Next time you get the urge to complain, pick up “Battling the Beast Within” by David T. Williams, recently retired from Invacare and now a consultant for political/legislative strategy. The book (available from Cleveland Clinic Press with royalties benefitting the Cleveland Clinic Foundation) documents Williams’ continuing struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS), an insidious disease that brings seizure-like episodes of spasticity, life-threatening blood clots, severe bladder damage, and a diabolical variety of neuropathic pains. But don’t be fooled, because this book is not a litany of miseries. Instead, it radiates honesty, realism, and a profound passion for life.

For more than a year, Dealer/Provider readers have found that enthusiasm in the regular “Our Turn” column (page 114 in this issue) which Williams cowrites with Cara C. Bachenheimer, JD, director of government relations for Invacare Corp. This sometimes controversial, always informative contribution has reflected the twists and sometimes unexpected turns of HME legislation. In many ways, HME’s legislative struggles and victories mirror the unpredictable path of Williams’ challenging disease.

For example, you may have been doing fine until reduced reimbursements made life difficult. Williams can identify. When he was 26 years old, he was succeeding in his chosen profession (nuclear medicine) and had no problems with vigorous activity. Suddenly, he experienced a severe loss of peripheral vision. Within 3 years he was unable to walk, experienced tremendous fatigue, and was told he would never be able to work.

An aphorism (source anonymous) in Williams’ book reads, “Adversity introduces a man to himself,” and indeed Williams has found reserves of strength and fortitude that many healthier people will never tap. While the HME industry continues to fight its legislative battles, it can be frustrating because so much (both adverse and positive) is unknown. For Williams, the unknown of a changing landscape is something he has learned to live with. “The key to surviving change is to acknowledge its existence and then develop a plan for the transition from what was reality to what is reality,” writes Williams. “Don’t waste a lot of time waiting for things to return to the familiar.”

Whether it was switching from manual to power mobility or relying more on voice recognition software, Williams has carefully considered when to fight change and when to make the best of it. Once again, HME is caught in this familiar tussle. Federal Employees Health Benefits Program cuts take effect in less than 3 months. As of this writing, 52 members of Congress have signed on in support of HR 4491 to repeal those cuts, but almost 150 more are needed. Perhaps the answer is to do what Williams does every day: battle, prepare, love, and ultimately endure.

Greg Thompson
gthompson@medpubs.com