Shameless plug

My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor.

My dearest and most long-standing friend is fighting it right now.

A friend in California died from it far, far too young.

I once participated in a scrapbooking event in which dozens of volunteers made pages for a woman fighting breast cancer. She lost her battle, but her young daughters have the journaling she did for many hours after we made the pages. They have the stories of their lives from her, even though she is no longer with them.

Another friend whose mother had a mastectomy several years ago requested that I add a link and this message to my blog in order to spread the message further. Please read on and take action.

Thanks.

A friend sent this package to me and for obvious reasons I really want to

encourage you to:

1) sign this electronic petition to Congress via the attached website and

2) forward this email to everyone you know.

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 their quiet "Thank You".

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 . . .

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 go 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 your 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 and zip code.


Breast Cancer Petition

Jennifer here again. While signing the petition is a good thing (as is forwarding this to all your friends and family) because it will bring some attention to the issue, even more important is the next step:

Contact your Senators and your Representative in Congress about this.

The bill is known as the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007. In the House, it is H.R. 758 (a related bill is H.R. 119) and was referred to a subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor in May 2007. These Representatives are members of that subcommittee.

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

Democrats (13)

Robert Andrews (NJ), Chairman
George Miller (CA)
Dale Kildee (MI)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY)
John Tierney (MA)
David Wu (OR)
Rush Holt (NJ)
Linda Sanchez (CA)
Joe Sestak (PA)
David Loebsack (IA)
Phil Hare (IL)
Yvette Clarke (NY)
Joe Courtney (CT)

Republicans (10)
John Kline (MN), Ranking Member
Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (CA)
Kenny Marchant (TX)
Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (LA)
David Davis (TN)
Peter Hoekstra (MI)
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA)
Tom Price (GA)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Timothy Walberg (MI)

If one of these is your Representative, PLEASE write him or her a letter or send an email.

In the Senate, it is S. 459. It has been referred to this committee.

Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Democrats by Rank

Edward Kennedy (MA)
Christopher Dodd (CT)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
Jeff Bingaman (NM)
Patty Murray (WA)
Jack Reed (RI)
Hillary Rodham Clinton(NY)
Barack Obama (IL)
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT)
Sherrod Brown (OH)

Republicans by Rank

Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Judd Gregg (NH)
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Richard Burr (NC)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Wayne Allard (CO)
Tom Coburn, M.D. (OK)

Again, if your Senator is listed above, PLEASE contact him or her. This bill has died in committee several times.

All your letter or email needs to say is that you were made aware of the bill (use the numbers given above -- both numbers when contacting your Representative) by an email and that you have signed the Lifetime petition but this issue was of such importance to you that you felt compelled to contact him or her as a committee member to be sure the bill moves forward. Feel free to add a personal note about why it is important to you if you wish. Make sure you include your full name and address in your correspondence. Some members of Congress (though not all) make a sincere effort to respond to communication from constituents. If you want a reply, send a letter via snail mail and ask for a response. Actual letters have the most impact. Using the numbers indicates you are at least a little knowledgeable about the issue. Including a brief personal story about your interest in the issue is wonderful, but the letter should be ONE page.

I know this is a ton of information but I wanted to be sure to give everyone the resources to take appropriate (and quick) action. If you have any questions, leave a comment or email me at jennifer [dot] my3sons [at] gmail [dot]com.

This link is on the right, as well, under "Cancer Sucks."

Man, does it ever.