enough for today

I have been struggling a little these last few weeks.

It's around this time last year and the year before that cancer changed my life and I've been finding it hard to shake the grief and anxiety.

But today, I experienced a moment that quite literally took my breath away. I was out walking my dog in the arboretum, pretty much lost in thought when I was taken off guard by a tree, a pond, the sunset and scattered leaves in all my favourite colours. And the thought suddenly came to me, "I am grateful."

Grateful for my kids for bringing me joy, making me laugh and for needing me.

Grateful for my spouse, who is kind and gentle and who loves me even when I am crazy.

Grateful for my dog who gets me out walking.

Grateful for a lovely walk in a beautiful place.

And grateful that I am healthy and fit enough to enjoy it all.

Tomorrow remains uncertain but for today, it is enough to be grateful.

A Good Idea and Bad Leadership--A Way Out of the Entitlement Crisis Meets Partisan Politics

I call your attention to a column this morning by the Washington Post's David Broder.He tells us that there will be an important Senate hearing tomorrow on the issue of Social Security and Medicare entitlement costs.It seems that two Senators, one a Republican and one a Democrat, are trying to create a bipartisan task force that would have the power to fast track a solution to this huge emerging

Bush Ups the Budget Pressure--Shows No Sign of Compromising on SCHIP

President Bush just made a statement on the SCHIP bill and the upcoming 2008 budget votes. Standing in front of the White House with the Republican leaders behind him, he blasted the Democratic Congress, the recent SCHIP bill passed by the House, and rumored efforts on the part of Democratic leaders to couple defense and Iraq spending bills with domestic budget bills.The bottom line is that the

getting out in the world

Well, folks, I am now a "contributing author" (I accidentally typed "contributing other", which could make sense, too) over at Mommybloggers.com (how clever were they to register that domain name?).

I was very flattered to be asked to write for them (the women who founded Mommybloggers are very interesting women and terrific bloggers).

And I am not above asking you all to go check me out (and maybe even comment over there).

120

I've laid them out randomly, in order to try and figure out how to lay them out. Wishing my artist friends were handy to tell me what to do. I feel like I'm too close to it.

Thoughts?

There are a couple of squares I think I need to unravel and reknit, though:
See that one with the dark border? It's got to go.

I'm also wondering about the low contrast (light blue and turquoise) one just beneath it. There are two of those and I think they might have to go, too.

Thoughts?

I think I'm going to keep it like this for the week end and play with moving the squares around a little.

Update: I came home to find that one of the pets (not sure if it was the cat or the dog) did a little creative re-arranging while I was gone.


Sigh.

Maybe I'll just sew the squares together randomly.

House SCHIP Vote Fails to Attract Veto-Proof Majority

Yesterday evening, the House passed a slightly modified version of the SCHIP bill President Bush vetoed last week, this time by a vote of 267-142. That is still likely at least 7 votes short of the two-thirds needed to overturn the expected Bush veto.The bill now goes to the Senate.It is possible that both sides will try to work out a compromise--but not likely.Expect the Senate to pass it, Bush

Poll Shows Democratic Presidential Candidates Attracting Independents and Moderates With Their Health Reform Plans

I was struck by this conclusion in today's Los Angeles Times regarding their recent voter survey:"In one of the most politically significant results, the poll finds that independents and moderates were generally lining up with Democrats in the healthcare debate."The survey also suggested an explanation for the emerging alignment: Independents were most likely to complain about "job lock" -- the

Discussions Regarding Scheduled Physician Fee Cuts and Possible Reductions in Medicare Advantage Payments Getting Serious

As the year winds down, the Congress must deal with the scheduled January 2008 9.9% Medicare physicians fee cut. Both Democrats and Republicans want to fix it.To fix the physician fee cut, proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage have been on the table.Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) has been working on a package that would cost $25 to $30 billion and fix the physician fee problem not only for

New Study Shows Lower Costs in Consumer-Driven Plans--But the Findings Won't Settle the Debate Over Just How Effective C-D Plans Are

HealthPartners, a highly regarded not-for-profit Minnesota health plan, has issued an important report on its consumer-driven care book of business. It includes Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs).Their findings include:After adjusting for "illness burden," HealthPartners found that heath care costs were 4.4% lower for members in a consumer-driven plan compared

conference for young women living with breast cancer

Has anyone heard about this?

