Sick doctors: Don’t be the kind of patient you hate

Sick doctors: Don’t be the kind of patient you hate
Medscape; by Eric Spitznagel; 8/18/25
On a frigid November night in 2018, Michelle Sullivan came home from dinner with friends, took the dog out, and suddenly felt something off. “I walked outside, and I could feel my heart go into an odd rhythm,” says Sullivan, an osteopath from southern Illinois whose husband, Bill, is an emergency physician... “I said, ‘I don’t think I have time for an EKG. Something’s really wrong.’” When they hit the ER doors, her heart rate was 180. “I said, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to make it. I feel like I’m going to die right here,’” Sullivan recalls. “They hooked me up, and I said, ‘It’s AFib [atrial fibrillation], isn’t it?’ Yeah. It was AFib.” And then…nothing. No one came in. No crash cart, no orders - and this was her hospital. “Finally, Bill runs out into the hallway and says, ‘I’m sorry, can somebody please get in here?’”
Publisher's note: This is part of a Medscape series titled "Dr. Patient" describing what it's like when healthcare professionals become patients. From a hospice perspective, does your hospice provide the quality of care you would want for yourself or a loved one?