Archive for July, 2009

Tired and sad

I’m speaking at another rally tomorrow, telling Mike’s story. I miss him more every time I tell it, but it makes people aware that something needs to be done.
I’m so tired of listening to the crap of politics. President Obama’s press conference tonight was almost silly with the questions from the media about whether it [...]

Harry and Louise are on the other side now

I saw a new Harry and Louise ad last night, sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry.
But they weren’t scared of health care reform this time. In fact, they were hoping it will happen.
Huh?
I mean, wow.
The proposed legislation isn’t perfect, but it is a start. I just want to see steps in the right direction. Let’s get [...]

How they voted

When the Senate HELP Committee (Health Education Labor & Pensions) voted on health care reform the other day, it was pretty clear who they represented. The more campaign money they accepted from the health care industry, the more likely they were to oppose the plan.
Check out http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/07/help-committee-members-opposin.html for an analysis and a chart showing how much [...]

‘I talk to Mike’

We’re on vacation this week, visiting friends and family. Our last stop was Matt and Shannon’s new house in Rhode Island. Shannon was Mike’s favorite cousin, and Mike and Matt took to each other as soon as they met. Matt often drove Mike to chemo at Duke, more than an hour from where he lived [...]

I survived the layoffs

We lost about a dozen people to the big layoffs at Gannett today. Rob and I survived, but a few friends didn’t
The one I’m most upset about is my colleague, Jennifer. Her boyfriend lost his job last summer, then was diagnosed with cancer. He doesn’t have health insurance and he’s been told he’ll have to [...]

Spending sensibly

As Congress debates the future of health care in America, the focus is on the insurance companies, but they aren’t causing the entire problem. It’s more complex than that.
David Leonhart of the New York Times explains in a column (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/business/economy/08leonhardt.html?partner=rss&emc=rss) why he uses prostate cancer as a benchmark for reform.
Doctors can choose from several treatment [...]

If only I had this kind of money …

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070502770.html?hpid=topnews
The Washington Post calls it a record-breaking effort to influence lawmakers — a $1.4 million PER DAY effort. Think about how many people that much money could help with health care bills. That was more than it cost to treat Mike — once he finally was diagnosed.
That would pay to reomodel a dozen or more homes [...]

Independence Day thoughts

Rob and I passed a “tea party” demonstration on our way to the city’s July 4th celebration yesterday, and I watched for a moment and wondered why so many people would vote against their best interests.
But then I realized I do agree with them on some things, as liberal as I am.
The working class has [...]

What else can we do?

As everyone wrangles with health reform legislation, let’s also talk about ways we can reduce our own risk of getting sick.
Apparently some of us need some real motivation to live healthier lives. Here at the Asheville Citizen-Times, people who smoke cigarettes are charged more for health insurance than people who don’t. I’m just waiting for them [...]

Help Life o' Mike

We need your help now more than ever. Your tax-deductible donation will help us get Patient Pals and Family Friends off the ground. Please consider a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one.

Patient Pals & Family Friends volunteer training

Our Feb. 27 training had to be postponed, but we have rescheduled. Join us 10 days, as we train our next group of volunteers for Patient Pals & Family Friends. The four-hour training will run 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and will include lunch. Patient Pals are people who have experience with an illness or disability. After training, they will be paired with someone who is newly diagnosed or disabled. Family Friends will be volunteers who are paired with family members of people who are ill or disabled, and will have been through the expeience of having a loved one with illness or disability.

In Loving Memory

Life o' Mike has participated two memorial services to remember those who have died from our broken health care system, one in Asheville and one in Raleigh. If you would like to organize more of these services, please contact lifeomike@gmail.com and we will help put it together. The services include stories, prayers and information on how people of faith can make a difference. About 45,000 people die each year because they don’t have health insurance, according to a recent study by Harvard Medical School and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That breaks down to one American every 12 minutes. Those people can be honored in the service by a bell chime and a moment of silence every 12 minutes in the service. For more information, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712.

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