Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Be my bra

I don't like to use this blog as a soapbox and I don't want to push any sort of personal views on you all, but when I ran across this at Absolutely Not Martha a week or so ago, I just knew I had to pass it along. I'm going to basically copy and paste this letter and I hope you'll take the time to read it.

I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all women.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the website below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.


My Lifetime's Breast Cancer Petition

Ok, so in case non of this makes sense to you, I want to share a little something with you. Years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a radical mastectomy. Many of you have loved someone with cancer, I'm sure all of you know someone with cancer so you know how scary this can be. I CANNOT IMAGINE what would have happened had the hospital FORCED my mother to leave after a day. She was so sick and my siblings and I were charged with caring for her and we would not have known what to do. It's appaling that people would actually consider this bill a good idea. The petition is legit so please take a minute and fill it out. I signed it last week and have not received any sort of junk mail.
No more soap boxes (for now). I promise:)

22 comments:

vicki archer said...

Well done for bringing this to attention - it is ridiculous to think that patients having major surgery, actually any type of surgery, should be forced home on the same day. xv

Rachel said...

I had no idea this was going on, so thank you for bringing it to all of our attention... so sad.

kuhkjhkh said...

Great post. I made a post linking everyone over to your page to get the link!

I thought it was Such a great thing to pass along. Maybe someone will pass it along again!

Ginger said...

Thank you so much for posting this. If you don't mind, I'm going to put this up on my blog, with my own personal story.

Claire Kiefer said...

Thanks for posting this. I signed the petition and am also doing the Susan G. Komen 60 mile walk this November!

Julia said...

Thank you! We needed to know!

Blair Friedeman said...

Oh wow! This is incredibly heartbreaking! It is scary how many horrible and unfair things happen that not everyone knows about--thank you for letting us know!

MissBliss said...

thank you!!! I did it and it was very quick and glad I learned about it via your blog!!!

ABSOLUTELY NOT MARTHA said...

thank you.

MissBliss said...

I posted on my blog and emailed some friends as well... my best friend in college and roommate was diagnosed and had a rough battle and still does... this is very important.

Diana said...

wow, i had no idea this was going on. this runs in my family and this is tough.thanks for sharing, and i am so glad your mom survived this disease

nonpareil said...

so happy for you to get on your soap box. this is really important. I can't imagine the pain of a mastectomy, much less having to leave the hospital the same day. unfreakinbelievable.

drollgirl said...

my mom had breast cancer and had a mastectomy, too. it is a horrible and traumatic thing to go through, even in the best of circumstances.

Rachel Follett said...

Just signed it! Thanks for posting this. My mother underwent a mastectomy as well so I know exactly what you went through.

Collins @ Life. Mostly Sweet. said...

Done!

Bromeliad said...

Crazy. My mom had a lumpectomy as an outpatient and was in terrible pain. (She was OK by the time they sent her home.) But I can't imagine a radical masectomy as outpatient. Does somebody think these body parts are somehow removable?

How is your mom doing now?

Katherine Lee said...

I feel so blessed to be one of the few women that breast cancer has not touched. The other day I was driving to the store and ran into the massive breast cancer walk in downtown Chicago. Instead of being frustrated, I was so inspired, seeing all these beautiful women coming together and being so strong. Good for you for speaking up, and thanks for the comment on blog!
xo Katherine aka. Urban Flea :)
www.urbanfleadesign.com

Gabby said...

I'm so glad you blogged about this. It is so important!

Christina said...

bromeliad- my mom is doing ok now. she relapsed a couple of times w/different cancer and she's had a lot of complications, but she's doing very well now. thanks for asking!

Felicia|DaLipstickBandit said...

beautiful..i will repost on my blog by this weekend!

Elizabeth Marie said...

Thank you so much! Such an important cause.

Aline said...

thank you for sharing this....my father has cancer and I know how difficult it can be.

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