It's a national conference for young women with breast cancer (young in breast cancer terms being under forty-five). The program looks amazing (and more than a little ambitious). And it's relatively cheap: three days and evening events for $150 (although I wonder if they have extended the "early bird rates" because registration is low).

It's in Toronto, November 2-4, so it's easy for me to get to (and I have any number of people with whom I could stay) so I am seriously considering it.

Anyone else out there planning to go?

Democrats Pushing to Vote on New SCHIP Bill This Week--Bush Starting to Give

Democratic attempts to modify the SCHIP bill just enough to pick off the seven more Republicans they need are intensifying.The House failed to override Bush's veto by 13 votes last week.Yesterday, Bush's lead person on the SCHIP issue, HHS Secretary Leavitt, said the administration is now willing to consider covering kids up to 300% of poverty--they had said they would not go above 200%. Leavitt

The Fight Over SCHIP Tells Us This Budget Season is Going To Be One Big Food Fight--Medicare Payments to HMOs and Physicians Are in the Middle of It

Now that the House has failed to overturn President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill by just 13 votes, Democrats are looking to tweak the $35 billion expansion of SCHIP just enough to get the extra Republican votes they need to get their bill passed.The House Democratic leadership is now in discussions with Republican House members who voted with their President last week and who might be persuaded

looks like fall, feels like summer

I'm back on my feet.

I was knocked flat by the one-two punch of cold and chemo but I am doing much better now, thank you very much.

Today, it was ridiculously warm out. I went for a long, lovely walk along the river. I dressed too warmly since I refused to accept that it should feel like summer outside at this late date.

Tomorrow will be cold and drizzly. And another chemo day.

So you'll forgive me for neglecting the blog in favour of the sun.

A Detailed Analysis of Rudy Giuliani's Health Care Plan

A Detailed Analysis of Rudy Giuliani's Health Care PlanRudy Giuliani's health care reform plan generally follows the Republican health care reform template that places the emphasis on making the health care market more effective in controlling health care costs and thereby enabling more people to be covered.Giuliani would remodel the income tax system to help people buy coverage and encourage

Health Wonk Review is Up

Jason Shafrin is hosting this edition of "Health Wonk Review" over at the "Healthcare Economist."

SCHIP Veto Override Fails in the House--Now What?

As expected, the SCHIP veto override effort in the House failed by a vote of 273-156--thirteen short of the two-thirds necessary.Now what?First, SCHIP will not expire. A continuing resolution funds the program at current levels until mid-November and that can likely be extended indefinitely. However, at current levels hundreds of thousands of kids will eventually fall off the program.The

Why Bush is So Ready to Use the Veto Now When He Never Did When Republicans Were "Spending Like Drunken Sailors"

This from an article in today's Washington Post stood out for me:"President Bush declared yesterday that he remains 'relevant' despite his political troubles, and he derided Democrats for running a do-nothing Congress that has failed to address critical domestic, economic and security issues in the nine months since they took control of Capitol Hill."Back on August 2nd, I did a post, Why Is

Kaiser Family Foundation Creates a Great Tool to Compare Presidential Candidate's Health Care Plans

The Kaiser Family Foundation interactive comparison tool for the presidential candidates' health care plans can be found here.You can find my evaluation of each candidate's plan in the index on the right side of this blog.

