BlogHer - Health & Wellness - Comments

Cancer doesn't care, does it?

whymommy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:24:33 -0500

Denise and all,

You're right. Cancer doesn't care who you are or what you're doing or how busy you are with craft/work/kids/living at the time. I know. I was a nursing mom of an infant when I discovered that I had Stage III cancer. The next 6 months were harrowing, and the only way I had to cope (since I was immune-compromised and couldn't go out in public) was to write about it on my blog. Which was not a health blog, but apparently became one.

I wish I could have turned my back on cancer then or when I was finished with treatment, but it's too compelling. It has stolen too many friends from this world, way before my time.

Today, even though I am in remission, I still blog about life after cancer and moderate a group blog called Mothers With Cancer.com that brings together 20 bloggers in all stages of the disease to talk honestly about our experiences. That blog is really popular, and I invite anyone reading here to come and visit. It's not sad. It is honest.

Denise, I know you know this stuff -- but thanks for writing this post and bringing the disease out of the shadows again. 1 in 3 Americans will get cancer in their lifetimes; it's important to support those going through it early -- and it's time to find a cure.

Susan

http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com & http://motherswithcancer.com

Plastic Toys

soyjoy2008 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:11:44 -0500

Great article! I'd say plastic toys are a big concern for me. Organic, wood toys are terrific, however they are usually not the toys our young children want to play with! Thanks for the the terrific resources!

Thanks for this

Tammy Donroe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:53:09 -0500

It will be nice to read other people's experiences with this disease. I'll be in touch with you this week.

Pragmatism Precludes This

MLOKnitting — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:14:00 -0500

We wanted them to understand that infertility is a disease and needs to
be included in the discussion on health care reform. It isn't enough to
work only to bring minimal coverage to the uninsured. If we're talking
true reform, we need to aim high and make sure that no one is
under-insured.

Despite my own experiences, I find that I fall back on the lessons of American social history and realize that unless the bar is set to minimal coverage for transmissable diseases and linked to actuarial tables, we won't get anywhere. The reality is that for universal health care of any sort ot occur in the USA there must be items that are not part of the basic care - at least at first.

Unfortunately, reproductive health as a whole is so fraught with political and religious overtones inthe USA, bringing them into the debate will only delay any sort of universal care. It would be far better to encourage the private sector to compete on this one for now by taking the expense and risk of the most basic care from them. ROI is going to have to be the biggest single determinant to pass a universal health care plan. Infertility just does not have a high enough ROI for the first pass through and focusing on it will delay acceptance.

I know my view is unpopular in the IF community. I have worked in D.C. and know that a similar plan to what Obama is proposing was proposed as a shared risk plan among small business owners under the Reagan/Bush I regimes by joint Republican/Democrat groups to no success. Go for the low-hanging fruit first. Then we can talk about expanding coverage.

Pax,

MLO / Melissa

Incremental vs. Monumental?

babysmiling — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:21:59 -0500

There's a lot of talk right now in the health care debate about the merits of incremental versus monumental change. Regardless of which way it goes, something's gotta change.

I have seen people bankrupt by medical bills, both without and with insurance coverage.

I have seen people acquire lifelong disabilities because they didn't have simple coverage -- when the government end up paying millions in services because someone couldn't access a $2 course of antibiotics, the system is fundamentally broken.

My friends and colleagues in other countries think that the U.S. situation is pathetic and mind-boggling.

As for myself, do I wish I'd had IF coverage all along, before spending our life savings on treatments (and then doing it again for another round of treatments)? Absolutely. But even more, I wish I could have had access to insurance that covered maternity. For much of the past 7 years, I've had to make life choices based on the possibility of getting pregnant. This has included seeking and maintaining insurance with maternity coverage, just in case I became pregnant, as I was trying so hard to do.

Last year after COBRA on a previous policy ran out, with my job not providing health care I had to find a totally different full-time job to do on top of my other job. The only individual insurance plan I could obtain that covered maternity had a one-year waiting period -- a year that I didn't have, considering that more than 6 years had already passed since I'd started TTC. There were financial and career benefits to the new job, of course, but if it hadn't been for the health insurance, I would have stuck with just one full-time job.

I have finally secured insurance that's not job-based that covers maternity (which I'm using extensively right now) and also would have covered infertility including IVF if I still needed it, which I will not if things go alright with this pregnancy. But, I pay over $6000 per year for it -- just to cover myself, not my husband nor my children when they do arrive. Health care is a huge part of our personal budget, and $6k is a drop in the bucket compared to what I spent on treatments last year, but most Americans don't have $6k per person lying around -- and so they take their chances.

