Dear Friends:
I'm headed, in a few hours,
to the hospital for rotator cuff surgery - seems I tore the muscle in two
places.
I blame it on the physical
exertion of bottle feeding two growing twin grandsons, in which case it is a
would earned with distinction, and worn with pride.
But it might be a banjo
induced wound. In which case it becomes clear that playing banjo is
indeed as much of a blood sport as football.
So this is a note to the
Banjo Playing community: Don't ignore those tingling sensations in
extremities, the odd muscle pains and shoulder popping sounds, etc. They
could mask some big ticket medical type stuff!
Not sure when I will next be
able to sit at the computer, or when my wife Mary will let me walk the stairs
to my basement office. So I might be out of touch for a while. I
might get lucky and be able to use the iPhone email function with one hand.
And Who knows. Maybe
the operation will give me some sort of bionic capability that will impact my
banjo playing capability in dramatic ways. Hopefully for the better. . .
Thanks for your continuing help, and your friendship -
even if only via electronic channels. They still count.
One of the last things I wanted to do today was to
write Speaker Paul Ryan to firmly urge that he stand down from repealing the
ACA - as the grandfather of two premature twins, one of whom has a raft of
physical challenges including Poland's syndrome. That's a rare birth
defect characterized by underdevelopment or absence of the chest muscle on one
side of the body that has an impact on the lungs, musculature, mobility and
other things.
I hope you’ll
consider making your views known to Paul Ryan, and/or your elected
representatives, too. To me, this makes
it very personal.
To contact your reps:
http://www.house.gov/represent atives/find/
https://www.senate.gov/senator s/contact/
To contact Paul Ryan:
http://www.speaker.gov/contact
V/R,
Lew
--
Dear
Mr. Speaker,
I
am writing you today as a registered voter in Virginia and the grandfather of
two fine young boys, Noah and Aidan, who just celebrated their first
birthday. That was a momentous
birthday. It was not clear we would
actually get to celebrate Noah’s first year.
My
one-year-old grandson Noah has a rare condition called Poland Syndrome, which
is primarily characterized by the absence of the right pectoral muscle in
addition to abnormalities affecting the right side of the body. As a result of
his condition, he is currently on supplemental oxygen and sees a number of
specialists (orthopedist, chest specialist, hand specialist, pulmonologist and
GI).
He
will require medical care throughout his life to monitor his condition. His
father, my son Ethan, and their mother Kaytee have worked extremely hard and
paid for the best insurance available through private plans or company plans.
However,
if the ACA is repealed, insurance companies will be able to deny my grandson
the much-needed medical care he requires.
The
GOP says that our country should value family, life and hard work. Furthermore,
the GOP’s website says “Public policy should be created to strengthen and
support, not hurt, American families”.
I
am attempting to envision a quality of life for my grandson, and I am fully
well aware of the extent to which my son and his wife will require the
assistance the ACA has offered them to date.
Americans
shouldn’t be compelled by economic and financial circumstances to do without
medical care that their families need. My grandson should not have a life
shaped by the absence of continuous, quality care, and my son and his wife
should not have to agonize over the being able to pay for the required medical
services Noah will require.
I
am asking you today for my grandson and others to stop the ACA repeal. I am asking you to preserve the ACA,
especially the provisions that allow insurance companies to deny coverage based
on pre existing conditions.
Sincerely, and
Respectfully,
Lew Stern
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