The CED Health Reform Plan Gets It Right Until They Have to Make the Tough Decision

The Committee for Economic Development (CED) has released its report, "Quality, Affordable Care for All."A few days ago I asked a number of questions about just how far the CED would go toward creating a better health care system.While I think the group has made a number of very valuable suggestions, when it comes to cost containment they don't offer more than the long list of incremental and

Upcoming "Common Good" Forum: Health Courts, Administrative Compensation & Patient Safety: Research, Policy & Practice

For years we have debated reforming the medical malpractice system. But, most of that debate has focused on capping a system most people believe just doesn't work when it comes to improving the quality of our medical care. To me, that has always begged the question, Why cap a system that is fundamentally flawed?Common Good has been doing good work on that more fundamental question and will have

on colds, clicks and chemo

I have great kids and we have been having a lovely time together during my stint as a single parent.

We all have colds. Young D. is back at school but older S. has been off for the last two days.

My spouse is in Paris (with a head cold and coming home tomorrow, I hope his sinuses are OK on the trip), thanks to his dad.

I have chemo today, if they don't veto it because of my cold.

My mom-in-law is here in the land of snot to help with the kids when I go down for the count. What are the odds of her staying healthy?

Finally, if you have a minute, please click on the link in my side bar to take a survey. It's for BlogHer Ads so they can find out more about demographics, to help with ad placement (and so they can sell ads to a broader range of advertisers).

And, if you feel like it, you can click on whatever other ad is there too (the more clicks the better!).

I made a whopping $25.41 in September. But the way I see it, it's found money (five lattes, one pizza dinner, a trip to the movies or four packs of cold medicine). I have been happy with the kinds of ads that have run on my blog. And readership is up, so that's cool too.

I did mention the fact that Canadians have not been eligible for any of the giveaways so far. I am told that, as markets expand, BlogHer Ads hopes to recruit more Canadian advertisers.

Going to go blow my nose now.

Committee for Economic Development (CED) to Release Its Health Plan This Week--The Questions to Ask Them

David Broder gave us a preview of the Committee for Economic Development's (CED) upcoming health care reform plan. With the likes of Alain Enthoven and "a high powered business group" involved, we all need to pay attention.Key points the report will make according to David's column:Business can no longer afford afford to pay for health care.Five years ago the group laid out a strategy for

Health 2.0 and the Promise of Market-Based Health Care Reform

"The ONLY policy-based reform approach that makes real sense is for the leaders of non-health care business to come together around a change agenda. They could use their collective strength to overwhelm the health industry’s objections, and drive disciplines and tools – standards, information technologyinfrastructure, evidence-based best practices, transparency and decision-support, and

SCHIP Veto Override Vote on Thursday--The Ragged Line Between Those Who Need Assistance and Those Who Don't

The House is scheduled to vote on overriding President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion.As I said last week, I believe the Democrats will come up about ten votes short in their attempt to override. I would be surprised, but not shocked, if they can find the two-thirds necessary to override the President.One of the arguments opponents of the SCHIP

When It Comes To Drug Prices the Europeans Are Better Health Care Capitalists Than We Are!

Sometimes I think the government-run European health care systems do a better job of using market tools to control their drug prices than we do in the U.S. market.For example, some government-run systems in Europe, France for example, are not afraid to take a drug off their official formulary if they don't get a competitive price.In January, the Democratic House passed a bill requiring Medicare

making like a duck

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

My spouse is away on a well deserved vacation and I am playing at being a single parent.

I had been imagining all the fun things my kids and I would do together. Go for bike rides, to the park, the library. I would get my writing and errands out of the way today and even have time for lunch with a friend I haven't seen for a couple of years.

But the weather sucks, my oldest has been testing his limits and my four year old has come down with a miserable cold. I cancelled my lunch date, am behind on my writing and feeling like the world's worst mother (how many consecutive hours should any child be allowed to watch TV, even when he's sick?).

My spouse left yesterday.

So D. (the sick four year old) and I put on a cd this morning and danced around. I promised S. a movie this evening. Things may not be going the way that I'd planned but we'll roll with it.

The minute that the sun comes out, I am throwing on some clothes (did I mention that I am still in my pajamas?), bundling D. in the stroller and going for a walk. I'm washing my hands a lot so that I don't get sick. I'll see if I can set up a play date for S. this week end.

