This month, you have the opportunity to not only share your story with us, and we will then share it with your members of Congress, but also directly with this administration!
Last week, the Cancer Moonshot initiative was reignited. It aims to: “cut the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer.” Lymphedema is a significant survivorship issue, affecting 15% of survivors overall and 40% of all breast cancer survivors.
The Lymphedema Treatment Act will improve insurance coverage for lymphedema from all causes, not just cancer. However, this is an excellent opportunity to point out that passage of the Lymphedema Treatment Act is something that can and should be done right now, to improve the health and lives of millions of Americans with cancer-related lymphedema, and millions more who suffer from this chronic condition due to other causes!
Follow these three easy steps to share your story with us and the Cancer Moonshot initiative:
- Cancer Moonshot email form. Even if you aren’t a cancer survivor, ask that this administration make passing the Lymphedema Treatment Act a priority.
- Cancer Moonshot video story submissions. Here you can record or upload a short video. This is an incredibly powerful opportunity for patients to show how lymphedema has affected their health and lives.
- Share your lymphedema story with us. Suggestions on what information is most helpful to include to support passage of the Lymphedema Treatment Act are included.
We never know how much of an impact sharing our story can have, and that’s why it’s so important that we seize every opportunity to do so!
More than a decade ago, I reluctantly accepted an invitation to speak about my son being born with lymphedema, and our insurance company refusing to cover his compression garments. Unbeknownst to me, as I stood at the podium and faced my fear of public speaking, my Congressman was in the audience, and that day would lead to introduction of the Lymphedema Treatment Act. You can read the full synopsis here.
Please be bold and share your story using the links above! It doesn’t need to be long or eloquent. Just a few sentences can be so powerful.
Heather Ferguson
Founder & Executive Director
Lymphedema Advocacy Group
LymphedemaTreatmentAct.org
