Originally Posted by RK77

Mark---as difficult it is for those who have fought listening to what Obama is saying to understand----Obama is NOT claiming that HE will bring any change for us! He is claiming that he will bring about change WITH us!

He is not talking about "being our voices" in Washington---he is talking about opening doors so that the voices of the people can be heard.

There is a good deal of frustration felt by those of us who are supporting Obama when the questions that are being raised reflect so clearly that others still don't "get" it. And it is important that people "get" it because for every person who plans to sit on their ass while we move forward (and I don't mean to imply that you will) we have to figure out how to drag that dead weight as we move forward.

As it pertains to healthcare---Obama has made it MORE than clear that there is NO change that we can make in 4 or 8 years to get us to where we ultimately need to be.

Our heads are more or less on backward when it comes to healthcare and the VERY FIRST thing that we need to do is start thinking about healthcare backwards.

What is being debated presently---and what is at the core of all debates right now is health care FINANCE strategies!

Have you heard ANYONE besides Obama even suggest that they recognize that the ACTUAL CARE being delivered is approaching LETHAL?

Unfortunately, even though you KNOW from first hand experience that the care out there for your family members SUCK---you have still entered this convo with a focus on "who should pay".

The FACT is that no matter WHO pays for it---your mother has a disease that should NOT be killing her. And---you should be able to hire people to take care of her---in her home---with her husband---without worrying if that person will be looking for her car keys instead of caring for her.

BUT more importantly---there is collectively about 1 billion dollars that was paid out in salary to just the CEO's of companies that should have been spending the last decade figuring out how to save your mom's life!!!

The focus of all of medicine has shifted from seeking cures to how to make the most money possible off our illness before we die.

Last year Dr. A. P. John's died. He was a researcher who dedicated his entire life to discovering what would shut a tumor down.

My godfather and my father were both diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half before my dad died. My godfather had a very aggressive retroperitoneal cancer and my dad a pretty huge lung mass.

The University of Michigan refused my dad any therapy at all. They gave him 3 months to live. I would not accept that answer---but there was not central source to find anything else to do.

About a month before I lost my Godfather---and despite putting in 12-14 hour days researching EVERYTHING the world had to offer in terms of cancer--I ran across The AP Johns institute. I began researching his theories ---and unfortunately lost my Godfather before I could get through it all.

But I put my dad on the CAAT therapy that Dr. John's designed after we tried radiation therapy which did not stop the tumor. The tumor was entirely shut down. My dad lived for a year and a half and did not die from the cancer--- it had already died and though some of the mass remained his body was slowly dissolving it.

My point is---there are answers---more than you would think any decent field of scientists would allow to exist without telling everyone---and our system (for very complex reasons) will not let science move forward if they cannot figure out how to profit!

NONE of this will change unless and until we the people become the first (maybe even the ONLY) priority of government.

We cannot even allow ourselves to keep thinking of things in terms of WHO will make things happen for us ----we have to start asking --- HOW can WE make the changes we want happen---and squash all politicians who would a) interfere with our momentum or b) lull us back into infantcy by telling us they will spoon feed us.

God knows---if doors had been opened to the government for LGBT communities as HIV began to infuse the nation---it may have been stopped! Massive efforts were made---you know it and I do as well----but groups were banging their heads against brick walls while the government kept patting backs and promising actions.

If Obama wins and shuts us out---then that will be his fault. If Obama wins and opens the doors he suggests he can---making government more transparent---giving us ways to monitor government-----shutting out big money in our elections making us the critical source of financing for the politicians---then if changes don't happen it will be because people sat on their hands and waited for someone to MAKE those things happen for them.

While everyone likes to make fun of Obama's inspiring people---the INSPIRATION to come together and seek new solutions is CRITICAL to we the people being "fired up" enough to step back up to the plate and take the reins of the nation back.

The inspiration and energy and enthusiasm and participation of the public IS the foundation for all other change........

So you tell me-----What changes will you be willing to work for to make things different when you need the healthcare you are seeing absent now?

Originally Posted by MarkMiller

You make so many good points it shames me to think of all the bad points points I may bring up. It is important that i face this and use everything I have to deal with it. the issue is more than just our own families.....it is about the "people of this Nation".