In the days before cancer, this turn of events would have left me feeling pretty bitter.

Now I'm only a little bitter.

etching myself in their memories

"I'm starting to forget Emma."

My nine year old son said this to me a couple of days ago.

Our old dog died last summer. She was very nearly fourteen and had had a great life but her passing was a sad event for my little family.

"I can't really remember what she looked like or the things she liked to do," he went on.

"That's perfectly normal," I replied.

"Is it?"

"Yes, and that's why we tell stories about our loved ones who've died, to help each other remember them."

"Like the time Emma almost drowned Grandpa?"

"That's right. And you have lots of pictures, too."

That was pretty much the end of our conversation but it did put a lump in my throat.

I'm in remission but I do know what the statistics are when it comes to Stage IV breast cancer. I try not to torture myself with these but I know that I will die long before I am ready.

The thought that I might become a hazy memory to my children is something else on which I try not to dwell.

But it hurts.

This morning, I was cuddling with my youngest, covering his little head with kisses. I felt both intensely happy and very, very sad.

"Remember this moment," I wanted to whisper.

"Remember me."

Cavalcade of Risk--Recent Posts From the World of Risk Management

Today, it's my turn to host the "Cavalcade of Risk." Every two weeks the Cavalcade offers insights into efforts to manage risk.Having spent substantial time at a main line property and casualty company, when I hear the term "risk management" my thoughts go to the things that corporate insurance managers do to limit their "loss costs."The popular notion of individual responsibility, and the

pleasant surprise and a potentially great resource

Last Monday, I was asked to participate in a conference call.

I loathe conference calls. There is something about not being able to see people's faces that seems to bring out the worst in all participants. I usually avoid them like I would like to have avoided cancer.

So when I received an email request from Revolution Health to participate in a conference call prior to the launch of their online breast cancer support group, I cringed.

I get a lot of these kinds of requests.

But there was something in this email that stood out for me. It was very clear that Tim, the staffer who'd written to me had actually taken the time to read my blog and think about what I'd written there. I was impressed.

So, I agreed to be on the call.

It was amazing.

The Revolution Health team members all appeared to be genuinely interested in what we had to say. Hester (an oncology social worker and herself a survivor) and Carolyn seemed genuinely committed to the building of an online community for those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer.

But the best part for me was the interaction with the three other breast cancer bloggers on the call. Amazingly, we were all under 40 when we were first diagnosed. We were all very well-informed and highly opinionated. I have never, ever had a conference call fly by that quickly.

I was so happy to meet Minerva (a Woman of Many Parts), Jeanette (Two Hands...) and Jenny (At Least it's a "Good" Cancer). We pretty much took over the call, from the first question. The energy and the passion that we all feel was palpable.

Revolution Health claims to be trying to build "the best breast cancer resource on the web." I haven't had time to really explore the site yet, but I have been impressed with what I have found there. Their online support group just launched yesterday (I just joined). It remains to be seen how well this will work (support groups, are after all, what the participants make of them) but Revolution Health appears to have laid down a good foundation.

Let me know what you think.

Aetna to Provide Managed Care Services to the British National Health Service--Say What?

Aetna has been approved by the British National Health Service (NHS) as one of the suppliers who can provide local Primary Care Trust (PCT) managers "a wide range of support, ranging from specific tasks such as designing medical management programs, also known as demand management, to comprehensive contracting and procurement of services."Where's Michael Moore? He needs to do an addendum to "

out of the mouths

Over dinner the other night, I was trying to figure out with my spouse how I could watch or record my friend Jacqueline, when she appeared on the New York ABC affiliate on Saturday night (I was ultimately unsuccesful, to my great disappointment).

My older son, S., asked why I wanted to watch it: "What if it's just a show with a bunch of women talking about how much they hated getting cancer?"

Me: "No, it's going to be much more than that. The woman who wrote "Cancer Vixen" is going to be on.

S.: "Oh, I know that book!" (he is seriously into graphic novels)

Me: And Jacqueline makes amazing jewelry. She also makes beautiful clothing for women who have lost a breast."

S.:"Cool!"

D., my four old, then piped up: "Mama, you've lost a breast. You should get some of that clothing."

not spamming you

Rachael from Yarn-a-Go-Go has written a romance novel. She's entered in a contest at Gather.com. Now we all have to go and read the first two chapters and, if we like them, vote for her book to be read by Simon and Schuster (see below for details).

For the record, I don't read romance novels but since I love Rachael's blog, I did check her chapters out and I loved them. I urge you to read the letter from her, below, follow the links and if you like what you read, please vote for her.

Dear friend/coworker/exboyfriend- slash-girlfriend/landlord,

My knitting-romance-writing friend Rachael has an urgent plea which I have pasted below. Please make her LIFE for her by voting for her, and if you enjoy it, please pass this email along!

**************
Hi there.

Please forgive the mass mailing -- I have a favor to ask.

I'm in a competition you may have already heard about. I wrote a book, a romance, full of yarn and alpacas and sheep and hot knitter-on-shepherd action (no, really). I entered it in Gather.com's First Romance Competition. I posted the first chapter, and it garnered enough votes to move on to the second round (in the top 25 of more than 300), so I'm thrilled to say that I'm a finalist, with people now voting on the second chapter. It's kind of an American Idol type of thing, if you can imagine, and this second round is still vote-driven, and the the most important thing to know is that if I end up in the top three, with the most votes, I move on to the last round where THE WHOLE NOVEL IS READ BY SIMON & SCHUSTER and their favorite is published. Oh, my god. I would like that. I would love that.

So I need your vote. I *really* need your vote. I'm in the top four right now, and the three people ahead of me have LOTS of friends. I need to be in the top three to move on, and you will make ALL the difference.

Here's what you do: Read chapter one, but don't vote on it. That one is nice and content and voted on as it is. Please ignore the typos. They hurt my soul, but they're there.

Then read chapter two and please DO vote. If you like the chapter at all, please give it a 10, as they only count 10s (they throw out all votes of 1-9). The chapters with the most 10-votes win.

Even though I know you want to, don't vote more than once, since they're watching for IP fraud. And you DO have to register with their site in order to vote, but they won't spam you, and they don't share or sell email addresses. They will send you a daily email which you can easily opt out of.

Oh, please, please? And will you forward this note on if you like the chapter? To all YOUR email contacts?

Thanks so much. Here you go:

Don't vote on chapter one:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977094360
DO VOTE on chapter two:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977126255

All my thanks. Really, ALL my thanks. It means so much. Whoo-hooo!
xo
Rachael

Means Testing for Medicare--It's Unavoidable If Politically Problematic

Means testing is politically problematic but necessary and probably unavoidable if we are to shore-up Medicare.The Bush administration is pushing a proposal to begin means testing on the new Medicare Part D drug benefit. They would increase deductibles and premiums on single seniors with incomes over $82,000 a year and couples with incomes over $164,000 a year.We already have a means test on

An Important and Disciplined Review of the Health Care Marketplace--The Latest Site Visit Report From 12 Markets

Good health care market intelligence is hard to come by. Information tends to come in the form of detailed and narrow, often backward looking, surveys that give us little texture for what key players are thinking. Or, at the other extreme, market information is often based on a relatively few almost random anecdotal impressions by "experts" as they do their work in the market.The highly respected

Health Wonk Review is Up

Jane-Hiebert-White has the latest Health Wonk Review up over at the Health Affairs blog.This sample of some of the best recent posts in the health blog world not surprisingly has lots to say about the SCHIP debate and other timely health reform issues.I wonder what 1993 would have been like if we'd had the blog world?

