A Message of Love, Hope, and Optimism for People Who Are Sick or Worried: From a Human Subjects Research Participant

This book will likely be of interest to persons with an interest in survival and recovery from illness; health research and clinical trials; the AIDS and hepatitis C epidemics; spirituality; and human rights including the fight for equality and justice of gays and lesbians. The book is autobiographical and a vivid personal account of a remarkable experience that the author had while a human subjects research participant in a clinical trial of an experimental therapy at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The book explains how this experience left the author feeling closer to God and to his family and friends, living and dead, and helped him to remember cherished childhood experiences in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. The message related by the author goes beyond that of a narrative account by a person who has survived a potentially life threatening illness. This book illustrates why it is important for us to do what we can to reduce or eliminate homophobia and the stigmatization of persons with chronic blood borne infections, which are social factors that reduce the quality of life of persons with potentially life threatening illnesses. Hopefully, people who! have felt sick or worried will read this book and feel more hopeful and optimistic about the future and will share the author's understanding of the depth of God’s love and compassion for all of us.