A Really Big Favor To Ask

I have a really big favor to ask of you and it’s something I think you’ll enjoy being a part of.For the past three years a couple of people have worked tirelessly on Rachel’s behalf to get her the medical attention which has literally kept her alive. These two doctors and their staff workers have gone so far beyond anything that would be expected of them, that there is no way we could ever repay them… and they certainly haven’t been paid much from our insurance for all of their trouble.

Anne Knott is Rachel’s Primary Care Physician here in Burlington, VT. Anne meets with Rachel once each week on her lunch break in order to give her plenty of time to go over all of her miedical needs, prescription issues, emotional ups and downs through this long path we have had to walk, etc. She has gone to bat for us so many times that I can’t even count them any more. So many specialists she has referred Rachel to have told us that the treatment they have given would never have happened if it hadn’t been for Anne’s tireless efforts to advocate for us. She has often taken on the insurance companies to get things approved and denials reversed. She, and her office staff, have filled out untold mountains of paperwork for us. And, Anne has given us her personal cell phone number, home phone, etc. just so we can always have a way to get in touch with her in an emergency! What you need to know is that Anne is a mother of two small children, drives a modest car (older than mine), and lives in a very average neighborhood because she works at a small family practice famous in the Burlington area for serving the ethnic population of this area. In short, she is a brilliant doctor who got into medicine for the RIGHT reason.

Dan Weiss, is head of the pulmonology department at our local hospital and at the University of Vermont. He doesn’t even take patients anymore because he is so involved in research work at the University… but he took Rachel. Dan has given us so many, many hours of his time, unpaid, contacting people all over the world to try to get some treatment for Rachel. He is the reason that we got into see Dr. Ernst in Boston (great doctor and world famous on airway treatments) who has been a constant well of information and help. It was also Dan who put Rachel in touch with Dr. Macchiarini who will be meeting with her this coming Monday to evaluate her for the transplant procedure in Sweden. Yet Dan wears blue jeans to work, always tells Rachel to say “h”i to me when she calls in, and he gave us his personal direct line at the hospital, cell phone, email, etc. to keep in touch, also. Dan left what he was doing and came in for EVERY ONE of Rachel’s bronchoscopies (30, so far this year) even though he wasn’t the attending physician doing the procedures! “Just wanted to keep tabs with Rachel”, he said! Often, when he has been out of town, he asks us to keep in touch with him (even when he’s at conferences or on vacations) and has often done work for us on such occasions many times when we would call for his help!

These are doctors who do what they do, not to be noticed or get rich… but to help people who are suffering. We now count them among our personal friends.

So why am I telling you all of this?

I want to ask you to do something to reward them in a way that no one ever has before. I want to know if you will just drop them a note or a card in the mail and tell them “Thank You” for taking such good care of Rachel. When you realize that I am not just sending this request to you, but to a couple hundred people from all over the world who have been following what has been going on with Rachel’s case the past three years, I think you can see the potential! Both of these doctors know of our faith and that we have served as ministers. Can you imagine what it would be like if they came into their offices and found dozens of thank you notes and cards from a dozen or more countries and twenty five or so states in the US – all with personal messages thanking them and their staff members for taking care of your friend, Rachel? You can use it as a chance to speak blessings over them for their tireless work, tell them that you are praying for them, just say thanks… whatever.

Would you please, take a minute and do this for Rachel and me?

I’m sorry, it has to be by mail and not email as I’m not released to share their personal email with anyone else… but it will only take you a few second’s to do… and it will help us so much. In the days to come, we will need their advocacy all the more to finish this road that Rachel is now on. Their addresses appear below.
Thanks for your help, my friends,

Blessings,

Steven and Rachel Phillips