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As the Senate prepares for debate on legislation that will restrict the rights of people like Heather, we need to make sure her voice is heard. Please read, post to blogs, and forward to as many people as possible.
My name is Heather Lewinski. I am a 20-year-old college student from Pittsburgh, PA. I recently saw President Bush on television saying that Congress should pass a law saying that people who are injured by medical l mistakes should never receive more than $250,000 for their pain and suffering. Unfortunately, I know from personal experience a patient's pain and suffering can be way more than $250,000. When I was 8 years old, a doctor performed a surgery on my face that I later learned was unnecessary. He told my parents that he had completed this surgery successfully on many other patients with my condition and that he would be able to take care of my problem with two easy surgeries with no visible scars.
To our horror, my parents and I later found out that he had never done the surgery before and that no doctor in the whole United States had ever recommended it.
The first time I took the bandages off my face and looked in the mirror I just cried. He tried to do another surgery to fix it, but that only made things worse. The corner of my mouth was all pulled down. I looked like I had a stroke.
Since then, I have been forced to undergo 14 major surgeries on my face to try to correct what he did. I live with horrible scars all over my face. I have had so much pain over the past ten years, I can't even begin to tell you about all of it.
After each surgery my mouth would be wired shut. My face would be swollen; my entire head would be wrapped in bandages. Sometimes the pain was so bad it would feel like my whole face was going to explode. It was like someone had a hammer and kept hitting me and hitting me.
Even though I was a good student, I missed so much school from all of the surgeries that they had to label me as “special ed.” I hated that label! By far the worst part about everything that has happened to me is the way my face looks and how people treat me. I wish people could see the inside of me and know the kind of person I really am, but all they see is those scars on my face, and they stare and glare at me. Every time I walk in the halls, into class or in the cafeteria, people are staring and I hate it! The kids in school have constantly teased me and called me names like “Two Face,” the character from the Batman movie. I hated to eat in the cafeteria because I could not close my mouth, and I would drool profusely. Because of the way the corner of my mouth looked, the kids would walk around school and pull down their lip and mock me. I really like people, but I have only one close friend, my girlfriend Angela who I grew up with. It is so hard for me to meet new people and make friends because they just stare. I quit riding the bus from school a long time ago because it was torture. My mom has to take me to school and pick me up.
I remember one time sitting in the cafeteria a few years ago, and a boy came up to me and asked me if I was doing anything on Friday. I was so excited that I almost fell over, but then he went back to his table with his other friends, and they all started laughing and pointing at me, and I then realized it was just a big joke. I heard him say something like “Why would I go out with an ugly two-face loser?”
The only activity that I really am involved in is training and showing dogs. I have been real lucky and have been able to win several awards competing against adults at these shows. I think one of the reasons that I like dog training so much is that animals can't stare or laugh at you.
I am in college and I have never had a boy ask me on a date. I will be 21 in a few months, and I have never kissed a boy. My biggest wish is that someday I will find a boy who will look and see me for what is on the inside my heart and in my mind and not my appearance. I would love to get married and have a family some day, but if I am honest with myself, I do not know if that will ever happen.
I heard that Congress is trying to pass a bill that would limit the pain of all injured people to $250,000. If you think each person should be treated as an individual, tell Congress by going to People Over Profits.
Please forward my story to others. I know that nothing can be done to change what happened to me, but I hope that if we keep the laws strong maybe people will be more careful in the future and no other little girl will have to go through what I have.
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