American Cancer Society”
A week before she died, I held Carol’s hand. I’ve written about her death before,
but today I’m thinking of her. My heart is in that room. My hand in her hand. It’s dry and cold and blue. Her breathing is harsh and labored, and her wish for me that I live is so clear in each minute we share.
I’m with her today because, in 2004, she went to a rural hospital in Southern Oregon with a distended belly and pain, and she was turned away after a cursory exam. She was told that they couldn’t cure fatness.
Because she didn’t have health insurance, she had no way to get a second opinion. The hospital was not allowed to run tests, and a year later, almost dead, they had to treat her. (This is your safety net people.) A year after that I held her hand, and a week later, she died.
CAROL DIED BECAUSE SHE COULDN’T AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE. SHE DIED BECAUSE SHE HAD A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION.
To all our lawmakers who voted today, who removed health care from 24 million Americans, who shoved me back into a high-risk pool should I ever lose my job, who destroyed basic medical services, I hope you never have to hold your loved one’s hands as they die and know that if they had been born richer or had a different life, they would have lived at least a little while longer.
So the new act is going to the senate, and it won’t pass there, but these lawmakers must be held accountable. Please call, write, protest, shout, scream, resist. This is our country, and they work for us. Do it for me, and most of all, please do it for Carol.
Peace and love,
Amanda
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