Survivor Blog

Most people would say I’m a news junkie. I don’t know when this happened. When I worked as an Account Executive for a local television station here in Atlanta back in 2003 I was immersed in shows like Mad about You, Alias, and Hope & Faith. Then Cancer struck and I became a realist.  Gradually shows like Law & Order and Boston Legal gave way to Anderson Cooper and Nancy Grace.  Occasionally some Sean & Bill, but just to raise my blood pressure a bit. Now I  listen constantly to NPR. My game shows are Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and Sez You.

Until Thursday afternoon, I was Tweeting Iran and following the healthcare debate. Now all I get it Michael Jackson, so the TV is turned off. What saddens me most about this is the utter lack of coverage for one of Cancer’s great hero’s of my time: Farrah Fawcett. Her life inspired so many girls (now women) my age to look beautiful, act determined and always walk with grace.  Her untimely death represents another chime on the clock that is ticking down for all of us survivors. We want a cure, now and we want to go to sleep at night knowing we have good insurance.

Our members of congress seem to think that we have all the time in the world to work this out. They dig in their heels on both sides, all the while having full coverage and no one would dare question a pre-existing condition in one of their cases or mention the word “recision”.  Meanwhile, the rest of us struggle under unrelenting pressure from rising premiums (Mine is $789.71 per month from Golden Rule) or the creeping fear that we are undercovered and our cancer will return and bankrupt us.

Farrah was lucky enough to have adequate coverage and wealth.  But in the end it did not save her.  She left behind a loving father, who had already buried one child and her son and loving companion, Ryan O’Neal. What she also left behind are millions of women like me; survivors who followed her case and prayed along with her in silence, that Charlie (God) would sweep in and save our angel in time for the show to have a happy ending.  We watched her documentary, Farrah’s Story, with renewed hope and inspiration that her cancer would be beaten back like so many criminals on Charlie’s Angels.  Her bravery in showing her balding head on television brought tears to my eyes in remembrance of my own struggle with vanity, when adriamycin and vincristine ravaged my body and took my beautiful blonde hair.

Those of us who were fans of Farrah, Jaclyn and Kate also grew up with Michael Jackson. Their deaths on the same day are a study in contrasts. We laughed and danced to Michael’s music, but we never wanted to be like him.  Perhaps he was incredibly naive. Perhaps he was a predator. What we know for sure is that he was weak. Drugs were his crutch. He was ashamed of how he looked and was consumed with changing his appearance. What a contrast with Farrah; A woman of incredible strength and natural beauty. I will always want to be like Farrah.

Eventually the media buzz will return to more important issues like Iran, Healthcare Reform, North Korea and the economy. We’ll probably discover that some irresponsible personal “doctor” killed MJ just like Anna Nicole Smith and move on. The bigger milestone here is that we’ve lost another sister in the battle against cancer and we have no more time to waste on frivolous news stories of self-indulgent pop stars. Our health and the health of our nation depends on remembering Farrah and continuing her fight.

Rest in peace, Angel. You are and will always be, a Survivor.

Farrah Fawcett

I’m collecting statistics. So far it seems that 62% of all US Bankruptcies are caused by medical expenses which certainly seems reasonable because, insurance companies do everything they can not to pay your claim and millions are uninsured altogether.

What I’m looking for is the percent (%) of those medical bankruptcies that are from people who actually HAVE insurance of some sort. People who are diligently paying premiums for what is obviously too little coverage.

Who pays for bankruptcies?  It’s the business of course.  Yet these misguided myopics seem to forget that when someone files for bankruptcy, everyone else pays more and the one who is unlucky enough to be holding that person’s debt, pays a whole lot more.  They stand tall with the insurance companies, who are making record profits while everyone else gets buried under a mountain of debt.

The american auto industry has been crippled by high insurance costs for it’s current and retired employees. Indeed, in every industry, American’s are less competitive because business has to calcuolate in the high cost on insuring their employees in their products and services. What happens when you take that burden away?

Yes Virginia, Universal Healthcare is going to cost more but how much is it going to SAVE? Would your business be doing better if you did not have to insure your employee’s health?

I’m still looking for those stats. Must be here somwhere.

#5  No one has to hold your hair back when you throw up

#4 No more expensive foils at the hair salon

#3 No more curling iron burns on your forehead and neck

#2 Showers feel wonderful (when not much else does)

#1 When it grows back you’ll never have another bad hair day again in you life!