I often think about the Jewish being ripped from their homes to be sent to concentration camps. It's always amazed me that after losing MILLIONS of loved ones to unspeakable torture and eventually death, they carry no ill feeling. They go about their days doing what they must-to live. To endure day to day living. After WWII, many came to the America leaving the night mare as far behind them as possible. Are you as in awe of this as I am?
My nightmare started in August of 2006-my own little holocaust. I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. It seemed like each week brought more "not so good" news. But I endured. My precious husband and children got me through the 14 months of treatment and 7 weeks of radiation. To my surprise, I had "cell mates" in my Hell too. They came in the form of other breast cancer patients. We all came from different back grounds, family dynamics and economic status'. Via the internet, we rallied when one had a tough day at treatment, gave advice for mouth sores and nausea and cried.....REALLY hard when a sister lost her struggle and valiant fight.....and it still hurts.
And you know what else hurts?? The fact that more people than I will ever know have lost everything because despite having insurance-they had to chose between medicine, gas, house or car payment. Fair? Not so much. These women are not complainers, they don't go on face book whining about a cold or asking for pity when the gas prices go up -AGAIN. You would not know they were suffering at all-until you bring up the fact that "OBAMA CARE" is being threatened to be repealed. That the very thing that brings us any HOPE is likely to be cut by people that have never endured. By people that have never had to decide between heat or nausea medicine or food over a car payment.
I personally will have two mortgages for most of the remainder of our marriage because I am a SURVIVOR. I am not complaining nor am I holding a grudge-actually I am thankful to be ALIVE and have an AMAZING husband that pays it without question. Holocaust and breast cancer survivors....we are STRONG, we will endure. Could you say that you would be as strong-if you were in our shoes?
You, my blog friend, are a pretty amazing person and a true inspiration. Look, just look where you are now. And as for the madness of health care, of our country? I've often wondered...what if FINALLY, ran countries, governments? Would we be in this mess? I share your frustration and despair on these issues.
ReplyDelete-t.
Awesome post, Ronda. As you know, I'm one of the people who had fairly good insurance, but it wasn't enough. I struggled throughout treatment to make my bills, and when my husband was fired from his job because he missed a work-sponsored Christmas party on a night I'd had chemo and was too sick to stay alone with our son, we ended up underwater. I couldn't make our bills on my salary, so following my cancer treatment, I ended up in court filing bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be a way to help good people avoid this type of a downfall. We'd been financially fine until cancer hit me. In fact, I'd had A1 credit, and I'd never even been late on any bills. It's amazing how quickly a person's life can be turned upside down. Now, I have no savings, no college fund for my son, and we are still struggling month to month with paying our bills.
All I can say is that I am thankful to have survived my own personal "holocaust," and I hope to live a long time to dig myself and my family out of this financial disaster that cancer has created for us. I also hope that our country can get it together so that future patients do not have to go through what countless others have gone through in trying to save our lives.
Skye