The other night i was lying in bed, flipping channels , trying to find something worth watching . As most of you know, this is no easy feat today. I am sick of reruns of CSI, and I really dont care to watch old, fat rednecks fishing with their hands in murky , nasty lakes that i wouldn't be caught dead swimming in. So, as I was perusing the 150 channels I pay dearly for, I found an interesting documentary on HBO . Now, I am dangerously close to cancelling HBO as well ,due to there never being anything worthy of the 12.95 a month I pay, but the other night I found a gem in the midst of the all the crap that is usually aired.It was a documentary about a young woman who had breast cancer. Nothing new, right? There are always reality shows about people who deal with all kinds of sicknesses and situations, right? Well, this particular show caught my attention due to its honesty. This woman, a NYC millionaire who was living a life we all dream of, was diagnosed with breast cancer at a fairly young age. She is the single mother of 2 young sons, and a hedge fund broker, and a socialite.And now a cancer patient.
This show had the potential to play out like a oh, poor rich girl who can afford any treatment necessary , while most of the country can barely afford to get a check up at their MD. Instead of playing off the millionaire aspect, it played up the what the hell is wrong with this country's healthcare system aspect. And ultimately , that is why I did not change the channel. On this woman's journey through treatments, doctor appts, dibilitating side effects she meets "normal folks'. People who didnt have the luxury of early detection(like she luckily did), people who cannot afford different treatment levels due to insurance loop holes and people who will die due to not having the insurance coverage or the thousands of dollars necessary to supplement what is no longer deemed "necessary"in treatment. As I was watching this, I realized i was in the second group, I dont have the money to fund a dibilitating illness. I have insurance, yes. But it is not enough. And we are not a financially struggling family, but we definately are only a catastrophic illness away from being one.
The woman in the show donated millions of her own money to individuals who could not afford treatments, and gave up her hedge fund job, sold her 14 million dollar apartment in NYC and devoted her life to helping cancer patients, while she was one herself...She was battling nausea, hairloss, body image issues and trying to live day to day just like the "less fortunate" people who she was trying to help. I found this woman to be very inspiring, nnot just because she was able financially to help others, but because she realized we are all the same. Poor, rich, somewhere in the middle...cancer doesn't care. it will attack anyone, and anyone should be able to fight . sadly, in this country there are so many people unable to fight , not for lack of strength but for lack of resources.
In a country that people can be anything they want to be, I think being alive should be a primary option.
At the end of the show, one of her best friends lost their battle, due to the fact that her cancer was so advanced when it was diagnosed. she had no insurance.she was 44 years old. she was all of us.
The name of the show is The Education of Dee Dee Ricks, it's worth not flipping past.
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