Going back to my original point about incremental versus monumental change, I believe in my heart that change is coming, this year. This may be our only big chance at change, so we'd better make it good.

The Family Building Acts are ironic to me personally, to link OB and IF coverage, because it's been so difficult for me to secure either one. If we have to pick one, OB (and basic health care) should be the priority, yes, but maybe we don't have to pick. Maybe everything can change, all at once.

http://babysmiling.wordpress.com

Some Cereals, Too

julesk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:34:01 -0500

This was a good article. Already the way I'm shopping, but a wonderful reinforcement to my buying habits.

I might add to the list of center-aisle products, the limited, but sometimes a time-saver cereals such as plain Cheerios, Raisin Bran, etc. Definitely not the sugar-loaded crap that is so alluring to our children (and some adults), but there are a few tried and true winners and usually there are coupons for them, too.

Cold chills

Denise — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:20:10 -0500

When I read that comment last night on my iPhone, I got cold chills. Just read it again, same thing.

I feel another post coming on, about just this topic. Thank you for that. And I'm so sorry for your loss.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

If you blog it...

Denise — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:18:50 -0500

I'd really appreciate it if you shared the link here in this thread.

:-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Hard truth

Ana123 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:13:24 -0500

Dear Mel & all,

I had to comment on this (I created an account specifically for this). Unfortunately, as unpopular as my opinion will be in this community, I have to agree with MLO. I happen to work in healthcare and have seen patients or parents of patients struggle to afford the care they need, to ration their medicines to make them last longer, or put off care indefinitely due to cost. I am also infertile & have zero insurance coverage for treatments. I have spent sleepless nights wondering if I could ever afford to build a family and cursing how unfair that is, given that the government fully supports (for example) teenaged crack-whores having multiple babies. I get it. Oh how I get it.

The hard truth is, however, there are Americans (including children and infants) right now that lack access to very basic medical care and I find this unacceptable and shameful. Having insurance tied to employment is also a ludicrous system. Anyone can lose their job at any time, and be left in the lurch; and people often avoid changing jobs or careers due to concerns about healthcare benefits. Affordable health care for everyone DOES seem to me like a basic right that we should be supporting in this country. But any chance of passing universal care in this country needs to be somewhat cost effective---again, as MLO said, initially covering transmissable disease, cancer prevention, childhood screening, and other public health measures that are proven to save lives & money in the long run.

Special interests (yes, this is a special interest, though one near and dear to many of us) will only slow down or prevent real change. Say it works---the government decides that IF treatments need to be covered---who's going to step up next for their cause? I agree that IF is a disease, but there are many others that believe their afflictions are, too. How long will this take, and will it eventually get so bogged down that the movement languishes, as in the past.

Also (as above) getting the government truly involved in these heated and heavy reproductive issues could end up backfiring (what if...treatments would be covered, but retrievals limited to 1-2, embryo freezing not allowed, selective reduction from higher-order multiples resulting from IF treatments not allowed, those wanting to be single parents by choice not allowed, same-sex couples not allowed.... I could go on).

I so WANT to support this. I want to believe that in the near future I could get MY treatments or those of my friends covered & we could build our families without that added monetary stress. But realistically, taking the big picture, cold-hard-facts look, at this point, universal IF coverage would be impractical. Given the varying beliefs (and seemingly un-ending supply of fertility) of the majority of Americans, it would be difficult to get the public behind it and insisting on it as a condition of universal health care may slow down any chance we have of getting much-needed healthcare policy change to happen.

With peace & friendly vibes,

Ana

excellent advice

Rasputin45 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:24:24 -0500

You can save a lot of money on spices if you buy them in bulk or in packets. I have seen these in health food stores or in asian markets, the price is usually only 10-20 percent of grocery store prices.

Melon!

violetteb — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:58:01 -0500

Yum to melon. I never knew how important melon was. It is funny I thought it was all water a long time ago. I couldn't figure why I craved watermelon so much during my first pregnancy and let me tell you it probably gave me energy to make it through the rest of the work day. I'd visit the fruit truck outside my office every afternoon.

That was many years before I had ever heard of horned melon. Another melon I love is sprite (I think that is what it is called). About the size of a grapefruit, light green and so refreshing...I'm going to have to run to the market tomorrow morning and get me some melon.

Happy 4th of July!

