State of the Heart is a nonfiction narrative that describes the odyssey Maggi Grace and Howard Staab undertook when Howard's heart valve suddenly malfunctioned and the local hospital in Durham, North Carolina estimated $200,000 to fix it. They faced the entire bill since Howard had chosen not to have health insurance, and instead, flew to India for the surgery.
Part travelogue, part critique of the U.S. healthcare system, part medical drama, this memoir describes the frantic search for alternatives to mortgaging the rest of their lives in exchange for Howard's life. It covers the trip to the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center in New Delhi, the surgery, and its aftermath. It is also the story of how a woman, alone and consumed with worry, navigated Third World streets clogged with cattle to find such basic items as chocolate and pencils and friendship.
This story (also see www.howardsheart.com) will appeal to readers of travel/adventure stories, policymakers, academics, those concerned with the healthcare crisis in the U.S., the uninsured, physicians and other healthcare workers, and caregivers of all kinds and in all places.
Maggi is available for book talks, readings/signings, and to speak to your group about medical tourism and the globalization of healthcare.
February 8, 2008 - Maggi's TV interview on KNTV (Bay Area NBC affiliate)
"Putting Value in Medical Travel," by Margie T. Logarta. International Medical Tourism Journal (IMTJ), Issue 03 2008 pp. 24-27.
http://www.imtjonline.com/zine/archive
Listen to Maggi on WCOM 103.5 FM, West End Report on the Arts - April 13, 2007
On June 27th, 2006, from 10 am - 12, Maggi Grace and Howard Staab traveled to Washington D.C. to testify before the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Aging regarding their experience in India and the state of healthcare in the U.S. The event was televised on C-span
Reviews:
In this inspiring, informative narrative, Grace explains how she and her partner decided to search abroad for health care. - Read more in Publishers Weekly
