‘Blessed be the bothersome’
“Blessed be the bothersome for they shall receive health care,” a speaker at tonight’s rally said, after exhorting all of us to call our legislators again and again and again on the issue of health reform.
Another mother, whose son survived cancer despite the worst efforts of insurance companies, spoke about her ordeal after I told Mike’s story. She and I will be in touch. We decided we will be the Blessed Bothersomes. We will continue to advocate for health care for all.
I met Sen. Bernie Sanders and I hugged him and thanked him for standing up for what’s right.
The candlelight vigil was not without incident. A few agitators came with anti-reform signs and people stood in front of them with their “People of Faith for Health Care Reform” signs. I stood in front of one man and held Mike’s picture in front of his sign. He moved and I moved with him.
“I have a much right to be here as you do,” he said.
“Yes you do,” I said as I moved Mike’s picture in front of his sign. “My son had every right to receive health care, too, but he didn’t because of this broken system. He can’t be here tonight.”
After a few minutes they gave up and left.
Word is now that the Senate will give up the public option and allow people as young as 55 to buy into Medicare.
That’s not good enough. What about the people between 18 and 55? Do they just continue to die as Mike did?
This won’t work. We need our senators to have the courage to do this right. That’s why we elected them.
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.
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