A Breast Cancer Survivor Asks Prudence an Important Question:

Q: Breast Cancer Remission: I have been in remission for breast cancer for about four years now. I was fortunate to have good health insurance and a supportive network or friends and family during my treatment and recovery. Every October I grapple with the same problem: I feel no loyalty or desire to help out with breast cancer awareness funds.

To be quite blunt, I find most national campaigns to be impersonal, they do not score very highly on the charity calculator, and they were not there for me when I was suffering. I am also not particularly interesting in doing any of the 5Ks or other events in October. I find the best way to help breast cancer sufferers is to donate and volunteer at the local level.

Every year I get a lot of inquiries if I am participating in different campaigns or activities and when I say no, there is always a bit of an awkward pause. I don't really want to get into why I choose to support the local level more than national, and I don't want people to think I am insensitive to the needs of those with breast cancer. What is a good response to their inquiries?

A: Thank you for standing against this pink ribbon oppression. Both my grandmother and mother had breast cancer, and I, too, have no interest in buying pink ribbon yogurt, or participating in walks for the purpose of handing a big chunk of cash to overpaid executives.

You might like the books Pink Ribbon Blues and Bright-Sided, which explore both the dark side of big breast cancer charities and the incessant cheerleading imposed on breast cancer survivors. Mostly, you need a way to shrug off the inquiries. "I give to cancer organizations that help people in this community," should be enough to shut up most people.

But if you're up for it, you could do a little breast cancer education of your own and say that unfortunately, some of the big breast cancer charities do not use their money effectively.

- Dear Prudence, Slate.

Yes, it's October again.

Mammograms are important. There are locations around the nation and the world where women can receive a mammogram at low cost or no cost.  If you are in the US, here are a few places to start your search gleaned from various sources (cited):

* The American Breast Cancer Foundation’s Key to Life Breast Cancer Screening Assistance Program provides financial assistance to uninsured and underinsured women and men of all ages for breast cancer testing. Call their toll-free enrollment hotline, 877-Key-2-Life (877-539-2543).

* The American Cancer Society. Go to cancer.org, find the blue box on the upper right (“Find ACS in Your Community”), enter your zip code, and it’ll direct you to your local ACS office. They can tell you what resources are available in your area. Or call the ACS toll-free: 1-800-ACS-2345.

* The American College of Radiology - Search for these facilities in your area. The facilities that are participating will be listed with a pink ribbon designation.

* CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Programs: Offer low-cost mammograms and clinical breast exams to women between the ages of 40-64. States are legally able to narrow the age range, so call your state to find out if you are eligible for this program. They may also have information about other facilities in their area for younger women. Call toll-free 1-888-842-6355 (select option 7) or log onto the above Web site for information specific to your area.

* To find a certified radiology center in your area, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site offers a list of facilities, which is updated weekly. Just click here.

* Planned Parenthood Clinics: Women can make an appointment for all types of low-cost or free health services, including breast health, with the clinic nearest them by calling 1-800-230-PLAN (800-230-7526).

* The United States Center for Disease Control’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) provides access to critical breast and cervical cancer screening services for underserved women in the United States. Their Web site lets you click to your state to find a local health care facility that offers low-cost mammograms for women meeting the income guidelines. Click here.

* The United States Government’s National Cancer Institute can direct you to a local resource for low-cost mammograms. Call them toll-free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237). Be ready with your zip code. Click here.

* YWCA Encore Plus Programs: Services are provided on a sliding scale. Screening mammography is available to women 35 years and older who are medically underserved. Call 1-800-95-EPLUS (1-800-953-7587).

* Finally, try calling your local hospital. Ask to speak to a social worker. He or she will be the one who’ll know about the availability of low-cost cancer screenings and/or special campaigns in your community.

- CBS News, Liv Aware. Jezebel. This blog.

Donations are also important. 

But please donate wisely. If you would like to donate (time or money) try these:

* Breast Cancer Action - "We demand accountability." 

* See also: 'Think before you pink' campaign, demanding transparency in pink-washed product marketing.

