Saturday 9 June 2012

... And thanks for all the health care...

Last night I was at a fundraiser for a friend of mine who has a undiagnosed disease and has had to stop work. On June 9th there is the F**K CANCER benefit for Laurie Walsh. I don't know Laurie Walsh, but I love the attitude of the F**K CANCER movement. Even if I can't wear their T-Shirt in public or unscramble their name in my blogpost.

Although now that I am writing this, I realize the real obscenity is the disease, and how it ravages people's lives, and how a cure is always just another 100 million dollars in fundraising away. So really is should be F**K C*NC*R.

No doubt every day there are many such private passings-of-the-hat as people have to take a year out of their lives to fight disease. We've all had "friends with benefits", but these are our friends without health benefits. Yes these women all live in Ontario, and their OHIP card will provide them, gratis, what would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the United States. But there are still drugs that have to be paid for, and medical supplies that aren't covered. And the rent and bills don't go away just because you can't go to work for a year.

Which brings me to my point - how blessed I was to have come through my journey with cancer and have some an awesome short-term and long-term care plan via my employer. Thanks for that.

And thanks for going to that fundraiser for that person. And thanks for donating to that hospital fund. Or if you have no dough, thanks for making cookies for the bake sale. When you make a contribution it isn't the cash value that lifts the spirits. The fact that so many people care becomes an island of hope and love. And when the person with the disease is going through the darker moments of illness and treatment, that island will make all the difference.

The F**K CANCER Fundraiser for Laurie Walsh

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