Baldies' Blog began originally in the UK by a 26 year old journalist with a blood cancer on a mission to inform the world about bone marrow donation.

He has since died, and I took on the cause of making cancer care more transparent for everybody.

Cancer is a disease that will touch everybody through diagnosis or affiliation: 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed and 1 in 3 woman will hear those words, "You Have Cancer."

I invite you to read how I feel along my journey and
how I am continuing to live a full life alongside my Hodgkin's lymphoma, with me controlling my cancer, not my cancer controlling me.

I hope that "Baldies' Blog" will prepare you to handle whatever life sends you, but especially if it's the message, "You Have Cancer."

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Take America Back


"You have cancer." are possibly the scariest, most feared three words in the english language.
They force you to face your mortality and nothing after those words will ever be the same again.
I know, I've heard those words, but I'll tell you hearing, "you have cancer" are not the scariest three words in the english language. 
Being told you have cancer, knowing the cure exists, and you just can not afford it is the worst case scenario. The scariest three words in the english language are not, "You have cancer."
 No, those words are, "You are denied."

For years I've spoken about insurance companies denials of medically necessary treatment and how they drive up healthcare cost and cause stress on all ready suffering patients.

Today, American's are suffering denials not only at the hands of insurance companies for medically necessary treatment, but denials from social security disability for medically necessary work leave.


A 34 year old married father of two begins to go blind after 20 years with Type I diabetes forcing him to stop his career as a teacher while he undergoes treatment. 


His application for social security disability: denied. 


A 27 year old married mother of two opts to undergo a pancreatic transplant to manage her uncontrollable diabetes that has resisted diet changes, exercise, and an insulin pump leaving her unable to work and fearing caring for her children alone due to her blood sugar instability.


 Her application for social security disability: denied. 


I can tell you from experience, hearing the words, "You are going blind" (from a possible corneal perforation due to GVHD) or "You need a transplant." (twice for my immune system and once for a possible lung transplant due to GVHD) are every bit as scary and life defining as hearing "You have cancer."

I wonder, if I had applied for Social Security disability this year with Hodgkin's lymphoma looking towards a bone marrow transplant, would I have been denied too?

Meanwhile, across the world in Pakistan, America's enemy number 1, Osama Bin Laden, sat in relative luxury watching television and drinking soda with his wives. 


Bin Laden has been America's most wanted for as long as I can remember. The bombing of the world trade center in 1993 and The USS Cole introduced him to me at the tender age of ten.


I'm appalled any country would harbor such a terrorist.


I'm even more appalled any country would give free monetary support to a country that harbors terrorists at the expense of their own citizens. 


But wait? That hasn't stopped the United States' from sending our finances overseas, specifically to the Middle East and Pakistan. 


Why wasn't support cut-off the second any suggestion, rumor or whisper passed our intelligence officer's ears?

This may be an idea that all parties would support, so why hasn't anybody put it into legislation yet? Or was it introduced through tort reform? Is this policy impossible to overturn?


Germany had a novel idea when Pakistan asked them for money. They gave them a loan, with a payback agreement with interest. Their money is earning money.


We might as well be tearing ours up.


Speaking of Germany, It's been over half a century since Nazi Rule. It's been so long, in fact, some people try to contend that the genocide of the Jews never happened. I think it's safe to shut down our military bases there.


While the government is busy scattering American money across the world with three wars, countless other pledges of monetary or military support, and multiple defunct bases in countries like Germany and Japan, American citizens are suffering, experiencing a quality of life far less than citizens of the aforementioned now enjoy.


It's time to take America Back. We need a complete overhaul of our foreign policy. America, The Land of The Free unofficially changed its policy years ago to America: The Land of the Free Hand-out.


No more free handouts to countries when we can't afford to support young, viable people who become temporarily ill. No more huge amounts of support to countries when young american families can't even get a loan.


This is absolutely outragous.


Where and who is our representative that will write this bill to stop giving away what is rightfully ours?
If anybody has any suggestions for a political backer of this concept, please comment so we can starting taking America back for everybody.

I predicted years ago that if our medical system continued on its current path, it would become bankrupt and ultimately lead to third world care.
What was just once a simmer below the surface has risen to the surface and started to bubble. It's only a matter of time before the rolling simmer starts to boil and then boils over into complete chaos if changes are not made. 

1 comment:

Heather said...

Excellent post, I'm going to share that and your HuffPo on my Facebook. Congrats on HuffPo! =)