ocal Cancer Advocate in Washington, D.C., Met with South Carolina Lawmakers to Demand Action

Angela Kegler McDowell from Conway, South Carolina was on Capitol Hill recently to meet with South Carolina lawmakers to advocate for health care that is accessible, affordable, available and administratively simple. McDowell was one of 50 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers, one from each state, calling for Action: Now Not Later on comprehensive health care reform.

“Health care reform is about saving lives, and there is no time for delay,” said McDowell, ACS CAN volunteer from South Carolina. “Congress must take action NOW, not later, on health care reform. We can not reduce suffering and death from cancer if the country does not improve access to quality, affordable health care.”

New polling data from ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, confirms that lack of access to quality, affordable care is a significant barrier in the fight to defeat cancer. The results showed that one in four families affected by cancer says they have had to put off or delay care in the last year because of cost.

People with cancer face enormous challenges finding adequate insurance. Insurers use pre-existing conditions such as a prior cancer diagnosis as a reason to deny or limit coverage. As a result, a person with a history of cancer who is laid off or has to quit work can find it virtually impossible to find coverage on their own.

According to ACS CAN, two-thirds of cancer patients under age 65 who tried to find insurance outside their employer couldn’t find an affordable plan. And for cancer patients, research shows that being uninsured can worsen your chance of survival.

Those who are uninsured are less likely to receive cancer prevention services, more likely to be treated for cancer at late stages of disease, more likely to receive substandard care and services, and more likely to die from their cancer.

“ACS CAN believes that if we can improve the health care system for people with cancer, we will improve it for everyone else as well,” said Dan Smith, president ACS CAN. “By bringing Angela and other cancer advocates from across the country to D.C. we will make it clear to lawmakers that families affected by cancer cannot afford to wait for health care reform—and that the status quo simply isn’t an option.”


While in Washington, D.C., McDowell met with many lawmakers. During the meetings, McDowell called for a bi-partisan and uniquely American solution for fixing the broken health care system that works for families affected by cancer by:

o Refocusing the system to emphasize prevention
o Ending the practice of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions
o Limiting the cost burden on families by providing care that costs less and covers more
o Ensuring meaningful coverage for all Americans from prevention all the way through quality end of life care

"People shouldn't have to choose between losing their house, their life savings, and everything they own to save their life," said McDowell. “Yes, this is a difficult issue; but, our country is too innovative and too strong to not find a solution. I believe in America's legislative system and, together, we can find an American solution to our problem."

In 2009, more than 1.4 million people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 562,000 people will die from the disease. Six in 10 of the lives lost to cancer today could be saved with better access to prevention services like cancer screenings, smoking cessation programs, and public outreach and education to improve diet and increase exercise– that translates into nearly 340,000 people each year.

For more information on ACS CAN’s health care reform campaign, please visit www.acscan.org/healthcare.

ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.acscan.org.

You’ve Got a Friend: How to Help a Friend in Need

by Susan LaScala, RN-C
Family Nurse Practitioner

You have a friend in crisis. She has cancer and is going to the hospital weekly for chemotherapy treatments; or she has a 3-year-old daughter and has just delivered twin baby girls (and her father-in-law has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer); or she has just delivered a premature baby. Any number of scenarios fit the bill. They may not be life or death, but there are countless ways life gets disrupted. The most common reaction to such situations is for you to call and express your feelings – “Congratulations on the babies! But twins! You poor thing…” or “I’m so sorry to hear about the illness…” Then you automatically say into the phone, “What can I do to help?” Your question is heartfelt and sincerely meant, but probably, ultimately, not going to be helpful to the person in crisis.

When was the last time someone actually called you back when you made such an offer, and asked you for a favor? In the long run, the most likely response you will get to “What can I do?” or “How can I help?” or “Call me for anything,” is an appreciative thank you at the time of the offer, and silence after that. You will call again, and your friend will update you on her situation, but it is unlikely she will call back and ask you for anything. She will feel like she is imposing on you, or may be too overwhelmed to know what kind of favor to ask for. Who really answers your question with the truth: “What I really need is for someone to come and clean the bathrooms in my house. They are disgusting and I just can’t get to them because I have so much else going on.” Your friend won’t be able to say, “I am barely putting one foot in front of the other,” because she is probably trying to be brave or appear competent as she attempts to cope with her situation.

