Mitt Romney's wife angers cancer survivers

[Poiuyt]

Cancer survivors angered by Ann Romney’s comments

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is facing criticism from some cancer patients and survivors for saying in a magazine interview that, rather than continue living with multiple sclerosis, she once wished she could “just have cancer and die.”

Ann Romney, who was diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disease in 1998, said in a recent interview with People magazine, “It wasn’t as though I was suicidal, but I was at the point where I thought, ‘Couldn’t I please just have cancer and die?’”

The comment received an angry reaction from Leroy Sievers, a journalist who has been chronicling his own battle with cancer on National Public Radio.

“Cancer does not bring a quick death. Cancer is painful and debilitating,” said Sievers on his “My Cancer” blog on NPR’s Web site. “Cancer wreaks havoc on the life of anyone who has it and the lives of the people who care about them. Cancer twists the present and steals the future. Cancer hurts.”

more -

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/30/cancer-survivors-angered-by-ann-romneys-comments/

[sniffa]

1. hey, Lighten up. there's Lots of jokes out there

k&r for the maggot's wife.

[Beaverhausen]

2. What a stupid woman

Then again, the fact that she is married to Mitt should have been the first clue.

[sniffa]

6. and she converted after meeting him

she joined the LDS church to marry mitt. i can never understand peopLe who do that. faith is faith and shouLd be heLd as such. if you're switching hoLy underwear just to get married it speaks poorLy on your reLigious faith.

[MissB]

13. And she switched to the whole "gold plates and magic glasses".

:rofl:

[orleans]

48. (why are all you Ls in caps?) n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. LOL! you said it.

of course, she has the secret undie thing going on. I wonder why her privates failed to keep her disease free? Could it be that Mormonism is a (ahem) FRAUD?
nah.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

27. And mainstream Christianity isn't a fraud?

Christianity is just as absurd as Mormonism.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. on that, we agree.

wholeheartedly.

that, and a few competing sects.

[Bluebear]

3. Americans with no health insurance will do just that, Ann, darling.

They don't have access to the treatments and screening procedures that could save their life. So they often will die, and painfully. What a callous sentiment.

[Solly Mack]

4. If she wanted a quick death, she had options

and insulting and belittling the suffering of others wasn't one of them

[TwilightGardener]

5. I'd take her MS over Elizabeth Edwards' cancer any day, frankly.

edit to add: not saying MS is a picnic, before I get angry replies...

[kestrel91316]

21. MS is, for the most part, something you LIVE with. Cancer, OTOH,

is mostly something you DIE of.

What a freak that woman is.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

23. Hmm.

So to live, regardless of the quality, is better than to die? Really?

Suppose you were water boarded for the rest of your life. Wouldn't you rather die?

Also, Ann, because she has MS and likely takes drugs that increase her risk of cancer, will probably develop cancer at some point.

Of course, unlike MS, most people don't get cancer when they're 20 years old.

[kestrel91316]

29. Don't put words in my mouth, now or EVER. I never said those things.

YOU just did.

This is straight from the mouths of the medical community: "MS is a disease you LIVE with." MS is not fatal (with possible very rare exceptions. MS may be miserable, but it's up there with diabetes: manageable.

I know several people with MS. NOT ONE OF THEM is in danger of dying of it.

[bicentennial_baby]

32. Um, it's not like that for all people...

Just sayin'....My Dad's had it for 30+ years, and yes, he is in danger of dying from it. He almost died two weeks ago. The medications and treatments over the longterm take a massive toll on the body and it's systems, as far as I've seen.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

35. That sucks bicentennial_baby. Sorry to hear that. :(

My mom has MS too.

[bicentennial_baby]

37. See my post below...it gets worse.

x(

[nonconformist]

52. I just found out a few days ago that my mom may have MS

So I've been learning about it... scary stuff.

Hugs to you and your father.

[bicentennial_baby]

54. Hugs to you!

You should be thankful that she's being diagnosed now, as opposed to when my Dad was back in the 70s. The treatments are *so* much better now...But last week my Mom was diagnosed with ALS, so a whole new world of hurdles has appeared on my horizon... x(

:hug:

[nonconformist]

57. Thanks... I'm optimistic. She first had what we thought was Bell's Palsy, which led to an MRI

Which had some troubling results.