Violette

http://www.itswrite.com

I (selfishly) never paid

workoutmommy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:33:12 -0500

I (selfishly) never paid attention to cancer since it did not affect my life. I was blindsided in February with my mom's diagnosis, rapid decline, and death just 8 weeks later. I visited her everyday and watch her go from laughing and smiling to bedridden and unable to eat. It was emotional torture.

I can never turn my back to cancer again and hope that in my lifetime (or my kid's lifetime) we will find a cure for this horrible disease.

My heart and prayers go out to all that are blogging about life with cancer.

Lisa

www.workoutmommy.com

blue lizard

sun surfer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:56:46 -0500

Danielle, you are not lying - I LOVE this stuff!

I have extremely fair skin (I'm a guy, but growing up people would say I have "alabaster" or "porcelain" skin, or on the flip side that I look like a vampire, LOL) that got a lot of sun when I was a child because my parents weren't vigilant about sunscreen. But when I did put on sunscreen, it always, always burned (not sunburn, but an actual burning sensation in my skin) for the entire day I put it on. It was torture.

But in my teens I got really skin-conscious because of my fair skin and started using sunscreen every time I went outside, and no matter what I tried my skin still always had a burning sensation the entire day whenever I put sunscreen on. I tried every sensitive skin sunscreen (and every other kind too) that I could get my hands on and they ALL made my skin feel a burning sensation, every time. I just resigned myself to it because I thought no matter what sunscreen I used, it would do that.

In my early 20s, I discovered Bullfrog, which was the first sunscreen ever that didn't make my skin feel a burning sensation. It was the Sport version of it I think, the one that was a clear looking gel type of liquid. I was in love because now I could actually go outside without feeling like my skin was on fire the entire day!

But Bullfrog had some drawbacks. First, it made my skin look oily. And second, it made my skin just feel really dirty and icky - I couldn't wait to shower it off whenever I wore it. Of course, those two are nothing compared to a burning sensation the entire day so I was fine with it. But after a year or two I figured there must be something even better and started my sunscreen search again, and I found out this time (once internet was common and I could research online) that Bullfrog isn't so great at blocking "aging" sun damage; in fact, as I recall, it was pretty bad at it from the info I found online! Then I knew I had to change sunscreens for sure.

And finally, I came across Blue Lizard about two years ago I think it was. That's when I REALLY fell in love! It was so perfectly what I'd been searching for it almost brought tears to my eyes! Made for sensitive skin, extremely UV-resistant, no irritating fragrance (it smells like basically nothing at all), blocks anti-aging sun damage very well, it practically disappears on my skin once I rub it in and doesn't make my skin look oily, and, best of all, it doesn't make my skin feel like it's on fire at all! In fact, I can put it all the way up to my eyelashes and it feels perfectly fine!

It is a little bit more expensive than bad sunscreens, but it's so worth it, especially for anyone like me who has extremely sensitive and fair skin and most sunscreens terribly irritate you.

This is how good it is - with no sunscreen on, I can literally burn in the sun within 15 minutes. I usually reapply it throughout the day when I'm outside a lot, but recently I applied it in the morning and went to an amusement park with friends. I left it in the car so I wouldn't have to carry it, thinking we'd come back to the car for lunch and I could reapply. It was 95 degrees, no clouds in the sky, and I was for the most part straight in the sun from about 10:30 am to dark. We ended up staying in the park for the whole day (we ended up eating inside the park and not going back to the car) and we rode water rides mid-day (around 2 pm) and I got all wet, and I was sweating slightly from the heat most of the day. Normally I'm very vigilant about reapplying, but to be honest, I sort of wanted to test just how good this Blue Lizard was (I know that's stupid and like I said I'm usually very vigilant about reapplying, but regardless this is what I did that day). Suffice it to say, no sunburn, not even any redness and I really couldn't believe it. I definitely wouldn't recommend just putting it on once for a whole day outside (I'm sure plenty of those aging UV rays got through to my skin - way more than would have if I'd reapplied a few times), but that just speaks to how good this stuff is.

LOL, thanks Denise

Erin White — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:14:18 -0500

You rock :) I can't believe it's been that long! And I feel a blog post brewing about this... once again, a BlogHer conversation provides posting fodder. Stay tuned!

Erin

The Single Rider - about being single

My Mobile Adventures *~*~* - mobile/photo blogging

17 years, Erin!

Denise — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:36:43 -0500

I'm putting it on my calendar to celebrate. (I'm not kidding... watch and see.)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings