Where Would Dad Be Under Obama Care?

I would like to take a look at the care my father would have received under the health care plan that President Obama and many Democrats want to push through and have tried to get for the American people. To begin lets start with the events of May 2009 for my father. After being diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer he was sent to Lansing, Michigan to find out what type of Cancer he had because the doctors could not get a good Biopsy where he lived. When he arrived in Lansing he was very weak and could barely handle getting out of bed. Upon completion of the taking of the Biopsy he was told it was Small Cell Lung Cancer. Further he was told that the masses were 10 cm on his lungs and 5 cm on his liver. The prognosis was that he would probably die in a month with out treatment and with treatment he had the potential of living over a year. It was decided that he would give chemo a chance.

After 18 treatments of chemo the masses had been shrunk to beteen 4 and 5 Cm on his lungs and to about 1 cm on his Liver. Amazingly he has returned to active involvement in his church as an elder and many other activities which were not possible when he was at his worst with the cancer ravaging his body. At the time of this writing he has had a very high quality of life and the cancer has not grown. The doctors have told him they would see him in April ( 1 month shy of a year after his cancer was diagnosed).

Under the proposed health care plan he would not have received the care provided. Because his cancer was stage 4 (end stage) he would have been made comfortable and would have probably died by the end of June 2009. Further, he would have received comfort care. Thanks to the health system in America he has been given many productive months which have benefited his Church and community. In February 2010 my dad celebrated his 85^th Birthday and was greeted by hundreds of well wishers who have been affected by his life. He continues to help prepare care packages for the poor and needy of his community and serve as an elder of his church.

I have no doubt that my father would be long dead under the proposed health care plan because of the type of cancer he was diagnosed with, the stage it is in and his age at the time of diagnosis (84). Thank God for Americas present health care system however flawed it may be. Reform should be geared toward helping it get better through Tort reform and cutting back on bureaucracy not adding more bureaucracy which adds cost.