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[stacia_kane]

So Jade Goody has died.

Of cervical cancer.

At the age of 27Cervical cancer is one of the slowest forms of cancer there is. If caught early, cervical cancer is nearly 100% treatable

Comments

[stacia_kane]

It just amazes me, it really does. And I have to admit, I wonder if this was some sort of male cancer, would they be so cavalier about it?

[redqueen1]

I really agree with everything that you've said. My mother has had abnormal pamp results for some time now and so it makes me really paranoid about mine (and, later, my daughter's) but I had to argue with a doctor so that he would okay me getting a yearly instead of every three years!

[stacia_kane]

Thank you! :-)

I just don't even know what to say to that. The idea that someone at risk would be denied a test, a simple little test like a pap smear... As I said in the comment above, I really have to wonder; if this effected men, would the NHS be so blase?

[psynde]

excellent post..yannno people just don't take their health seriously enough til it's too late. I often remind people that we are fragile beings...I haven't been good with the paps since starting menopause but next time I see the oncologist for the other thing I will ask for a referral.Even on the bad
days life is too precious.

[stacia_kane]

Yes, it is. And I'm cavalier with my health, and I know it. But this is one area where I'm very proactive. It's just too simple and straightforward not to be, you know? {{hugs}}

[ext_139976]

This is a really excellent post. I completely understand your frustrations at a health system that is so behind on women's needs

[stacia_kane]

It's not the health system wanting to get money; it is called prevention.

EXACTLY. And that's why my husband's doctor's reply to him was so infuriating, you know? That a DOCTOR, someone who has taken the Hippocratic Oath, would actually blow off something so important because they've become so indoctrinated into the system that they don't even stop to think of how many lives they're throwing away. And as I said above, because of the NHS places like Planned Parenthood aren't even available here, so there are *no* alternatives; no low-cost clinics where women can get the treatments and tests they need.

Your friend's story is horrible. I wouldn't get over it either.

And yes, the thought of a young woman infertile at 25 because HPV or any other disease was allowed to spread in her body because nobody thought it was important to test for it... Makes me ill.

Thanks so much for commenting.

[katatomic]

Politics and health care do not mix well. What care you can get, when, how, and by whom should not be your government's decision to make. This is the sort of thing that gives me horrors when I hear the US politicians citing England and Canada as the models we should take for our own insurance system. I shudder. I do not want lowest-denominator healthcare dictated by fools with axes to grind.

[stacia_kane]

*applause* YES!! That. No, I don't either. I have horror stories of NHS care that would turn your hair green. Socialized medicine is NOT the answer. I would love to see a low-cost, gov't backed insurance program available for everyone who needs it (yes, we have Medicare but not everyone is eligible), and I would love to see tax incentives for employers who provide health insurance, but handing the whole pile over the the gov't is so not the answer. Sheesh, do you really want civil servants handling your healthcare? (Which, btw, I know there are some great, dedicated and intelligent civil servants out there; I've dealt with a few who were so lovely and committed and such genuinely good people I wanted to have them over for dinner. But on the whole, government moves very slowly and inefficiently, and I'd rather not have my medical care treated like an income tax return.)