Best of luck to your Mom too! :hug:

[AnotherGreenWorld]

33. MS is not like diabetes.

(Just a sidenote: diabetes is preventable in most cases. MS is not. The cause of MS is unknown.)

My point is that most reasonable people would not want to live a life of misery. If you were waterboarded the rest of your life, I doubt you would say, "at least I'm not dead." I bet you'd say something like, "please let me die."

Et vide: Johnny Got His Gun. Want to live like that, no arms, no legs, no way to talk, see, or hear? If not, well then I guess to live, regardless of the quality, is not better than to die in some cases. Perhaps if you were to know more about MS--or perhaps if you are someday unfortunate enough to get it--you would know what it's like to want to die rather than to live.

[MiserableFailure]

51. LOL. MS is way worse than diabetes

What are you smoking? You should never put MS in the same line as diabetes, ever.

[peacebaby3]

61. This post is for both of you. Just like in the case of Ms. Romney, it's not a very

good idea to compare the horrible illnesses of others. My mother was diabetic and suffered horribly from it because it kills the other organs in your body if you aren't able to keep it under control. There are also not a lot of symptoms so some people (particularly those that have little or no health care) may go years without being diagnosed so their bodies have been nearly destroyed. The complications from diabetes is what finally took her life a couple of years ago so it can be very deadly. My sister died 3 months earlier from cancer at age 45. Many diseases we contract in our life could be considered "preventable" somewhere down the line, but that doesn't mean they aren't just as serious and that the people that have them should be looked down upon or their life threatening illness be considered less serious.

[Warpy]

43. I think that was the point

Cancer just progresses until your body is so far gone you die. MS progresses in fits and starts, has a mind of its own, and wrecks your body an inch at a time.

The drugs you take for it are no walk in the park, either.

That was the depression part of the illness talking, you know, after the anger and denial parts.

[That Is Quite Enough]

7. She wasn't suicidal but she wanted to die?

Mrs. Romney's about as bright as her husband.

[Bucky]

26. She's not funny, but I'm laughing at her

[pookieblue]

53. I'm not suicidal

but there have been times, that I had wished I was dead or would die.

This might sounds funny or sad...depending on how you read it.

but I went over a checklist...

Couldn't OD because I have trouble swallowing pills. have to drink a lot of water/milk etc to swallow just one pill. so that was out.

hate guns, hate the loud noise they make. afraid I would just screw it up anyhow. and leave myself worse off.

Don't have a garage or a hose pipe. so offing myself that way was a no go.

Hate the site of blood..so cutting my wrists was out.

afraid of hights...so could't think of jumping off a tall building. wouldn't even be able to get near the edge.

but if I were told tomorrow I had something like cancer. I would not fight it.

That is what I told my doctor a few months ago.

No I am not suicidal. but I felt like dying the day, after I had an inident in the bathroom (won't go into details since it's TMI). I sat there on the bathroom floor crying begging God to kill me. I was embarassed and humliated at what happened to me. I was too embarassed to call my doctor even. I finally did call one of my friends and she talked to me and calmed me down.

It's not a matter of being "brite" as I posted further down in the post... Depression and MS go hand in hand. Ask any MS Neuro that. they will tell you.

[That Is Quite Enough]

58. I see

I can kinda see how there could be a difference between being suicidal and just wanting to die. Like being suicidal is being more proactive about bringing about your death rather than just wanting it all to end, as morbid as that sounds.

Apologies if I offended you, pookieblue. And that list sounds more sad than funny.

[pookieblue]

66. not offended at all

I do think that it's good that Ms Romney did open up and express how she was feeling at one point in time. I think it will help others who are feeling the same way right now. or will at some point.

In the same way, I hope, that by me being honest will help someone else as well.

As I said in another post, Depression is very common in people living with MS. and the suicide rate of people with MS is higher than average.

I was lucky, that I have some very great doctors who will listen to me. and who have been behind me all the way. Dr Jaquez at the Shepherd center has been a godsend. She has helped me in so many ways. I owe her a world of thanks.


I can only hope, that anyone who is dealing with any sort of disease will have a doctor as wonderful as she.


ps.. I know my list was sad. what's sadder, I was talking to another person with MS...and they had a list a lot like mine.