SCHIP Supporters Are At Least Ten Votes Short to Override a Bush Veto

The Democrats are now going to take two weeks to try to change some minds before they attempt to override the Bush veto of the SCHIP bill--scheduling a vote for October 18th. If nothing else they will continue to hammer on the President and his Republican supporters over what is turning out to be a very unpopular stand by the President.The Senate approved the SCHIP compromise by a vote of 67-29.

not in my name

In 1992, when I adopted my first dog, I started noticing dogs everywhere I went.

When I was first pregnant and then became a mom, it seemed like every woman I saw was having a baby.

So last October, when it seemed to me that the whole world had turned pink, I first chalked this up to my own increased awareness. Then I realized that there was something much more insidious behind the pink ribbon bandwagon. And I wrote about it here, in a post-entitled "Not Enough to Think Pink."

These are just some of the things I have come across or been asked to promote in the last couple of weeks:

Pink acrylic sweaters with little pink ribbons on them.
Pink vaccuum cleaners.
Pink towels promoting a sports beverage.
Pink candies.
Pink manicures (there is a nail place down the street from me that is decorated in pink that claims to donate part of its profits to "fight breast cancer." I mean, I love a good pedicure as much as the next girl but do you know how many carcinogens there are in nail polish?)
Pink coffee mugs.
Pink yogurt.
Pink soup.

When someone you love gets cancer, it is very normal and understandable to feel that you want to do something for them. But please don't let that inclination lead you to buy some crappy, plastic doo-hickey (pink and gold-coloured angel pins, for example) that was made under dubious working conditions and that created carcinogenic by-products in the process.

Fight the urge to buy something pink, just because the company tells you that some of the proceeds will go to "fight breast cancer" (fight it how, exactly?).

If I sound pissed off, it's because I am. I resent big corporations (many of whom have built empires contributing to rising cancer rates) increasing their profit margin while improving their philanthropic image. And I resent that this disease that has ravaged my body, shortened my life and cost me so much is associated with the kind of pale pink crap that idealizes a kind of subservient femininity that I loathe. I resent big business getting richer when breast cancer patients get poorer. And I really resent feeling exploited.

Suzanne Reisman is a contributing editor over at BlogHer and she wrote the following in "Pink Ribbon Madness: Say No to Breast Cancer Exploitation for Corporate Profit":

Corporations push breast cancer in October because it works to sell more products. Women worry that some day they will face breast cancer or already know someone who has. They want to help. And what way is better than to buy something that promises to do good? The reality is that very little of the amount women spend on the pink products wind up at charitable institutions. An ABC News Report from last October pointed out that Campbell's donated a whopping 3.5 cents for every can of soup it sold. To raise a mere $36 to fight breast cancer from the Yoplait campaign, a person needs to eat three cups of yogurt a day for four months.

Some companies may well be genuinely well-intentioned. And sometimes they donate all of the profits from a particular product to breast cancer research. But even this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Jeanne, from the Assertive Cancer Patient explains this well in a post called, "Gag me with a Pink Ribbon" (I love that title!):

[In 2004] I work[ed] as a freelance Web writer for the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, where I'm also a patient, receiving ongoing treatment for metastatic breast cancer. I recently sampled the pink dessert at the Dahlia Lounge in order to write about it for the SCCA site—and it was delicious... I enjoyed every bite, except for the ribbon, which I left on the side of my plate. The dessert costs $8.

So let's do the math. You order the dessert for $8, plus a cup of coffee for, say, $2. Add in tax and tip, and the bill comes to about $13. Of that, the restaurant gives Athena the net profit, generally between $3 and $4, according to Trish May, founder of Athena Partners and a breast cancer survivor herself. The Dahlia Lounge had sold 34 desserts in five days. So, say they sell 204 in the month; that's only a donation of about $800. Pocket change. One small research project costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, if not more.

There's a simpler solution: Skip dessert and send $8, or the whole $13, directly to your favorite hospital or research center. I don't like to criticize local restaurants that step up when asked to raise money for cancer research, but I think the "pink dessert" campaign is misguided.

If you really, really want that piece of cake with pink frosting, by all means, go ahead and indulge.

Just don't do it in my name, OK?

Further reading (or 'women who've said it much better than I can'):

• "Boycott October" by the Assertive Cancer Patient
• "Beauty in the Dark" by Rebel 1 in 8
• "A Couple of Reasons to Blow off October" by Pocketina at DYI not D.I.E.
• "The Bad Business of Buying for a Good Cause"by Liz Thompson
• "Disease Marketing: The Tales of the Modern-Day Snake Oil Salesmen" by Amanda Shaffer

To come: Organizations that deserve your breast cancer fighting dollars and non-monetary ways to show your support.

beyond the breast, part 3

Here's a new link (forwarded by Scarlett), to another great blog:

Followed Lingling as She Gave Lymphoma a Beatdown

I am in awe at the number of great cancer blogs that there are out there. Keep the referrals coming.

Now That The UAW Is On The Hot Seat to Manage Its Retiree Health Costs Will Their View of Health Care Management Change?

Brian Klepper joins us again today this time with an astute analysis of the UAW/GM deal. Now that the UAW owns their GM retiree plan will they look at health care management differently?The Hot Seatby Brian KlepperI agree with Bob that the GM-UAW deal is a turning point for American health care. In a stroke – OK, it was a 456 page stroke – GM agreed to turn over as much as $35 billion, about 70

beyond the breast, part 2

In the comments on yesterday's post, Sara from Moving Right Along suggested two more blogs.

Pilgrimgirl

As the Tumour Turns

The writing styles are quite different but both blogs are exquisitely written, thought-provoking, moving and amusing. I am a fan.

I think I might make this an October-long series. Any more suggestions?

beyond the breast and past the pink

Their lives have been touched by cancer.

They write great blogs.

We should be aware of their cancer stories, too.

Bone Marrow Poptarts

Love Letters to Little Bear

I am NOT an asshole

Moving Right Along

what's up your butt?

Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Reforming Our Health Care Financing System Won't Mean Anything if Americans Don't Start Taking Better Care of Themselves

Ken Thorpe, along with associates David Howard and Katya Galactionova, of Emory University has expanded on his earlier work on chronic disease in the U.S. and its impact on our health care costs in a web article for the journal Health Affairs. He compares chronic disease in the U.S. and Europe and looks at the difference as a means to help explain our higher health care costs.As all of the

The Country's Political Center is Shifting and With it the Health Care Reform Debate

I always thought it was shortsighted for the Republicans to avoid comprehensive health care reform in the six years they controlled the White House and the Congress (2001-2006). Instead they just added $8 trillion in unfunded liability (Part D) to a Medicare system they've been telling us from the beginning is unsustainable as it is.Eventually the political pendulum swings to the other side.

happy october

I have this bag that I got at the BlogHer conference. It's a messenger style bag, light weight (key when you can only carry a bag on one shoulder due to lymphedema), reasonably rugged, a good size (big enough for wallet, knitting and notebook but not so big it feels awkward). And it looks good. I own lots of bags but this freebie has become my favourite.

Until recently, there was only one thing wrong with it. As a freebie, it came emblazoned with two logos. The first is for BlogHer, an organization for which I am happy to advertise. The second was for General Motors, a major sponsor of the '07 conference.

Until recently, I put up with the GM logo because I like the bag so much. Then, last Tuesday, workers at GM across the US went on strike and GM reacted with massive layoffs here in Canada. That was the impetus I needed to bring an end to my status as a walking billboard.

I was at the cancer centre for chemo when I heard about the strike and spent the morning pondering what to do. I couldn't cut the logo out, as there was no way to do so without cutting a hole in the bag. I resolved to cover up the GM patch but remained unsure whether to attempt to sew something on or to resort to masking tape.

When I arrived home, I opened the mailbox and found the solution to my problem. My bag now sports a button, courtesy of Jeanne Sather of the Assertive Cancer Patient. It's text reads "Boycott October! Don't buy PINK products. Don't EXPLOIT women with breast cancer."

The strike is now over but the button will stay on my bag.