"A cure is not enough. We have to prevent it. The cures we have aren't working."

 - Executive Director Karuna Jaggar.

 

* American Cancer Society - Donations intended for breast cancer research and screening can be earmarked to support NBCCEDP (the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program). They have focused heavily on social disparities as they relate to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and have awarded more than $113 million in grants to researchers looking into social disparity as it relates to cancer. 

 

* The National Breast Cancer Coalition - They aim to promote research into causes of breast cancer and the best possible treatment for the disease, access to treatment for all women, and encourage breast cancer advocates to speak up and stand up against the disease.

 

* The Breast Cancer Research Foundation - Ninety cents of every dollar donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation goes to supporting breast cancer research. (Komen only gives about 20 cents per dollar to research) 

 

* Unite For Her - Unite For Her aims to help breast cancer patients integrate other therapies that would complement the care they're being given by their doctors. Think acupuncture, massage, yoga, counseling, and other treatments that address a woman's spiritual and emotional needs during what could be a long and difficult fight against cancer.

The organization's aim is to "educate, empower, and restore."

Further Resources: {here}

My prior posts about BC: here & here & here & here & here & here.

In other words, sooner or later, everybody is going to have to eat their "broccoli."

But some people are going to get their "broccoli" for free while others will be paying extra for their "broccoli" because they’re covering the "broccoli" costs of all those freeloaders. 

Moreover, people all over the country are being bankrupted by the high cost of "broccoli" because they didn’t buy it when it was cheap but waited until they needed it. 

All of this is happening because there doesn’t exist a free market for "broccoli"; rather, that market is being controlled by middle men who’ve rigged the system to deny "broccoli" to those who need it most. 

Clearly then, the Congress has the needed authority - even the duty - to promote a fairer and more even playing field for consumers of "broccoli" by using its powers under the Commerce Clause to direct us all to buy "broccoli" - or to pay a "broccoli" fine - so that it’s available to us when we inevitably need it.

- Once again,

 with apologies to Andrew Sullivan and The Dish.

Visits to St. Elizabeths

by Elizabeth Bishop

[1950]

This is the house of Bedlam.

This is the man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is the time
of the tragic man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a wristwatch
telling the time
of the talkative man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a sailor
wearing the watch
that tells the time
of the honored man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is the roadstead all of board
reached by the sailor
wearing the watch
that tells the time
of the old, brave man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

These are the years and the walls of the ward,
the winds and clouds of the sea of board
sailed by the sailor
wearing the watch
that tells the time
of the cranky man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a Jew in a newspaper hat
that dances weeping down the ward
over the creaking sea of board
beyond the sailor
winding his watch
that tells the time
of the cruel man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a world of books gone flat.
This is a Jew in a newspaper hat
that dances weeping down the ward
over the creaking sea of board
of the batty sailor
that winds his watch
that tells the time
of the busy man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a boy that pats the floor
to see if the world is there, is flat,
for the widowed Jew in the newspaper hat
that dances weeping down the ward
waltzing the length of a weaving board
by the silent sailor
that hears his watch
that ticks the time
of the tedious man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

These are the years and the walls and the door
that shut on a boy that pats the floor
to feel if the world is there and flat.
This is a Jew in a newspaper hat
that dances joyfully down the ward
into the parting seas of board
past the staring sailor
that shakes his watch
that tells the time
of the poet, the man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is the soldier home from the war.
These are the years and the walls and the door
that shut on a boy that pats the floor
to see if the world is round or flat.
This is a Jew in a newspaper hat
that dances carefully down the ward,
walking the plank of a coffin board
with the crazy sailor
that shows his watch
that tells the time
of the wretched man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.


from: The Complete Poems 1927-1979 by Elizabeth Bishop, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. Copyright © 1979, 1983 by Alice Helen Methfessel.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Washington Post has a handy, dandy calculator to help you figure out how health care reform could affect you.

