In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The document below was actually posted on this blog back in Aygust. However, in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it appears here again.

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Dear friends,

I was forwarded the information below, very recently. Normally, I am not the type to distribute petitions, although I have signed many such documents, over the years, when approached by someone working a "petition drive" on the streets.

In any case, this particular issue, about mastectomies, is too serious a matter for any of us to ignore. After all, our love for ourselves cannot have any substantive meaning apart from our love for others. As a matter of fact, how would we even know what love is, without understanding what it means to share the experience of love through/with others?

Therefore, please try to imagine, especially for a woman, having to have a breast removed. Forget about the physical pain and discomfort, or the cometic stuff. That must pale in comparison to the emotional and spiritual well-being (mother nature) of any woman, whether she has ever had children or not. For a moment, the initial feeling cannot be a lot different than losing a child - the most devastating of all human losses. Of course, the reason for that is: You have lost a part of your very being.

We live in an age when opportunistic people who have taken improper stock of themselves make inane statements like, "I can run a business well; therefore, I can run a government well." The purpose of an enterprise/business is to create customers. The point of hospitals is to help those who are in immediate need of care for physical and/or mental ailments. If the hospital is seeking customers, as we now see ads running both by and for them today, then the entire health care system has lost its very meaning. That's sad.

Please take, literally, less than two minutes of your time. I did it! Peruse the missive below, and simply type your name, US mail address, and e-mail address into the already-made form. It is that simple. That info will be forwarded to the US Comngress, on your behalf, as a supporter of the petition. By the way, there is also a little space to leave a small comment, if you choose to. I did that too.

Finally, It is easy to show indifference; it requires no inner strength. However, it takes the inner powers of love and courage to care about other people and things. Besides, have you ever felt bad about doing the right thing?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Please sign the petition and help other women.

City of Hartford - City Hall - Rm. 305
Office for Youth Services,
550 Main St.> > Hartford, CT. 06103
860-757-9883
martha.jackson@hartford.gov

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change (Outpatient> Surgery)

(written by a surgeon)
I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.
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A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress. It takes 30 seconds to do this and is very important . Please take the time and do it really quick! Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill - Important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this> issue and send it on to others you know who will do the> same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from> anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site> below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number. http://www.mylifetime.com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition

This takes about 2 seconds.> PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends