Ever Wonder What Happened to the ERA?

The ERA has never been ratified by the 38 states needed to make it a part of the US Constitution. My son and I were talking about it so I decided to do some research. Here is what I found.

ERA History

"In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, 'In the new code of laws, remember the ladies and do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.' "

1848 - first Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY

1923 - ERA text: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction."

1943 - ERA text: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

1972 - "The Equal Rights Amendment passed the U.S. Senate and then the House of Representatives, and on March 22, 1972, the proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution was sent to the states for ratification. It was ratified by 34 (now 35) of the 38 states needed to make it part of the constitution." Thanks to Phyllis Schlafly and the Religious Right, a campaign to kill the ERA was successful, playing on fears of women in combat and homosexual marriages.

1982 - "The Equal Rights Amendment was reintroduced in Congress on July 14, 1982 and has been before every session of Congress since that time. In the 110th Congress (2007-2008), it was introduced as S.J.Res. 10 (lead sponsor: Sen. Edward Kennedy, MA) and H.J.Res. 40 (lead sponsor: Rep. Carolyn Maloney, NY). These bills imposed no deadline on the ERA ratification process. Success in putting the ERA into the Constitution via this process requires passage by a two-thirds in each house of Congress and ratification by 38 states."

CURRENT TEXT OF ERA:    

    •    Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
    •    Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
    •    Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Thanks to Roberta W. Francis, Chair, ERA Task Force, National Council of Women's Organizations for much of the information (and photo) I have listed here. (equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm)

Doctors can get sick too!

Today I went for my yearly OB/GYN wellness appointment. I was looking forward to chatting with my favorite doctor who first found my ER+, stage III breast cancer back in 2007 and saved my life, literally. I wanted her to know that unfortunately my cancer had metastasized last year (stage IV, on my chest wall) but that I was doing very well after 36 radiation treatments and two "clear" CT scans. I brought along copies of all the medical reports I had collected over the past year, blood work, CT scans, PET scans, bone scans, etc. I was shown into her exam room where the nurse instructed me to put on the white paper exam costume and that my doctor would be in soon. The nurse and I were discussing which tests Medicare would cover for me this year. After I said I thought the only yearly test covered this visit would be my mammogram, she told me that my wonderful, beautiful doctor was recently diagnosed with breast cancer too. I was devastated. She was the only medical professional in the 6 years prior to my first visit with her who was worried enough about my "lump" to order a biopsy. My doctor is young. She is one of those physicians who sincerely cares about their patients. You sense it, you feel it, and you love them for it. After she came in and my exam was concluded we talked about her sad news. I wanted to help her. The only thing I could do was give her information about my experience. She asked some questions about my radiation therapy, how long, scheduling, fatigue, etc. I told her what to expect based on my treatments, about the burns and the creams to soothe them. She is having to go through chemo before she has a bilateral mastectomy and then she will have radiation. I asked her if she was going to have reconstruction. She said no. I told her I had decided not to have reconstruction either in case I had a recurrence, a good decision. We hugged and cried together for a few minutes. We hugged again and she made me promise to keep her up to date on the status of my breast cancer and I asked her if I could call to check on her progress too. Doctors are not immune. Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us!

The ALIEN

I think of it (metastatic, stage 4 breast cancer) as "a visiting alien from planet cancer" who avoids extermination because of its superior estrogen positive (ER+) alien technology and need to feed. It returned because it wanted to be close to me like some clingy lover I rejected, who has since become a sinister stalker that I cannot escape. Radiation therapy is complete (36 days), blood work and CT scans are finished, doctors visits are a wrap, results have been verified. The alien is gone.  No more 'mass lesion' according to the guy who interprets my CT scans. Maybe the little buggar is gone for good, but I thought that before too. Monitoring of the chest wall site every three months by CT scans and blood work will be my new normal for many years. I am back on the aromatase inhibitor pill once a day to keep my body's estrogen levels at, or near, zero. This little pill's chemical component is starving the alien so it is a good pill. I know what this chemical can do and how it will make me feel, so I have evaluated what aches and pains I can deal with and how to adapt to any discomfort. It should be easier this time. I now find I can tolerate a lot more pain if I concentrate on blocking the sensations mentally. I refuse to give in to swallowing pain meds (for temporary relief) every time I get a twinge. It's difficult for me to believe that the "tumor" is truly dissolved or dead or whatever happens to it after radiation therapy. But, I will relax for now and enjoy my oncologist's current diagnosis. Soon I will return to my neurotic monitoring of any new lumps and bumps, just in case the alien returns.

