2008 Woodie Awards
Keeping patients' right to heal clear from reach of insurance
Jesimin Berman
Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Opinion
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It's a relief to see a fair amount of activism on the UPS campus. Last year's "Take Back the Night" raised awareness of sexual assault cases and if you walk into the SUB and look towards the Info Center, you can't help but notice the big white board filled with dots representing sexual assault victims. Yet when it comes to health care (depending on how jaded you've already become by life), would you expect insurance companies to infringe on the rights of women who need breast cancer treatment? If you're looking for a way to be politically active with a minimum amount of energy, go to http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php and sign a petition aimed at securing breast cancer patients the option of a minimum two-day recovery stay in a hospital following a mastectomy.
The Breast Cancer Protection Act has been introduced to Congress in four previous versions and will be raised again this year in order to put an end to "drive-thru" mastectomies in which the entire breast is removed as part of an "outpatient procedure." There are various types of mastectomies and in more extensive versions, the surrounding muscle tissue beneath the breast and even the lymph nodes under the arm are removed as well. Could you imagine being a woman, placed under anesthesia so that your breast can be removed, and then sent home? Anyone who has had any sort of surgery that required anesthesia knows that you do not wake up in happy mood. You awake disoriented. Considering that the type of surgery we're discussing here deals with cancer and a woman losing a part of her that is highly associated with her femininity, is it too much to ask that she at least receive proper post-surgery care? The Breast Cancer Protection Act wants to require a minimum two-night stay in the hospital following the mastectomy so that the patient can be properly monitored by a medically certified staff who can handle any potential side effects of the surgery.
Maybe you're not convinced at this point that a minimum stay after a mastectomy is necessary. But as the loved one of someone going through a mastectomy, would you want the responsibility of taking them home and having to help them monitor for such fun side effects as swelling, redness, or infection at the surgical site as well as a pooling of fluid that would have to be drained out of the surgical site, not to mention the emotional side effects that can include depression and suicidal thoughts? In fact, sometimes the tubes used during the procedure to remove the breast have to remain in the patient's body for some time; what a shock that can be for the person awaking from surgery.
The Breast Cancer Protection Act has been introduced to Congress in four previous versions and will be raised again this year in order to put an end to "drive-thru" mastectomies in which the entire breast is removed as part of an "outpatient procedure." There are various types of mastectomies and in more extensive versions, the surrounding muscle tissue beneath the breast and even the lymph nodes under the arm are removed as well. Could you imagine being a woman, placed under anesthesia so that your breast can be removed, and then sent home? Anyone who has had any sort of surgery that required anesthesia knows that you do not wake up in happy mood. You awake disoriented. Considering that the type of surgery we're discussing here deals with cancer and a woman losing a part of her that is highly associated with her femininity, is it too much to ask that she at least receive proper post-surgery care? The Breast Cancer Protection Act wants to require a minimum two-night stay in the hospital following the mastectomy so that the patient can be properly monitored by a medically certified staff who can handle any potential side effects of the surgery.
Maybe you're not convinced at this point that a minimum stay after a mastectomy is necessary. But as the loved one of someone going through a mastectomy, would you want the responsibility of taking them home and having to help them monitor for such fun side effects as swelling, redness, or infection at the surgical site as well as a pooling of fluid that would have to be drained out of the surgical site, not to mention the emotional side effects that can include depression and suicidal thoughts? In fact, sometimes the tubes used during the procedure to remove the breast have to remain in the patient's body for some time; what a shock that can be for the person awaking from surgery.
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