Henrietta Lacks

Heard of her? No, well don't feel bad. I hadn't either until I watched a special on 60 min a couple of weeks ago. Henrietta saved many lives, but she never knew it. Her story begins in the early 1950s in Baltimore. She moved there with her husband and 5 children. Soon after she arrived she felt a lump in her belly. She had cervical cancer and was admitted to the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Eight months later she died and this is when Henrietta Lacks' legacy really begins.
Pap smears were begun in the 1940s and it had become common practice to do them to every woman that walked in. You see doctors had been trying to grow human cells for many years, but couldn't even keep the cells alive a few days. A lab tech discovered something remarkable about Henriettas cells.....they never died. In fact they are still living today 60 years later. They are called HeLa cells (for Henrietta Lacks) and are sold $250 dollars for a vile. A factory was set up soon after the discovery in Alabama to grow her cells for research. The lab was producing over 3 trillion cells a week and sending them all over the world. The HeLa cells have been used to develop cancer drugs and for Parkinsons disease. It is sad that Henrietta never knew that she was helping millions of people 60 years after her death. But here is the worst part...her family didn't either. Not until 25 years ago when a scientist called her husband and wanted to check their children's cells. The Lacks family has never been paid or anything for the use of the cells. This fact is very heartbreaking because the Lacks family is apparently very poor and cannot afford healthcare. Hopefully since this story came out something will be done about this. There was no consent back in the 1950s so basically scientist and doctors could take what they wanted. I feel that the family has a right to those cells and should be compensated fairly. Someone should right this wrong pronto.

The Oscars

Well I tuned in last night, as many people did, to watch the beautiful people fall over each other and congratulate each other on a job well done. We heard words and phrases like "you believed in me," "genius," "empowerment," "without your guidance I would be nothing." Good Lord people, calm down! You won an award not cured cancer.
I was unsure how I would like Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin together but I thought they were sort of charming. I am usually a fan of George Clooney but found him to be a little bored sitting there with his less than classy girl toy of the week. I think Monique-although I praise her for her performance-takes herself a little too seriously and for God sakes woman please shave those legs! I was glad Kathyrn Bigelow won for Best Director-it was a great movie. I am also glad she won just to stick it to James Cameran. Not sure why but he kind of bugs me. Miley Cyrus would you please stand up straight and push those shoulders back. Not sure if any of you caught the pre-show before the awards telecast but Kathy Ireland was downright awful. Lastly, I thought it was terrible that Farrah Fawcett was left out of the "In Memoriam" portion of the show. To add insult to injury, Michael Jackson was included. And the excuse that there were just too many names to include everyone-really Academy, thats what you are going with. Shame on you!

President Obama's Email

Dear Jennifer Mayotte:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I have heard
from countless Americans struggling to afford health insurance and
health professionals striving to provide care. I appreciate your
perspective.

There is broad consensus among the American people on
the need for affordable, high-quality health care. The rising cost of
health care is the most pressing financial challenge for families and
our Nation, and controlling this cost is essential to bringing down
the Federal deficits we inherited. We must end unfair insurance
practices that leave millions without insurance, deny people access
to coverage and expose them to extraordinary burdens. Now is the
time to move forward and get health insurance reform done.

Since I took office, we have done more to improve health
care than we have in the previous decade. I signed H.R. 2 to
provide coverage for millions of children in the Children's Health
Insurance Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act to invest in computerized medical records and preventive
services.

Still, more must be done to lower costs, expand coverage,
and improve the quality of health care. Health insurance reform
must provide more security and stability to those who have health
insurance; make sure those who do not have insurance can find
affordable options; and lower the cost of health care for our
families, our businesses, and our government. Reform will benefit
seniors by protecting and strengthening Medicare, closing the
"donut-hole" gap in coverage for prescription drugs, and providing
free preventive care.

Looking forward, there are tough choices to be made, and I
will seek to bring employers, workers, health care providers, and
patients together to create a system that delivers high-quality
health care and puts the Nation on a sustainable, long-term fiscal
path. To learn more about my Health Insurance Reform Plan or to
share a personal story, please join me online at:
www.HealthReform.gov. For further information on health care
and assistance that may be available to you, you may call 1-800-
FED-INFO or visit: www.USA.gov.

I share the sense of urgency that many Americans have
voiced. I watched as my ailing mother struggled with stacks of
insurance forms at the end of her life. This is not who we are as a
Nation; together, we will fix it.


Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Tiger Woods-The Statement

I can only guess that the productivity of all businesses went way down from 11 am et to 11:15 am et. If you are a fan or not, you wanted to hear what Tiger Woods had to say. Even my Dad, who is 2 days post colon cancer surgery, watched it from his hospital bed.
To me what he said was as important as how he delivered it. I thought it was strange that he only allowed two cameras and it seemed that the main camera went out with a few minutes to go in his statement. So the last few minutes of his heart felt apology was from the view of the side of his head. He seemed sincere but it all seemed a little contrived to me. It was way too scripted and you could tell his "handlers" told him to stare at the camera when he apologized. So for delivery I give him a "D". For content I give him a "B+". He took responsibility for his actions, apologized to everyone, even to the parents of the kids that look up to him. I think that he "gets it." I still don't know if I have forgiven him though.
I get that the fame and the riches contributed to his behavior. I just don't get the whole sex addiction rehab thing. I mean really, they have that? Who is his sponsor going to be...the Pope? Oh wait, he's a Buddhist apparently, so the Dalai Lama, then? If anyone could have the Dalai Lama as his sex addiction sponsor it would be Tiger Woods. Hell, teach him how to carry a bag and he could caddy for you. I also thought it was strange that a lot of his friends were at the news conference. Especially his college roommate. Wasn't he the guy who arranged for Rachael to be in Australia? If I were Elin and wanted to make my marriage work, the first thing I would tell Tiger to do would be to FIRE EVERYONE. You know his caddy, business partners, best friends, lawyers, agent, etc knew all this was going on. They would all be fired and replaced if it were me. Sorry see you later, you are an enabler as far as I am concerned.
He does make a valid point about the media and its obsession with his family though. I mean trying to get a picture of Tiger is one thing, but you are a dirtbag if you are following his little girl to her school to snap a photo. As a society we are obsessed with all things Celebrity. Unfortunately I bet Tiger Woods will be leading the evening news tonight and not the wacko that crashed his plane into an IRS building in Texas. Maybe as a society we should all go to Celebrity Addiction Rehab, myself included. I know who my sponsor will be....Brad Pitt :)

Tiger Woods

We all know the story. He's famous, wealthy, good looking and......he's a cheater. I mean a big time cheater. Infidelity with a capital "I". What bothers the men is that he was this iconic sports figure that had the world by the tail and his fall from grace was devastating to them. What bothers me is that he was a husband and a father and he threw that all away for a little tail. Ok a lot of tail. Was it worth it Tiger? Do celebrities really think they are that indestructible? I wonder if he was just a regular guy would he be cheating on his wife? If his life would of turned out differently, without the fame, the money, and the power, would he have done the same thing? I suspect he would have. You are who you are in the end.
He has a press conference scheduled for Friday at 11am and I will be tuning in. Although he will not be answering questions I think he will just read from a script. I hope he doesn't. I for one am looking for a heartfelt apology with maybe a splattering of some tears. I wonder if Elin will be there-that will be telling, don't you think? If she is there then she is standing by her man. That to me is almost a bigger story. Would you?

DAY FIVE

OK so DAY FIVE and President Obama wrote me back. Although it was a generic email it was addressed to me and signed by him. I really wasn't expecting feedback this fast. I was thinking it would be DAY 351 and I would still be waiting for a response. So now what???

I kind of like this blog format so I think I will keep it going. Maybe just write about current events, politics, celebrities, whatever comes to mind.

I already know what my first topic will be....Tiger Woods!!! I think I will call it "According to Me" Stay tuned!!!

Day Four

Well todays email to President Obama was about healthcare. Healthcare has been on my mind lately for two reasons: my dad was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and he had surgery today and we are trying to get insurance for our family and are getting the run around. As you know my husband was laid off and recently started a job with a new company. The insurance at the new company is too high for us to pay every month so we are trying to get it on our own. So we started this process 6 weeks ago and still have not heard. We are a healthy family of four-thank God-and originally were going to be approved without BCBS needing our records. Well then we were informed that they needed under writing to get more info on a cardiologist appointment my son had when he was 6 mos old. He had a murmur when he was born and our pediatrician suggested we go have it checked. We did and it was nothing. The doctor told us he is fine, no murmur it closed, and he doesn't need to see us again. Well this little 30 min appointment has turned into maybe us not getting insurance or could raise our monthly rate significantly. Ugh, really!! Its like they are looking for reasons to not accept us. So this was what I basically shared with the President today. Haven't heard any response yet so I will keep writing.

If there is anything you want me to ask him or talk about, let me know.