Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

[ostarella]

I receievd this from a friend of mine and thought it important enough to post here:

From a nurse:
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 patients, 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. 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.

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it! If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

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 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, state, and zip code.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php

For those of you who are, as I am, skeptical of these "forwards", visit this link to Scopes (a site you should check before taking any action on alerts, warnings, etc).

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/mastectomy.asp

Just reading the history of this bill should be enough to make every woman in the States sign this petition. It's time.

Comments

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I pimped this to my mother, a nurse and a breastfeeding activist and the former President of Lamaze International thinking hey sure she'll agree.

You know what, in her opinion this was an awful idea.

According to her, in the case of shorteing post-opt hospital stays, it's not the (usually)insurance companies trying to save money by shortening the stay. It's the hospital tyring to keep the patient alive.

See I didn't know this, but Mom said the risk of a hospital born antibiotic infection is considered greater than the risk of anything a person might do at home. So if a post-op patient can go home they're sent home for their own safety.

So she wouldn't sign the petition because she felt it actually endangered lives more than helped.

Anyway, just another perspective.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

While I agree that a hospital is the biggest breeding ground for infections, at the same time sending patients home while they're still groggy, wearing drainage tubes and in pain, particularly after this kind of surgery (not exactly removing an ingrown toenail) - I'd opt to stay where the doctors are close in case of problems. Particularly when one lives in an area like mine, where the nearest hospital/emergency room is a minimum of 30 miles away. If the patient wants to leave early, they can - they shouldn't be coerced or forced to. :-)