Editor’s note: Alan asked that his full name not be used out of sensitivity to his wife and her prior medical condition. For this reason, he is being identified by his middle name.
Alan never expected to be waiting for medical advice in the back corner of a northwest Gainesville church in January, whispering his wife’s medical history to a student volunteer behind a makeshift privacy screen that did nothing to prevent being overheard. He recalled telling the volunteer his wife’s story and being told to take a seat.
“And then we went and sat in the back of the church,” Alan said, “very far away from earshot of other people.”…