Growing Old Isn't For Sissies...

Yep, my breast cancer has come back. Sneaky. My oncologist ordered the usual blood tests back in November 2014 and the one for 'tumor marker CA 15-3' was elevated about 100 points. One year I'm cancer free and the next I've got a lesion on my chest wall. Just goes to show that you can't be too optimistic even if the statistics say you can. After my mastectomy, the pathologist wrote that I had a 'nine percent' chance of the cancer returning in the next ten years. It's been seven years. I'm getting ready to go for about 40 treatments (8 weeks) of radiation therapy. Then another CT scan to see if the treatments worked. I'm back on Femara (an aromatase inhibitor, which works by reducing the amount of estrogen produced in the bodies of postmenopausal women, like me) because the lesion is 100% estrogen receptor positive (which, I've been told, is a good thing). Now I'm looking at another 5 years of watch and wait and treat. Kinda feels like my life has been put on hold again. But, having been through this once before, I'm getting prepared for the long haul. I always had it in the back of my mind that this could happen and now it has. Not a big surprise but a big disappointment. In the words of Bette Davis "Growing old isn't for sissies" and having cancer seems more and more to be a part of growing old. There is some hope on the horizon (Ibrance by Pfizer). There are FDA trials going on that could result in a cure. Ladies, stay vigilant.

I Hugged My Doctor (or 7 years cancer free)

Monday's doctor's appointment with my gynecologist marked the 7th year I have been 'cancer free'. Dr. Karen Cole is my life-saver. She ordered a biopsy on a lump that two other gynecologists and three radiology labs in California would routinely pass off as fibrocystic breast disease. They would look at my mammogram film and order a follow up ultra-sound, but no one even mentioned biopsy. This went on for years until I moved to Mississippi in late 2006, and got a referral to Dr. Cole in 2007. After my exam she immediately had her staff notify the women's hospital across the street from her office to schedule a needle biopsy for that day. I had the results within a few more days and on September 13, 2007 I was in surgery for a modified radical mastectomy for Stage III, estrogen positive, breast cancer. I have celebrated each year since in my doctor's exam room and I hug her long and hard knowing that if it hadn't been for her willingness to order a biopsy I might have lost more than my breast. Ladies, insist on a biopsy for anything suspicious on your skin or inside your body. It could save you a body part or possibly your life.

NOT Feeling Like I Made The Right Decision.

My husband and I decided to move to Mississippi in 2006 and we were excited at the prospect of living in the 'beautiful southeast' again where the temps are warm, people are friendly, and life is lived at a slower pace. MS has an affordable cost of living, and then Gov. Haley Barbour was successful in attracting big businesses like Nissan to commit to large capital investment in the state's economy. Even my being a 'senior citizen' was not a significant roadblock to getting a job here. Back then I truly thought that MS, and its capital city, Jackson, were on the cusp of becoming swans after their ugly duckling stage, similar to the boom that happened in Atlanta, GA back in the '80s and '90s. I was wrong. The state has become more conservative and stagnant, and makes poor political, social, and fiscal decisions. The economic disaster of 2008 didn't help but MS still has not 'dug' itself out of the recession while the rest of the country is prospering. Our Tea Party backed governor, Phil Bryant, tells us we are making progress (it's 2014 for goodness sake) but the stats are against him. It doesn't help that we are also #1 in self-identified conservatives so voters don't object to his regressive ideological policies that have not advanced any significant new business or jobs. He is still relying on 'cheap labor' to be the draw without funding or investing in an educated workforce which businesses today demand. Below are stats that have put MS into the 'poor relation' status among all 50 states and the state's voters will probably keep us there indefinitely now that restrictive voter ID laws have disenfranchised many dissenting voices. There is so much potential for MS to break out of this cycle. But first, we have to admit we have a problem and that won't happen in the current political climate. I'm not feeling enthusiastic about Mississippi's future as I once did.

