I’ve been blessed with good news. But I had to wait several weeks to
receive the news. When I went to the doctor a few weeks ago, blood was found in my urine. This can be caused by any number of health issues ranging from a
urinary tract infection to bladder or kidney cancer.  As a result, I’ve seen the insides of several doctors’ offices, been poked, prodded, x-rayed and scanned.

We’ve all heard the expressions, “it’s not knowing that’s the worst” and “it’s the
waiting that’s the worst.” I don’t know about that. I’ve seen my mom, my step- father, my father-in-law and many of my friends’ parents grow older, more
fragile and pass away. Their illnesses were much worse than the three weeks I
just went through. 

But I’ve had time to evaluate how I’m spending my life right now.  I asked myself if I were sick with limited weeks or months remaining, how I’d want to spend that time. And the answer was that I wouldn't spend as much time on social media. During this thought process, it occurred to me that even if I didn't have a life threatening illness right now, I could still die in a car crash at any time. So the bottom line ended up being, I need to change how I'm spending my time. 
 
Social media is a frenzy of marketing activity where we tend to reach other authors roaming the internet hawking their books, but we may not reach our readers. At the same time I pondered my potential health issues, fellow author Olga Nüñez Miret wrote a blog with her take on the social media fracas. I can’t do her blog justice in describing it, so you can read it here. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

I have made many virtual friends, for which I am grateful and will continue to support. And I will still use social media. I'm not sure yet how I'll change, but I will change my strategy. I will still write The Mystic Princess series because writing makes me happy. I’ll likely write more short stories when inspiration strikes. And I might even venture into a novel I’m thinking about at some point. 

My primary goal is to figure out a way to balance my time with my family, my day job, writing and marketing in a healthier manner. If I don’t figure that out, it’s okay. I will accomplish the goal of writing and publishing my children’s book series.

But I won’t spend time using social media to market my books in a manner that isn’t working. This means when I am facing the end of my time here on earth, I won’t have regrets that I wasted time that I could have spent with my family. And, shouldn't we be living our lives in a way that allows a peaceful ending with no regrets?

Memorial Day in the United States. It is the unofficial start to summer, a time to spend an extra day with family and friends. Most of us will take some time to remember those who have served, but then what? How many of us will take the time tomorrow or the next day to think of them? I would be willing to wager that very few of us will think about our service members and veterans until something comes up in the news. Then we will go right back to our lives and do nothing. 

This is not a political rant. I am not going to go on about either party here. I am calling all of us to do something. Yes, writing or calling your representative is something you can do but I am talking about doing something more personal. I am talking about getting out of your routine and doing something that matters. 

Find the nearest Veteran's Home or Hospital and volunteer. Many Veterans do not have friends or family to come visit them and your time will mean so much. If you don't live near a VA hospital, you can volunteer to drive. Many veterans live in rural areas and cannot drive themselves for appointments. Your neighbor may need a ride and you can help. The VA Website and United We Serve are great places to start.  

Donate small items to the hospital or Veteran's home. Things like magazines, books, clothing, toiletries, snacks or lap blankets. You might be surprised how much small donations like this can mean to the person receiving them. 

Write a letter. Operation Gratitude sends over 100,000 care packages and letters of gratitude annually! Visit their site or Facebook page to see how you can help. If you have children, have them write a letter or draw a picture to send along. 

Make a commitment. No matter what you decide to do schedule time each week to continue to reach out and help.

This post originally appeared on the Liberal America website. 

Yesterday in a stunning Op-Ed, Angelina Jolie revealed that she had undergone a double mastectomy with reconstruction because she is positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. This gene mutation put her chances of developing breast cancer by the age of 70 at 87%. I am extremely familiar with this mutation because I have it. I have what is known as a “significant family history” of breast cancer. My younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38 and went through the testing for the BRCA1 during the course of her treatment. She did not have insurance at the time and was treated through the Bridge Breast Network. I was lucky to have my insurance cover the cost of the test because I have a first degree relative with the gene. That is not common however because the cost of the test is so high.


The test is only performed by one lab and costs around $3500 because Myriad Genetics has a patent on the gene. Yes, you read that right, they have a patent on something that occurs naturally. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, on April 15th, 2013 and a ruling is expected this summer.

“Myriad did not invent the human genes at issue in this case, and they should not be allowed to patent them. The patent system was designed to encourage innovation, not stifle scientific research and the free exchange of ideas, which is what these patents do,” said attorney Chris Hansen of the ACLU, who argued the case.

Sue Friedman, founder of Facing Our Risk Of Cancer Empowered (FORCE), agrees with the ACLU that these patents make it harder for people to access care and stifle innovation. (Source: JHU Press)

“The SCOTUS decision is critically important for anyone who is concerned specifically with hereditary disease. FORCE has filed an Amicus brief on behalf of plaintiffs in advance of the hearing. The Myriad case is just one example of how exclusive patents on genes can hurt consumers. Gene patents are a universal issue that ultimately affects all of us. Even if hereditary cancer does not run in your family, chances are that you have inherited a genetic predisposition to some disease. Imagine if a company were given exclusive control over all testing and research for a disease that runs in your family.”

The Supreme Court is unlikely to issue a sweeping ruling in this case and a few justices made comments that seemed to hint that they will try to find a compromise solution. (Source: Huffinton Post) There is no question that this ruling will have a significant impact on our access to care.


What are your thoughts on this? Should they be able to patent something that they did not invent or substantially alter? How would this affect care? Do you think the gene identification would even be possible if they didn't think they could make money from it?