Politicians would do nothing if we did not ask them to to do more. I have done small amounts to protect my mothers oxygen supply....thankfully....so did others and she did not have to worry about loosing it....but unfortunately some in test areas did. It does not make me feel do good to know that whilke my mother did not loose what she needed desperately....someone else did, just to see what would happen. It is not out of my hands and I know it.

You are doing....in your posts what i was looking for. Not just hope, but a debate that will make me live past the death of my Mother. Something that will not allow me to die inside along with her and gives me......back something I thought i had lost. Compassion for others.

I began to become very selfish and started this thread with demands. You used the knowledhe and experiance you have gained to make me think pst my own life and my own misery. I am grateful beyond words. But also I understand what you are saying and i refuse to lay down and die....inside or out!

I will continue to contact my representatives in congerss, the senate and in the california Legislature. I will not let my political ideaology stand in the way of my compassion......or my attemp at understanding. I have a temper. i have an opinion......mixing the two is not the wisest thing I can do.

What will I do.....? I will continue to fight for....not against a system out of control. I will be more thoughtful towards those that struggle everyday totreat ailing patients that fight against them just to "Go Home" when they need the care. (I see so much at this facility....it could well depress me if it weren't for a few Nurses that see how few and how many family members come in to be with those they love)

I will not stop just becuse it does not touch me personaly. It is too important. And I will not be quite about the issue. I will keep posting. i will keep calling, I will keep researching and i will keep going. I am weak, but I gain strength from others. I will be that other person and i will try as hard as I possibly can to help anyone I see in need. On the net....or in real life. To say nothing.......is to loose. I refuse to loose!
Thank You

Mark Miller

Originally Posted by ibex

This is a complex issue that was aggravated by the passage of the infamous Medicare "reform" act a few years back that was in reality a huge give away to big pharm and the HMO industry, another example of "bi-partisanship" BTW. It's also an issue that touches on the fundamentals of healthcare itself, meaning when does a physician do everything to seek a cure and when is it okay to simply manage the pain. Back in 1970, my grandfather had ulcers surgically removed, at the age of 76 and after a decade in a wheel chair brought on by a massive stroke. When he didn't make it through the operation, it was deemed a success despite the fact that he died. This was and too often still is the paradigm, a cure or solution at all costs. I lost my mother six years ago to a bout of tripple pnuemonia brought on by rapidly progressing Alzheimer's. The DNR option that my mom asked for and that my father honored would have been impossible a generation ago, and the save Terry Schiavo crowd would have had us all tossed in jail for using the lethal morphine drip. This is why it's important to include McCain and the GOP in this discussion. I don't believe there are any easy answers, but I'm certain that yet another administration who would have an open door policy for the right to life loonies would spell disaster for anybody concerned about death with dignity. This is just one part of a really complicated issue, I confess that I haven't read up enough on health care reform to speak in an informed manner as many of you here have. Mark, I am truly sorry to hear about your mother's illness and can't imagine the emotional hell you must be experiencing now. My prayers are with you, your partner and the rest of your family.

Originally Posted by RK77

Last year Dr. A. P. John's died. He was a researcher who dedicated his entire life to discovering what would shut a tumor down.

Originally Posted by W.M.DEEEZ

Intrigued, I read about this CAAT therapy. It sounds similar in some ways to a treatment a Dr. Gonzalez uses for pancreatic cancer.

If you know...and this is a pet peeve of mine...this treatment doesn't sound like a "conventional" approach that would normally be covered by insurance...

Do you know if it is?

Things like this piss me off. A perfectly good "non invasive" treatment, that holds no profit for the Ins/pharma industries.

Originally Posted by RK77

.

Curious......what lead you to read about CAAT?

Originally Posted by HarperLee

This is a totally inappropriate response to my two-sentence post.

The last sentence is almost scary. How would I know your mother's political party.

I am sorry about her illness and I commend you for caring for her.

But that does not excuse your constant personal attacks.

You mentioned that you are able to care for your mother because you are unemployed. Do you know what kind of insurance John McCain wants for people who are unemployed and who don't have
trust funds or wealthy wives? Check it out.