This is an email I received today. You won't believe this crap, but seeing some of the problems my family has had with the insurance companies trying to play God, I am not surprised.
Subject: Be my Bra. From a nurse: 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 patients, 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. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it! Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same. 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 support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip code.
http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php
This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS
This is a legitimate issue and I have visited the above web site to do my part. Hope you will too.
R...
3 comments:
I can't speak for all of Canada but here in Ontario even with our fabulous health coverage, most of these surgeries are day surgery. I know my lumpectomy and my axillary dissection were. I had a drain with my axillary dissection and the hospital set me up a home care nurse who came three times a week to check on me. I took care of the drain myself by measuring how much liquid was in the little "grenade" and once I had reached so many ccs of liquid, the nurse took the drain out, here in my living room. This is almost standard procedure now. They are keeping costs down in the hospitals and many hospitals find that women are happier at home, in their own homes and recovery is greater. Our extended health pays for the home care nurse who changes bandages, etc. I know we are different from the U.S. but I can also say having spent days in hospital after major surgery to remove my spleen, I was happier coming home and couldn't wait to get out.
I`m not up on the way our cancer patients are treated . but surely 2 days will help in hospital - to get over some shock and be advised and for them to take in what they can do at home themseleves ? If they make it a day procedure - i think they`ll feel more " alone " coping with this , or even a longer stay - if they wish - even though you do feel better to get home away from the hospital .
I hope that at least a 2 day stay is what every woman can have Rhonda !
xx
I signed. It is ridiculous isn't it? People are treated like cattle right now. If we switch to a universal health plan, (like Canada) it will only get worse. Hopefully this bill will pass! Kudos for spreading the word!
xoxo~
Abbie
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