The most important thing to remember is that if you have insurance and are happy with it, you probably won't notice the changes. The strength of this bill is in its stopping the most egregious practices of the insurance companies.

ALSO: Rachel Maddow has kept a close eye on the happenings, pro & con, concerning this bill from day one. Her NEW BLOG is here.

"If we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America." - Pres. Obama on the night of the final Democratic primary

* If you are an intrepid soul interested in reading the full text of the bill, you can find it HERE.

VICTORY!

"Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage.



"This is what change looks like," Obama said a few moments later in televised remarks that stirred memories of his 2008 campaign promise[.]" - Yahoo! News

ANOTHER ARGUMENT FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM

from: "These Parents Were Trying To Keep Their Kids Alive" - Jezebel

"Its central argument was going to be that children were, by and large, being over-diagnosed and over-medicated, and that doctors and parents and teachers and schools who colluded in labeling kids and treating them with psychotropic medication were taking the easy way out . . .

"Then Warner started talking to parents.

"Warner had heard of parents who jumped to medicate their children at the slightest setback, but she couldn't find any of them — and when she talked to people who had criticized such parents in print, they couldn't point to any either."

[T]here is a world of difference between unique personality traits that may be quirky, annoying, or charming, and actual signs of pathology. [T]he difference between personality and pathology resides in pain, distress, and impairment.

"Because while it's easy to imagine that we live in a society of designer kids hopped up on drugs and diagnoses, in reality we suffer from a system where only a privileged few can get the care they need — and this, not some notion of the Med-Happy Parent, should be the target of our outrage."

We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication ~ Judith Warner

JUST A THOUGHT

WORTH CONSIDERING

"If this bill passes this year, children with pre-existing conditions will now be covered, there'll be an end to lifetime caps and annual caps on what the insurance companies will cover, so if you get sick you won't go broke, if you get sick they can't throw you off your insurance.  The doughnut hole will be filled in so senior citizens will save hundreds of dollars on their prescription drugs, the life of Medicare will be extended, and on and on and on" -  David Axelrod.

Sarah Hollander
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The Sick Child
by Robert Louis Stevenson

CHILD.
O Mother, lay your hand on my brow!
O mother, mother, where am I now?
Why is the room so gaunt and great?
Why am I lying awake so late?

MOTHER.
Fear not at all: the night is still.
Nothing is here that means you ill -
Nothing but lamps the whole town through,
And never a child awake but you.

CHILD.
Mother, mother, speak low in my ear,
Some of the things are so great and near,
Some are so small and far away,
I have a fear that I cannot say,
What have I done, and what do I fear,
And why are you crying, mother dear?

MOTHER.
Out in the city, sounds begin
Thank the kind God, the carts come in!
An hour or two more, and God is so kind,
The day shall be blue in the window-blind,
Then shall my child go sweetly asleep,
And dream of the birds and the hills of sheep.

ARM CHAIR QUARTERBACKS TO BAT!

Yeah. I know.

Last week, SLATE columnist, Timothy Noah, called for his readers "to figure out a way to get the health care reform bill across the finish line." Here are two of the winners:

Eighth runner-up: Bruce Miller, Grand Ledge, Mich.:
Invent a time machine. Go back to 1974 and tell Ted Kennedy to take the health reform deal Nixon offered. Inventing the time machine is the hard part, but it is likely easier than getting this bill passed. I mourn for the millions of folks who stood to get help under this bill and am ashamed of our country for kicking them to the curb.

Seventh runner-up: George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas (as imagined by Michael W. Price):
Declare that the U.S. is at war with the forces of Death and Disease. Seek a joint resolution stating the same. Scare up support by telling voters they're all going to die. Have the office of legal counsel draft a memo declaring that the president has the inherent and unfettered authority to protect the nation against the evil "Duo of Demise." Implement the preferred version of health care reform through a secret executive order and pay for it with the 2010 war supplemental. Repeat as needed.

TO READ THE REST, CLICK here.

HEALTH REFORM: AN ONLINE GUIDE - (Links to just about everything you need to know about the Health Care Reform bill)