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Personal news. I was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 23. I caught it early, which is a reminder of the need to keep your checkups current, despite the pandemic.
I decided to dramatically reduce the risk of a recurrence with a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery on January 15. I will be in and out in a day. They don’t keep you overnight if at all possible w COVID. Some surgeries are postponed. Mine is not.
This will be my second major surgery and fifth surgical procedure this year. I don’t know what caused it - no family history. Maybe the hours in the dust of 9/11 or one of a thousand other carcinogens. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I caught it before it took me.
I realize how very lucky I am to have access to quality health care. Too many people do not and when they do, they face systemic bias that undermines the quality of their care, regardless of socioeconomic status. COVID has exposed and exacerbated inequality.
I am sharing this to remind people how important it is to keep up with your health amidst a pandemic. Be open to what we can do to remove the bias baked into our health care system. Be open to ways to improve the quality of care for for our population. Access is critical.
I know some very good health economists & will work harder to amplify their work and the broader body of research on our health care system. If you know of good research you would like to share, send it my way and I will do my best to amplify it.
I may have lost some my body this year but it won’t change the essence of who I am. I plan to stick around a lot longer and cross the metaphorical finish line on this crisis with a very large crowd. To my family, I love you forever and a day, more than the universe.
