Reply #21: Unless YOU have a painful chronic disease, you have no right to judge her.

[DemBones DemBones]

I have a painful, chronic disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) and I understand exactly what she meant; that she sometimes has wished she had a cancer that would take her quickly. Some cancers do that, you know. Some people are dead a month or two after diagnosis. I've had cancer, too, BTW. They say they got it all. We'll see.

My mother, and a friend of mine, each died ten months after being diagnosed with lung cancer, each had a couple of months of pain, and I've already suffered more than ten years of pain. Sometimes the pain makes you think you can't take it any longer. I wouldn't kill myself, either, but I know exactly what Mrs. Romney meant. We're both looking at many hard years ahead. And so are our husbands and children.

A chronic disease is something you have for the rest of your life. My doctor has told me that I could be very sick, requiring nursing care, for a very long time. That's why I can't get long term care insurance while a friend who's had cancer was able to. The insurance company knows she's unlikely to live long if her cancer recurs while I could live a very long time, being very sick, so I'm not a "good risk" for the insurance companies; I might cost them money. My husband worries a lot that he'll die first and I won't have enough money to get proper care.

“Cancer does not bring a quick death. Cancer is painful and debilitating,” said Sievers on his “My Cancer” blog on NPR’s Web site. “Cancer wreaks havoc on the life of anyone who has it and the lives of the people who care about them. Cancer twists the present and steals the future. Cancer hurts.”

Everywhere he said "Cancer," you can plug in MS or lupus or ALS or a number of other chronic diseases and the statements will be true. But Mr. Sievers is obviously all about him and his cancer, and apparently hasn't known anyone with chronic diseases or he wouldn't make such ignorant comments.

It's not a contest. Cancer is bad. MS is bad. SLE is bad. ALS is bad. AIDS is bad. Any of them can kill you. They may not kill you because you may have a heart attack or get hit by a bus first, but they are all killers.

If you can afford it, get long-term care insurance before you're diagnosed with something they'll use as an excuse to turn you down.