If she doesn’t tell you what she needs, what can you do?

Sit quietly for a minute, put yourself in your friend’s running shoes, and think about what she might need. What would you want if you were in her situation? Then call her and make an offer. Better still, make two offers, giving her a choice.

1. To the mother of the twins: “I have Fridays off. I can watch the babies on Friday mornings while you go out and get your errands done.” Or, “If you make out your grocery list I can do your shopping every Friday morning.”

2. To the mother of the preemie: “I know I can’t help with the baby while he’s in the hospital, but I love cleaning the kitchen. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to take a disaster zone and make it all shiny. When you go to visit the baby in the hospital I will come and clean your kitchen.”

3. To the friend with cancer: “I always make a big dinner on Sunday evenings. I’ll double the recipe each Sunday and bring dinner to you.”

4. Tell your friend she is lovely but could use a haircut, then ask her when you can schedule an appointment for her. Take her to the appointment and drag her to lunch while you are at it. She still needs to eat.

5. Offer to take care of your friend’s children so she and her husband can have a night out.

6. Tell her to do all the laundry on Friday evenings and you will be over to fold on Saturday morning.

Be specific. Make the task something you like to do so it isn’t onerous for you, but a labor of love. Perhaps you are a vacuuming addict and there is nothing that makes you happier than seeing the perfection of pile carpet with those nice wheel marks going back and forth over the pile. Tell your friend that. It will make her feel better and she might laugh and say, “All right already. Knock yourself out! Come and vacuum my floors.”

This helping can apply to your siblings, parents, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone in need. If you draw a blank when you are trying to think of how to help an acquaintance you may not know very well, call someone who was in a similar situation. Ask, “What was most helpful when you were sick?” Call hospice if you know someone who is dying or the senior center if your friend is elderly. Such organizations will probably have a number of ideas and resources you wouldn’t have thought of. Then rework their ideas for your particular situation.

Lending a helping hand benefits both the helper – you – and the recipient. It is amazing how much better you feel when you know you have done a favor for someone. You can’t remove the burden of your friend’s illness or crisis, but you certainly can put a check in the plus column for that friend on that particular day. Your efforts will be much appreciated.


Susan LaScala, RN, MS is a Family Nurse Practitioner and the author of “Small Wonder, the story of a child born too soon” (Barton Cove Publishing 2009). You can visit her website at www.susanjlascala.com/

Cancer Survivors Network Creates Online Connections for Those Dealing with Cancer

Long before Facebook and MySpace became household names, the American Cancer Society was building upon Americans’ growing interest in online social networking by providing the Cancer Survivors Network, a free, worldwide community of cancer survivors, caregivers, family, and friends who offer each other emotional support, encouragement, practical advice, and humor. The site, www.cancer.org/csn, has an active community of tens of thousands of members, but is available to the millions of people facing cancer globally.

Initially launched in 2000, the non-commercial Web site has been re-designed in order to offer new features and functionality. Its most popular feature is its wide variety of active discussion groups and real-time chatting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which allows cancer patients, survivors, and their supporters a private, secure way to communicate with others who share common experiences. Similar to mainstream social networking sites, users control access to their personal information, allowing them to be as anonymous or as identifiable as they wish.

Other features of the site include personal web space in which members can tell their stories, share photos, blogs, art, poems, resources, audio, and more. The site’s Celebrate Life gallery, features photos and information about Cancer Survivors Network members and the search functions allow users to find others using specific criteria, including cancer type, age, and gender. The Cancer Survivors Network even offers a private and secure internal messaging system so members may communicate with one another without sharing any personal identifiers such as their email address.

“The greatest strength of the Cancer Survivors Network is the people who use it. People at various stages of cancer treatment, their families and friends, really make the site what it is by contributing their own stories of survival and hope,” said Terry Music, interim chief mission officer at the American Cancer Society. “There are 11 million cancer survivors in this country, and one-third of Americans have served as an unpaid caregiver to a relative or friend facing cancer. Our goal is to provide a robust online community that has something to offer each person.”