Almost Hell
A novel intertwined in West Virginia's health care crisis
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Chapter One September 10, 2005 "Dispatch. This is Healthnet. We are at the scene of a premature delivery. The newborn is in asystole. Do we have permission to shock?" The flaccid baby was lying on a starched white sheet, which covered an old, dilapidated picnic table. "Go ahead. Shock him, but don't forget he's just an infant, so keep the voltage low, at ... make it twenty." Alexis' partially naked sister covered her eyes, hoping that, if she didn't witness the dreadfulness, it maybe wouldn't actually occur. Half-blinded, Jennifer cried out, "Is my baby going to be all right?" "All clear." In unison and in military style, the medical team took one-step backward. The premature body levitated for a split second and then became limp again. "Alexis, I'm frightened. Something's wrong. He's not breathing. I can tell he hasn't tried to take a single breath. Greg couldn't feel his heart beating either. Please do something. You're the only one who knows what this pregnancy means to us." "Again. Increase the voltage to twent-five." Jennifer clamped her legs together in an effort to slow the flood of bloody water and to preserve her last shred of dignity. She wailed, "No, no, you can't let my baby die. You just can't let him die. You don't understand." "Jen dear, close your eyes and try to ignore what they are doing with Joshua. This IV will sting a bit." Jennifer's arm recoiled. "A sting! How about a stab?" "Sorry. That's the worst part. Now I can put in the medications and fluids through this port." "Please. Please. Oh, God, please help him. You have to save him. I can't go thru all of this again." Jennifer grasped Alexis's lapel and juxtaposed her ear to her whispering lips, "Don't tell anyone how I got pregnant." Jennifer was embarrassed by her conception. Alexis sighed. "Mums the word, but Jen, I don't think Joshua's going to make it. I'm really, really sorry." "Alexis, help me. I think I'm going to vomit." The sound of the helicopter blades overshadowed their somberness. After the team departed, the park would have a fresh set of visitors in awe of the splendor, but ,for them, the Blue Ridge mountaintop splattered with burnt orange, crimson, and sun yellow foliage went unnoticed.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Joshua, a premature baby, is delivered on a dilapidated picnic table in the picturesque Valley Falls State Park in the midst of West Virginia’s obstetrical shortage and escalating malpractice crisis. The incident thrusts the state into the national limelight. While Dr. Suzanne Oakley, chairman of the Ob/Gyn department, desperately tries to solve the paramount health care problem, personal issues from her past emerge. She reaches out to her childhood friend, the governor, for some assistance in the form of tort reform only to meet resistance; the governor’s husband is president of the trial lawyers association.
Dr. Oakley’s colleague and nationally-recognized sex educator Manuel Alvarez- Casilla’s grief stricken behavior is disruptive to the department and creates another dimension to the already complex issues. Almost Hell is a contemporary hybrid novel that intertwines factual information and accurate historical data through Dr. Oakley’s geyser-like life as she attempts to solve the mountain state’s medical predicament. At the same time, the catastrophes continue to mount. A genetic wake, designer babies, sexual lectures, psychotherapy sessions, Mountaineer football, and a dramatic courtroom scene contribute to the story line which takes place in wild and wonderful West Virginia.
About the Author
Dr. Rebecca Burdette entered the medical field in 1978 as a naïve nursing assistant. Since then, she has diligently worked her way up from a RN to a board certified obstetrician/gynecologist. Along the way, she earned a BA in biology and a MA in psychology from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. In 1988, she was inducted into Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology. She graduated from West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1992 and currently resides in York, Pennsylvania, with her two teenage children, Nicholas and Alexis.
The knowledge she acquired during her master’s program is evident throughout her novel and is utilized daily in her private practice of gynecology and sex therapy. In 2001, she lost a medical malpractice case. The psychological turmoil that ensued was the impetus for this book.
DrRebecca.org