This is why I am such a fighter when it comes to reaching out with those living with MS. Esp in the small town where I live.

[badgerpup]

9. Maybe she was just confused...

:shrug:
You know, all those operas where the heroine had TB and would go out singing beautifully, finishing her last aria on her last breath?

Don't know of any terminal illness that lets you die glamorous and quickly...:eyes:

[cynatnite]

10. n/t

[Bake]

11. She should have asked Tammy Faye what her cancer was like.

Or maybe just looked at a damn video clip of her.

Romney's an idiot. His wife too.

Bake

[AnotherGreenWorld]

16. Do you know what MS is like?

And how old was Tammy Faye?

Might it not be a little different to be diagnosed with an incurable disease in the prime of the life as opposed to in your "golden years?"

[Bluebear]

40. Age 65 is no longer "the golden years"

Hell, you can't even retire at that age anymore.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

46. Regardless,

if I had a choice between getting diagnosed with a terrible disease like MS when I was in my 20s or being diagnosed with every form of cancer when I was 65, I would choose the latter.

[Raven]

12. You know, sadly, all this shows is how out of touch the Romneys

are with the real world and the regular folks who live in it. What Ann Romney said indicates that she thinks she has the worst disease in the world. She has no idea of what other people have to suffer. Her MS seems to be well managed and fairly mild. I have a friend about her age with MS who is almost a vegetable in a nursing home and whose family has nowhere near the resources she has to deal with it.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

30. Might she not be worried that that is her future,

a future that is really out of her control?

There are legitimate things to attack someone on--namely policy--and then there are things like this which only show that ignorance is not limited to the Republican Party.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

14. It's actually a pretty understandable statement

“Cancer wreaks havoc on the life of anyone who has it and the lives of the people who care about them. Cancer twists the present and steals the future. Cancer hurts."

You can substiute "MS" (or many other terrible diseases) for "cancer," and it's just as true.

[youngdem]

15. Wow, she's just as sensitive and compassionate as the Mittenfurher

Who would have guessed?

What a complete piece of shit.

Don't think for a second this wasn't said with Elizabeth Edwards in mind.

[bleedingheart]

17. that's nothing compared to what my husband's stepmother has said

anytime she sees people who have cancer or are fighting some sort of illness....she is jealous of their weightloss...

Yup...jealous of people with cancer, MS, etc..

I have heard her say..."oh...Mrs. Xyz looks so good and thin....I know its the cancer but....boy...what I wouldn't do for a touch of that just to lose some weight"...

now that...is disgusting...

[Der Blaue Engel]

60. Yikes

Has she never heard the phrase "be careful what you ask for"?

:scared:

[flamingyouth]

18. I post on Leroy's blog pretty regularly. It's a great community.

I try to have some compassion for other people with chronic illnesses. I'm sure she was having a bad day when she said that, but sheesh, Ann, try to have a little compassion for people like us who are really suffering with cancer. It's no walk in the park, trust me.

My type of cancer is generally not life-threatening but it has a 50-80% recurrence rate. So I have checkups every 90 days for the next two years, that is if I don't have another recurrence. I have already had two in since last November. I will never be cured unless medical science actually finds a cancer cure, so this is my lot in life.

[Auntie Bush]

31. I'm sooo sorry flamingyouth. God boess you! n/t

[abq e streeter]

19. sympathy

Even though I despise Mitt Romney, I sympathize with human feelings of despair that that lead to irrational thoughts. She was being honest about thoughts I'm sure she's not proud of, to say the least. I have had a parent, 2 grandparents and an uncle die of cancer , so I sure as hell don't take the suffering lightly. But as someone who has fought depression for much of my adult life ( and even as a young person), with uneven degrees of success, I have had my share of suicidal thoughts. Not so long ago , when confronted with a cancer scare, I actually found myself praying for a day or two, that it really was a brain tumor, and that it would take me quickly. Just being honest, and certainly ashamed of those thoughts, but I had em. Of all the legitimate things to criticize either of the Romneys for, in my opinion, this isn't one of 'em. I respect her candor and honesty, and wish that the policies that these right wingers advocate could contain the same level of compassion for the suffering of others that I try to maintain for them. Of course, then they wouldn't be right wingers , would they...

