Hi! I hope this is not inappropriate to post here, but I figured this forum is full of good people that would love to make a difference. This was sent to me by my Mom today and I didn't feel comfortable fowarding it to everyone in my address book so I figured this would be a good way to get the message out without sending unwelcome emails! Thank you and I hope I won't get repremanded for this! :o

A hospital nurse says:

I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them

they had to go home with the drains, new exercises 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.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to

remove cancerous breast cells/tissue.

If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a

lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.

Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient

procedure.

Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days

after surgery.

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important .. Please take the

time and do it really quick!

Please send this to everyone in your address book.

If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this

is one of those times.

If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30

seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others.

You know who will do the same.

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.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition

drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the Web site below. You need not

give more than your name and zip code number.

[ http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php

]http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and

family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS.

I know like me many of you have been touched by breast cancer in one way or another.For me it was a good friend that was lucky it was 2005,my Aunt was not so lucky,she passed away 20 years ago from this horrid disease.Please take the time to sign the petition and pass it on.Thanks~Angie