Cancer survivor in the halls of power

RIVERSIDE - Mike Tracy's glowing face said it all. The 51-year-old skin cancer survivor's blue eyes twinkled, and he smiled while looking for the right words to describe his "amazing" trip to Washington D.C. as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's special guest for the 2008 State of the Union Address on Monday, Jan. 28.

After a Monday morning Southwest flight with Sen. Whitehouse, Mr. Tracy set foot in the nation's capitol for the first time. He checked into his Hilton Hotel room and went out to dinner at Johnny's Half Shell, where he enjoyed a petit filet, baked potato and a salad.

The Riverside resident was primed and ready for the address.

Once he made it through the tightest security, of which he said "you could not believe," he sat in the visitors' gallery of the House of Representatives, behind the President. Although Mr. Tracy said he ultimately disagreed with most of the content in President George W. Bush's speech, he said he loved seeing all the powerful people who run America in one room, sitting before him.

"It first hit me when the chief justices walked in," he said. "The President came in next, joking in laughing. He even put someone in a headlock and rubbed his bald head. It was like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit."

"When Sen. Barack Obama entered he got more attention than the President. It seemed like he had already been elected," he added.

Mr. Tracy spent two more days in Washington D.C. and returned to Riverside on Wednesday. He could not stress enough how great a time he had and how wonderful he was treated by Sen. Whitehouse's staff.

"I saw and did everything except take a tour of the White House, because there is a five month screening process before people are allowed in, and the Smithsonian Museums, which are under renovation," he said. "I went on two, 3.5-hour bus tours Tuesday morning while it rained. I saw everything. Seeing the history of our country was awesome."

Mr. Tracy's invite

In 2003, Mr. Tracy's case of squamous cell carcinoma, a slow spreading form of skin cancer on the bottom of his left foot, was misdiagnosed. He said a biopsy of the area came back as an infection. Two years later, his cancer had spread and doctors told Mr. Tracy his leg would have to be amputated.

"They don't know how I got the cancer," he said. "It usually starts in the throat or jaw, but the doctor said he would have to cut my leg off. Just like that. I've spent more time going over a hair cut with my barber."

When Mr. Tracy sought other opinions from Boston doctors, it took several weeks for his records to be transferred from Providence. Eventually, Mr. Tracy underwent a successful surgery in the summer of 2006. He is since cancer free and uses a prosthetic limb.

"Nobody should have to go through an experience like this," he said while telling his story at a Sen. Whitehouse-sponsored community dinner in East Providence last August, which was where the two first met.

On the Wednesday before the State of the Union, Mr. Tracy said he got a call from the senator's Providence office inviting him to attend the address with the senator.

"I thought it was just a joke," he said. "But I accepted when they called me again Thursday to go over arrangements.

Senator inspired by Mr. Tracy

In a Jan. 28 press release from his Washington D.C. office, Sen. Whitehouse said, "The victims of medical errors and poor health information technology aren't just statistics - they're people like Mike, and hundreds of thousands of others ... Mike's life could be very different today."

The release said while Mr. Tracy struggled financially, because of astronomical health care premiums, the senator urged the Bush administration to invest in a fully-interoperable, nationwide health information infrastructure that could drastically improve patient care and give doctors on-the-spot information and data. The release also said Sen. Whitehouse asked President Bush to "increase federal funding for health information technology in next year's budget."

Mr. Tracy said he was most disappointed at the State of the Union when the President spent only 1-2 minutes addressing America's troubling health care system.

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