Be my bra! Eliminate drive-through mastectomies with the Breast Cancer Protection Act

The Meningioma and Me blog urges you to sign the petition on the LifetimeTV website in support of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.  Please forward this notice to all of your friends.  “Be my support.  Be my strength.  Be my bra.”

The Bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act Gets First Congressional Hearing in 12 Years

On Wednesday, May 21, the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held, for the first time ever, a hearing on the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. Championed by Representative DeLauro (D-CT) and Senators Snowe (R-ME) and Landrieu (D-LA), this bill would eliminate the practice of “drive-through” mastectomies, when women are forced to leave the hospital following their physically and emotionally difficult breast cancer surgeries before they and their doctors may feel they are ready to go home. For the millions of women and families who have shared their horrific stories of “drive-through” mastectomies on myLifetime.com, this hearing — an important first step toward the passage of this bill — is 12 years too late. But for the nearly 200,000 women who will face breast cancer this year, it is about time.

This is just the first step. There is still a long way to go. You can help. Sign the petition today and urge Congress to continue to take steps to pass this bill.

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! Please send this to everyone in your address   book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should   be heard, this is one of those times.

If you’re receiving this, it’s because I think you will take the 30   seconds to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who   will do the same. 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 pa t ients 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 

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women,

THANKS