[truedelphi]

20. I'm sorry but I see no reason for anyone here to trash this woman on this comment

As A Caregiver, I have taken care of both cancer patients and Multiple sclerosis patients.

I have to agree with her - it would be hypocritical of me to not agree.

I have said to myself more than one, "Lord PLEASE I'll take any disease under the sun but MS!"

one of my favorite clients had MS for ten years, and as a caregiver I had to watch.

The cancer patients that I have had all died within a relatively short time. They had family and friends rallying around them, and no it wasn't a picnic, but they went quickly and with a great deal of love and support.

MS isolates people, it tears them from their own humanity. And the suffering can go on for decades.

I know my viewpoint is skewed - I work through hospice agencies and many of the cancer victims we see are pancreatic cancer or brain cancers, which are very quick acting - so the story can be very different for other types of cancer I am sure.

But still - why pick on Mrs. Romney? It's a neurological disease - think how F%^ked you'd be if your nerves were not operating correctly.

[cynatnite]

25. Agreed...I deleted what I typed after rereading and thinking about it n/t

[babylonsister]

34. Regardless of what she has or wish she had, it was an insensitive

comment. She needs to learn to control her yapper.

[madmunchie]

63. Oh please, get off of your throne and be a Democrat with some

sympathy, empathy and consideration. I do not have MS but know people that have it and I know people that have died from cancer.....when suffering from either disease horrid maybe illogical thoughts ARE ALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So just STFU and just show some care for "the least among us" for many reason.....

[Gelliebeans]

41. Well thought out post n/t

[ulysses]

44. I think the anger,

which I share somewhat as a cancer survivor, comes from the (longstanding) assumption that cancer is an automatic death sentence. I see the point of your post, but I think we can agree that neither MS nor cancer holds a monopoly on awfulness.

[truedelphi]

49. Oh I do agree - but I also see MS as isolating

Long term cancer sufferers probably go through the same thing - in this society.
Let's face it, most of our friends are our work mates - and if a disease takes away your livelihood, and if it forces you to be rather alone, it isolates you from everything.

Even clients I've had with MS who have family - they are in bed while their family is out at the beach or whatever. Your speech is slurred by the disease and you get treated like you are of negligible IQ when in public. You cannot be a lover to your spouse - only a burden.

And this is the luckier part of society - they can afford me to come in and do the laundry and read to them, help them with therapies, and get them to the market on a good day.

But a poor person with MS is screwed.

And the disease goes on and it goes on, often for over a decade.

The big hope should be for new medications that more MS sufferers can afford and can benefit from. Montell seems to lead a very full life but not everyone has his money for the treatments - and some people just cannot tolerate them.

[lse7581011]

22. As Callous As Her Husband! n/t

[maveric]

24. She should see how Tony Snow feels about that dumb statement.

These people have no empathy, sensitivity or discretion whatsoever!

I was a nurse in a sub-acute unit for four years and watched scores of patients waste away and eventually die from cancer. Its not "quick".

These people are monsters!

[bicentennial_baby]

28. An incredibly callous and thoughtless statement, but...

As my Father is paralyzed with MS and my Mother was diagnosed with ALS last week, I unfortunately understand the sentiment behind it. In my case it was 'Why couldn't it be cancer? At least then she might have a chance..."

x(

:shrug:

[joeunderdog]

38. My favorite Mitt Romney line:

During his State of the State Address, he was explaining why he needed to cut funding for state employee health benefits...."Why should they get theirs paid for while the bank teller next door has to pay for hers?"

These (Romney) people are so out of touch they don't even know it. BTW, Romney's company (Bain) just bought Clear Channel. Watch out.

[DutchLiberal]

39. I present you the new number 1 for next week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots.

[cynatnite]

42. Can anyone recognize someone saying what they thought after being diagnosed...

with MS? It scared the hell out of her. She reacted humanly. Yeah, her husband is a complete moran, but it's no reason to rake this woman over the coals for her unflinching honesty.

[tammywammy]

45. Agreed

I can see exactly what she's saying.

[Radicalman]

59. Absolutely! Spot On!

It wounds the heart to see so many unempathatic, uncaring DUers. Whatever happened to liberal compassion?

