I cannot do better than to quote the words of the nurse who sent me this e-mail:
I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains still in , ... 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.
It is barbaric to throw women out of the hospital the day after they have had a major procedure performed. 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 patients 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.
PLEASE GO HERE AND TAKE THE FEW SECONDS NEEDED TO SUPPORT IT.