Partial List of Mississippi's (negative) Superlatives

#51 in student achievement (behind DC)
#50 in primary healthcare service
#50 in '2014 State New Economy Index' rankings
#50 in internet usage
#50 in best state to live in US
#50 in percent of population with high-school diploma
#50 in median family income
#49 in personal income per capita
#49 in health index rankings
#31 in land size and population
#6 in highest crime rates (tied with Washington DC)
#3 in teen birth rates
#2 in highest unemployment rates
#1 in child death rate
#1 most religious state
#1 in obesity rates
#1 in people living below the poverty level
#1 in self-identified conservatives
And now Mississippi is...
#1 in the US of the most corrupt states in the union. "It is the poorest state in the U.S. whose corruption most approaches levels in a Third World country."

(Another sad waste of MS resources is the fact that women are practically non-existent in the governance of MS. We're one of only four states who has never elected a woman to the U S Senate or U S Congress. We've also never had a female governor. We've only had two women serve in statewide office. We're ranked 47th in the country in percentage of female legislators. In addition, Mississippi ranks as having the 2nd highest ratio of spending to tax receipts of any state with little to show for it.)

STAY OUT OF THE SUN!

Last year my husband's dermatologist found a patch of non-invasive melanoma on his left temple probably caused by sun-damage throughout his years of sun-worshiping after he moved to the south from NYC. I'm sure he was loving the warmth of the southern sun after living in the cold north most of his life. (I was born in the south and stayed out of the sun as a child and as an adult and I still had to have a basal-cell cancer removed from my nose which probably was caused by some sun damage. So far, I have been lucky that that is all of the skin cancer I have had.) Because there is no real 'road map' for the surgeon to follow to know where all the melanoma cells are, Martin has had four surgeries to carve out the 'menace' and each time the lab found more cells at the edge of the tissue sample. The last surgery left a divot about 3" X 3" in a circular pattern from the corner of his eye to just inside his hairline above his ear. Of course the 'graft tissue' was taken from the same place as the previous graft tissue was taken last year, (on his upper thigh), so instead of one wound we had two wounds to take care of each day for two weeks. This last surgery uncovered more melanoma closer to his eye and cheek and it was now 'invasive'. Martin has had a PET scan, and an MRI to make sure no cells have migrated into the rest of his body. Thankfully both scans were clear. So now we are going to have to go out of town to Mobile, AL (185 miles from our home) to see a specialist for a MOHS procedure to corral the rest of the melanoma lesion. As I understand, from doing lots of research on the internet, melanoma can only be cured by surgery. So the specialist will have to keep 'carving' on Martin's face until he gets it all. Then the reconstruction will begin when these wounds have healed. Fortunately, Martin has a very good cosmetic surgeon here at home for that. Just getting to this point has been an emotionally draining adventure. Dealing with the stress of the diagnosis, the surgeries, the tests, and now having to do all the logistics for a trip to Mobile is physically tiring. This sad saga began for us in July, 2013 so we have been coping with this for about 8 months. In preparation for the trip to Mobile I will have to get a schedule from the doctor for the MOHS procedure, make hotel reservations, (our wonderful neighbors are going to look after our dog), pack a bag with enough clothes and meds in case we might be there longer than expected, program the Garmin, make sure the car is in good working order, and keep our fingers crossed that this trip will be the last time Martin will have to deal with a melanoma diagnosis. All this would be stressful enough for anyone but it is especially hard for an 83 year old man who takes pride in his good health. He hasn't been sleeping well and occasionally gets depressed which is not normal for Martin. Sometimes I don't sleep well either. Growing old isn't for sissies and people will always have age-related illnesses. But there is a lesson to be learned and possible preventive measures to be taken from all of this for Martin's children, my son, our grandchildren. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Even sunscreen isn't a fail-safe way to stop sun-damage. Our skin is the largest organ we have and it is the most vulnerable. The best way to avoid dealing with skin cancer is to STAY OUT OF THE SUN!