[mcctatas]

47. That's funny...

when I was diagnosed with MS one of my first thoughts was "Thank God it isn't a brain tumor". I figure MS I can live with and even on my worst days I am grateful that I will be around to see my kids grow up even if I might have to do it from a wheel chair! Ann Romney should be thankful that there are decent medications (developed by scientists who probably believe in evolution) and she has the money to get the best treatments available while many poor people will "...just have cancer and die" because they can't afford even the most basic medical care!

[madmunchie]

65. Wow, and people say that Pugs are heartless!

[pookieblue]

50. from the people magazine interview

" I was going through this really depressed period where I felt like I was 80 years old, there was nothing I could ever do again and life was over for me. I was of no use to anybody. It wasn't as though I was suicidal, but I was at the point where I thought, Couldn't I please just have cancer and die? "

She opened up about a dark period of her life with MS. I can't judge her for that. I'm glad that she was open with it. Much like Montel told us about how he was sitting in a room with a gun to his head at one point.

For those who don't know. Depression is very real for those with MS. Suicide rates among patients with MS are higher than average.

from WebMD

"Depression may be the result of a difficult situation or stress. It is easy to understand how having MS, with its potential for progressing to permanent disability, can bring on depression.

Depression may be caused by MS. MS may destroy the insulating myelin that surrounds nerves that transmit signals affecting mood.

Depression is also a side effect of some drugs used to treat MS, such as steroids or interferon. "

While I am no fan of Mitt Romney. I'm glad that she was able to be open about her experinces with MS.

I run a small MS support group locally, I have noticed that many people with MS, are actually ashamed to have been diagnosed with it. Some feel alone and isolated from the world. I have, along with a few others, have been trying to reach out to the community. to let them know, they don't have to fight this alone.

It doesn't help, however...to have a local DJ be on air cracking jokes about people with MS, not long after Richard Pryor died.

[BluePatriot]

55. As a person with a chronic illness that is not cancer,

I can understand why she would make a comment like that. My disease doesn't have parades or marathons or ribbons or talk shows. No one's given me a get well card. Mostly my disease just comes up in DU flamewars about weight. I've struggled with diagnosis for a year and a half.

I am actually getting a test that (hopefully) rules out thyroid cancer soon and the different way I am being treated by my peers after disclosing this to them is telling. When you tell the average person about cancer it's like a light goes off in their head and they support you and are nice and want to make things easy and good for you. But all my tests for thyroid and endocrine disease? Blank stares.

It's probably not that she thinks cancer is easy, but, she recognizes that cancer is more easily understood by others and that you get a great support network while tackling a disease like cancer. And support means a lot when you are sick all the time and frankly you can get jealous and bitter about the recognition and research other illnesses get as compared to yours. I have had dark thoughts like Ms. Romney and despite her husband being a creep I wish her good health.

[nonconformist]

56. The last thing I want to do is defend a Romney, but one of the common symptoms of MS is depression

I really can understand why she said that.

[benEzra]

62. I don't like her husband, but there's no call for criticizing her for being honest

about a dark time in her life.

"I was going through this really depressed period where I felt like I was 80 years old, there was nothing I could ever do again and life was over for me. I was of no use to anybody. It wasn't as though I was suicidal, but I was at the point where I thought, Couldn't I please just have cancer and die?"

She was looking back at her emotional reaction (depression) to a debilitating disease. But I'm SURE every single one of her critics would have responded with perfect rationality and well-thought-out self-talk if they were ever so diagnosed, but she, alas, has the misfortune to be both human and honest. :eyes:

At least she was honest. I have the feeling that her husband might have "polished" his recollections a bit more if it were him, and that is something I think is a problem.

FWIW, I'm dad to a special-needs kid (DiGeorge Syndrome), and my wife has some chronic health issues as well (she may share our son's 22q11.2 microdeletion, but we don't know for sure). Our son's condition isn't even terminal, but it's still damn hard. We've had dark times now and then, and I'm sure as hell not going to criticize someone else for being honest about the emotional realities of chronic illness.

[Contrary1]

64. As a cancer veteran (I hate saying "survivor"), she does not anger me.

When you are first diagnosed with a major disease, you are likely to think things that wouldn't normally enter your head.
As my oncologist so honestly put it "First, it assaults your body; then it assaults your mind".

I would assume that this same statement would apply to diseases other than cancer.