Boobs On Ice™

Do Breast Cancer Patients Need Protection?

If you are surprised at how quickly I was released from the hospital you're not alone. In Sweden The average hospital stay after Mastectomy is 7.2 days. Seventeen per cent of the hospital stay for these patients was due to factors other than the mammary cancer such as infections or discovery of other cancer but even with that, we're left with a good period of time during which we've got hospital care.

As early as 1988 a report was generated on the relatively new practice  or discharging patients with surgical drains in place as a cost saving measure. The average hospital stay was reduced from 10.5 to 4.3 days. A mean 39% reduction in hospital charges was achieved by instituting the policies of "same-day" admission and early postoperative discharge with drainage catheters in place. Complication rates were not changed.

Still, that 4.3 days is a lot longer than my 24 hour stay and some of us are less than happy being sent home within a matter of days. I'm not going political but I certainly don't object to legislation that would allow us a few days in the hospital to get used to life without one or more breasts.

"Under the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007, insurers would be required to extend coverage for a minimum of 48 hours in the hospital, if requested by the patient and doctor, for a woman undergoing a mastectomy, lumpectomy or lymph node dissection.

"Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who has called for extended hospital-stay coverage since 1996, said insurers often refuse to cover a hospital stay, forcing women to leave the hospital prematurely."

On the other hand, Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, is quoted as saying that this bill is "not ... on our agenda," adding that the hospital-stay bill could lead to a tendency for patients to remain in the hospital longer than necessary, adding, "I don't hear from women across the country that this is a problem" (Hardin, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/31)

On the other hand, she hasn't gotten my letter yet.

Follow this bill through congress at  govtrack.us : H.R. 119: Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007

Resources:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62053.php

Swedish hospital state. WileyInterscience

2AM Is Getting To Be a Theme - But Oh What a Day

It's 2:30AM and I'm about to go to sleep. I can pack my bag in the AM, leaving one more way for me to be in denial. The cat threw up on the bed just now so I know things are normal in at least one way.

It generally takes a long time for my posts to come together. I'm not a blog and run type woman apparently. In fact, the last time I ran may have been in 1995.

Admittedly my 6'3"son was here today and after doing a great job of being in charge of logistics all day while daughter 3 played my emotional-sidekick, Sgt. Reynolds was now distracting me by playing his entertaining role, asking unanswerable questions like a perpetual five year old.

He knows how to make me sputter and smile at the same time.

"How do people explain alligators if there were none on the ark with Noah?"

By the time I even began to address that, he was onto "Shouldn't there be a home test to see if you have diabetes - like a home pregnancy kit?"

(This went on. And on. He thinks in strange and mysterious and prolific ways. Or maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)

Meanwhile I've gone back and forth thinking about another topic all through the evening.

After my hospital visit yesterday in preparation for the big day today - - after meeting with Jim Long (twitter's @NewMediaJim ) and talking about what Social Media means to me - -  after seeing the pea fund suddenly appear as a working breathing thing a minute ago - - what could I even begin to say here?

It's a harder question to answer than the one about the alligators.

How do I tell you about the week I've had and how stunned I am at the response to my sharing my cancer story?

• It's impossible to list the wonderful people who have put PEAvatars on their twitter pages or made seesmic videos.

• I don't have any idea who all the people are who have uttered or blogged about breast cancer, Boobs on Ice, the grassroots Frozen Pea fund.

• It's impossible to count the people who have done something small and meaningful for me or made big grand wonderful gestures.

• How can we show our gratitude to you who have been supportive or helped someone behind the scenes?

• What should I say that could possibly convey how heartening it has been to feel all of you with me?

I just can't. But at the same time I know that you know that I feel all of you out there pulling for me, making me smile.

I love each of you. Prepare to be hugged repeatedly when I see you.

The Sprit of My Path

We each find our own path with those we hold dear. Sometimes others can walk ahead and clear the way. Some can walk by our sides and help us along. Some can walk behind and cheer us on.

My take is that one of the best parts of the wonder of the journey is that I get to observe and learn along the way.

Part of what I've learned is that we've each got our own way of processing life. Mine seems to mean that - for the most part at least - I decide on a path and walk it, making changes as I go; not making a big deal about each obstacle on the journey, but considering it and doing what I can with what I've got.

I've learned to adapt and bend rather resisting and breaking. And I laugh when I read that line, for it's truly an acquired skill, and one born of necessity and over decades.

Now that's not to say I'm a Pollyanna. And yes I know I'm a "glass half full" person but with a twist of sass. That's likely a combination of how I was raised and how I'm hard wired, with a generous dash of life experience thrown in.

But what happens when one of these "big things" comes up along the way?

and believe me they have come up before just not so dramatically as my cancer diagnosis

First I think and process what I can before I react too much.What could be happening? What could I do?

• Perhaps a tree that's fallen in my way may have fallen ON me had I been there a bit earlier. That realization can change my view of it, bringing new discoveries and insights.
• Or it may just present an opportunity to sit down and figure out how to cross the obstacle
• Or it might lead me to take another path around it that will bring me to a wonderful new place.
• I might actually need the help of others, and that's something I'm learning to make the best possible use of as well, and hopefully with grace and gratitude.

Some have wondered if I'm fighting cancer or embracing it as part of my life. Perhaps they are seeing some of my reserve and introspection as acquiescence.

The truth is that I do not welcome Cancer any more than I welcomed fibromyalgia syndrome, or very ill children, or an early divorce. But realities are realities.

I do however welcome each day - not with a battling spirit perhaps - but with spirit nonetheless.  I welcome each day and each year, believing that it brings more opportunities to both enjoy the path but also to expand my vision and my experiences.

To those who want to show me a more enlightened path on my journey I thank them for thinking of me and wish them well on putting that to work in their way in their own lives; not being unduly influenced by my approach or too much upset by it.

No one can walk our walk for us or see it from our eyes. I'm at peace with my progress thus far and look forward to the rest of the road.