The Price of Experience: Writings on Living with Cancer
Mike Marquesee
Language: English
Pages: 40
ISBN: 2:00264520
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Writer and political activist Mike Marqusee was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in the summer of 2007. At first, disinclined to share his misery with others, he was reluctant to write about his illness. But he then came to realize that doing so provided a precious continuity with his life as a writer before contracting the disease, and a way of reaching out to a wider world that the illness made physically less accessible. Writing allowed him to address what he saw as a variety of insidious platitudes that surround cancer, often connected to the individualistic idea that the sufferer must be brave in battling the disease, with the inevitable corollary that those who succumb have, in some measure, brought it on themselves.
And so Marqusee begins to write about his illness. Not just his own symptoms and feelings, but the responses of friends to the news that he is ill and the way these reflect broader social attitudes towards the sick. He describes the political struggles occurring in St Bartholomew’s, the London hospital that cares for him, and the crisis in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) more generally, at a time of harrowing cutbacks. Big Pharma, whose drugs keep Marqusee alive but are sold to the NHS at prices reflecting the power and greed of a ruthless extortionist, is the subject for particularly astringent scrutiny.
The observations about cancer in these pages are never trite or sentimental. They are acute, moving, impassioned and political. And they convey important, shared truths, both personal and social, about an illness that will affect one in three people in the course of their lives.
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Less miraculous for that. And it’s not just a story of hard science. Alongside that, and necessary to it, are the long histories of the hospital, of the discipline of nursing, of the myriad social developments which made it possible to convert raw science into practical care. I’m acutely conscious of how dependent I am on those who built and sustained the NHS, including, pre-eminently, generations of labour movement activists and socialists. And as I sit with my IV drip I’m mindful of those in.
And feeling. Though I reserve my rights to complain and to be angry, I do feel lucky in some respects. Principally in the support of those closest to me. But also in that reading and writing have always been central to me and, despite my illness, I can keep practising and even improving both skills. Others I know who have lost not only their mode of employment, but also the chance to engage in the activities that gave meaning to their lives, are less fortunate. Or is that just me looking at the.
Given me a new appreciation of the preciousness of independence. Much of a cancer patient’s life is taken up with a struggle for autonomy—in relation to institutions, professionals, caregivers, medications. It’s a hard and often unsuccessful struggle, but then so is any real struggle for freedom, which, I’ve learned, is about much more than physical mobility. I’ve been encouraged and often touched by the warm response to my articles from people who’ve had their own experiences of cancer and.
Apply existing best practices universally. The single biggest boon for people living with cancer would be the elimination of inequalities in health care. In England and Wales, over the period of 1986–1999, the “deprivation gap” in survival between rich and poor became more marked for 12 out of 16 male cancers and 9 out of 17 female cancers examined. Like other wars, real and imagined, the “war on cancer” is a gift to opportunists of all stripes. Among the circling vultures are travel insurers.
Care is understandable, but by not taking action, you may be doing harm to your patients’ long-term prospects. You may feel you have little power, but collectively you have much greater power than individual patients have. We need you to take action on our behalf, action that is a necessary extension of the sense of dedication that guides you in your daily work. FALSE ECONOMIES FEBRUARY 2011 As a long-term patient at Barts Hospital, I read this week’s news of cuts with trepidation. In order to.