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Originally published in the May 14, 2010 edition of the Afro American Newspaper.
We should always honor our parents, but their “Days” in May and June are the moments when Mom and Dad traditionally take center stage.
An invitation to dinner is always a welcome gesture from a grateful child. However, our most important gift to them would be to help them stay healthy and alive.
I share this thought as a man who is fortunate to still have a wonderful mother in my life - and who misses my departed father every day. I have learned that we never fully realize how much a parent means to us until he or she is gone from our lives.
If it seems that I devote an extraordinary amount of my energy to fighting for our health and survival - and, especially, for the preventive health measures that should be part of our routines - the reason is right there before our eyes.
Far too many people in our community are dying before their appointed time. Although medical science can help us survive, only we can undertake the first steps toward changing this harsh equation.
So, as we consider how best to honor our parents this year, we might begin by helping them better protect themselves against killers like cancer. Consider these facts.
African American women are more likely than their Caucasian sisters to die from breast cancer. Our men are contracting prostate cancer at a 60 percent higher incidence than the majority population - and suffering a 2.5 times higher mortality rate.
The reasons for these disparities in our survival from these cancers are complex, but this much is clear. Far too often, we are detecting cancer only at an advanced stage when it is more difficult to treat and cure.
We must do better than this. Lives are in the balance - the lives of those we love.
Recently, a member of my staff named Mike talked to me about his parents. Mike’s father, a navy veteran of WWII, died at the early age of 47 - in part from the inadequate health care that he received. Although Mike’s mother (whom I’ll call “Mrs. Shirley”) lives 1000 miles from Maryland, she and Mike remain close, talking on the telephone every week.
Recently, through self-exam, Mrs. Shirley discovered an unusual lump in one of her breasts. Her children urged her to take advantage of her Medicare and “Medigap” insurance to obtain immediate medical attention.
Mrs. Shirley’s doctors advised her that cancer was suspected and that immediate surgery would be her best option. At 84 years of age, she quite understandably considered the prospect with trepidation.
However, she is a woman of courage and took seriously her children’s encouragement to do what was necessary to prolong her life.
Her surgeon removed the growth - which did test positive for cancer - but, thankfully, the surrounding tissues and glands appeared to be cancer free.
Now, Mrs. Shirley must undergo a “short course” of radiation therapy to be certain that no cancer cells escaped the surgery, but her prognosis for survival and good health is excellent. God willing, she and her family will enjoy many more Mothers’ Days during the years to come.
I should also note that her Medicare and Medigap insurance are paying for the full cost of Mrs. Shirley’s life-saving treatment. She is receiving the same affordable life-saving support that I voted to extend to all Americans when we enacted comprehensive healthcare reform this year.
Like Mrs. Shirley, all of our loved ones should be able to live out the full measure of their days. That is why we must continue to fight for more comprehensive, culturally competent health research, more advanced mammography and targeted legislation like the Prostate Research, Imaging and Men’s Education [PRIME] Act [H.R. 4756] that I recently sponsored.
Perhaps most important of all, we must encourage those we love to take advantage of the life-saving medical technologies that now exist. Screening and other preventive measures can save lives only if more of us - like Mrs. Shirley - become better informed and take advantage of the medical help that is available to us now.
That is why I will be celebrating Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days this year by participating in a May 22 cancer information and screening event at Mercy Medical Center. Anyone who wants to honor their parents in a very meaningful way this year can register them (and themselves) in advance for the reduced cost ($20) mammograms and PSA/digital exams by calling Mercy at (410) 332-9857.
Then, on May 22, the public is welcome to join us (from 10:00 until 11:30 a.m.) in the lobby of Weinberg Center, 227 St. Paul Place, Baltimore. I will moderate a free expert panel discussion that will better inform everyone about the importance of mammography, radiation levels in screening tests, prostate health and the latest in prostate cancer and breast cancer surgery, as well as other issues regarding cervical, ovarian, uterine and other gynecologic cancers.
Our panel will include some world-class medical experts, including breast cancer surgeons Dr. Dalliah Black and Dr. Neil B. Friedman, radiologist Dr. Jean Warner, gynecologic oncologist Dr. Hyung S. Ryu and urologist Dr. Stanley Silber. Free parking at Mercy’s Saratoga Street garage will be provided.
If you are not already receiving regular cancer screening, I beg you to attend. We have only one life to live - and this is that life.
Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
