It was the day after Peggy Koslowski moved from Seattle, Washington to Baltimore, Maryland. The day her husband, Stan, was to start his new job. "It was suddenly just there," Peggy says, "a palpable lump in my right breast." Her family and friends, her family doctor, all of her health care connections were 3,000 miles away. Peggy's first instinct was to call Johns Hopkins Hospital or Georgetown University and ask to see their best breast cancer specialist immediately. But there was a problem . . . Peggy and Stan belong to an HMO . . .

All Writing Samples Copyright © 1998 Lois Seeligsohn