Don ' t Let Things Slip Away From You

Kathy has written this guest post, about the unexpected death of a friend." Please don ’t let things slip away from you:first steps,first kiss,first real vacation …first time you know that something is not quite right in your body.I discovered yesterday that someone about my age whom I have known for at least 15 years had passed away in September. I had seen her once during the summer.I was told by her colleague that about a year and a half ago, she noticed leaking from one breast. Her coworkers persisted in asking about the situation and she then told them it was just an infection from a cat scratch. It is not clear she ever sought any medical care at that point.Fast forward to this summer: she developed pneumonia and liver failure, consequently was hospitalized, and all the way to the end she did not acknowledge that the test results showed widespread metastatic breast cancer.Speaking as a breast cancer patient past my 5 year mark post treatment, none of it was fun or easy, but I bless every day I am given to enjoy my life and family. I think I was so floored by the discovery that my acquaintance had died in a state (MA) where we have had mandatory health insurance for a long time. I have lost other friends to breast cancer, one dying after it infiltrated her brain, but she could never afford health care as a self-employed artist in the era before mandatory health insurance. I know she spent about two years convincing herself nothing was wrong too - until it was too lat...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs