning....

The fact is, the cause of my condition was so mysterious that the hospital very nearly broke their own paperwork record trying to find out what had happened. In just two short months they had filled 4 full books - each 6 inches thick...

I owe them my eternal gratitude... I owe them my life... I owe them $1.2 million dollars!

Before I'd had my heart attack, I was a self-employed wedding photographer and health insurance was a "luxury" I just couldn't afford. "Maybe one day soon..." crossed my mind many a time.

What if I had been receiving preventative medicine all along? Would I have ever come to this disaster to begin with? Of course, it's impossible to say for sure, but there's a good chance that the answer would be no; as it's likely that they would've caught it long before it progressed into a life threatening situation. A simple liver enzyme test could have saved me from this early grave...

Right now, there is no cure for CHF as nothing can get rid of the scarring and scarred heart tissue doesn't beat. My only hope of ever regaining my health is to one day have my stem cells cloned to be implanted for rebuilding and adding more muscle to strengthen my failing heart. It's a $40,000 dollar operation that I just can't have now that I can no longer work. And I don't have long... My accident happened more than 3 years ago and the statistics show that over 80% of people with CHF are dead within 5 years... With proper 21st century health care though, perhaps I can one day soon reenter the workforce and contribute to society once more...

As basic human dignity reveals; shouldn't healthcare be considered a right instead of a privilege? Don't we deserve better? My own dreams of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have certainly been cut short...!

Should we leave a wounded brother on the field of battle because he cannot pay the medic? Are wealthy people somehow more deserving? Should we gutlessly ignore our own morals as we blithely condemn our fellow countrymen to anguish, suffering and death?

Or shouldn't we just say: "Enough is enough!" and step up to be accountable to our neighbor? To our family? To ourselves?

How will we sleep at night knowing that a little boy or girl needlessly dies because we conceded to those that would make a quick buck off of their needs? And thousands of others? Every day?! Our health is not for sale folks! And neither must be our consciences! And aren't we all paying a hidden tax anyway through increased health care costs specifically because of people such as myself? I am writing this because you need to understand that if this could happen to me - then it can happen to anyone!

Should profit really be the primary goal of the health care industry? Certainly it ought to be solvent; but I daresay that their main purpose needs to be the health of the whole organism of America. Now, of course, not all corporations are uncaring and evil... But, as I see it; we have many companies within the health care industry that are each following their own particular business model and strategies. In my humble opinion, I believe these businesses need to be sharing a larger vision, a common goal and a prevailing leadership.

What's good for the health of American workers is also good for the economy of America… This is clearly evident, is it not? The road will certainly be difficult, but not impossible. The burden will not be light, but it will be easily carried by a clean conscience...

I do not have all the answers, but I believe that if there is but one thing that makes our lives worth living, it is the knowledge that we put another's interests above our own.

Best Regards,

Paul J. Klein