THE SPIRIT OF "76" -- OBAMA'S VISION FOR SENIORS WITH CANCER

 By Verne Strickland / March 5, 2013

 Discussion of cancer is all the rage these days. Not surprising in that cancer is raging through virtually every country on earth, every social and economic stratum, and almost every household.

Where to turn? Once upon a time in America, most of us could "relax" with confidence that, even in the worst of times, we needn't fear the worst -- cancer without treatment, pain without relief. But there are limits now to that blessed assurance.




Especially where our elderly are concerned. Especially now that the program that bears the name of our president -- Obamacare -- is the law of the land. Frightening -- even ghoulish possibilities now loom in the future -- the immediate future. Tomorrow.

That is, for the American generations who are deep into their "Golden Years". For them, it has been declared through Obama's signature legislation, now the law of the land, that when an American citizen reaches the age of 76, he or she will cross into a unenviable medical 'twilight zone'.

On that day, under the unique Obama concept, treatment for cancer will no longer be available via the snare commonly known as "Obamacare" (a title from which our president and the Democrats who spawned this monstrosity are now fleeing in shame and terror. Little wonder.)

This article cannot cover it all. Indeed, the bill that reached the President's desk, which he quickly signed, was a Guinness-size 2,700 pages in length according to several estimates. But who's counting?

This whole thing is more than a little personal for me. I have cancer -- a plasma-borne bone malignancy called Multiple Myeloma. There is no cure. But it is responsive to advanced radiation treatment and chemotherapy, available at specialized clinics in Wilmington such as Cape Fear Cancer Specialists.

With the dedicated care and support of Board-Certified Oncologists Dr. William McNulty and Dr. Michael Papagikos, I have come out of the wheelchair that brought me to their facilities, and made very satisfying progress, to the extent that my cancer is now categorized as "in remission."

But the future for me and many other cancer victims does not look bright at this time. Because of the provisions of Obamacare, all my very effective care and treatment will end on Monday, March 11, 2013, when I reach the ripe old age of 76.

Since the dedicated care has delivered a stunning blow to the cancer which still remains in me, albeit in a weakened state, it is a certainty that my health will regress, and quickly, when all the marvelous scientific advances are withdrawn.

While I have the pen and the audience, I have to emphasize that I attempt to speak for the many others who share my plight in some form and at some level. In the chemo suite where I was treated, I had the opportunity to visit with and pray with patients whose outlook was considerably more grim than mine. They were battling such feared malignancies as breast cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, and others. And they fought with dignity, stoicism, and faith. God bless and keep them. Their plight is more devastating than mine.

How do I feel personally about all this? I am not happy at all with the hand that Obama has dealt me and all other Seventy-Sixers who have crossed the dreaded threshold and now will face cancer without treatment unless Obama decrees some kind of benevolent pardon to hapless senior citizens.

It is more than worth of note that, according to heretofore "secret" provisions of Obamacare, neither the prsident, nor his family, nor members of his Cabinet nor members of the U.S. Congress must live under the threat that he has cast over average American citizens.

My, but American royalty does have its privileges, doesn't it?

Discussion about all this is growing into rage as we finally get a look at the formerly hidden threats to seniors are exposed. Remember that Nancy Pelosi, in so many words, mocked Congress by proclaiming that "if you want to see what's in the bill, you'll have to pass it."

They did pass it, and they have read it. It smacks of the Draconian measures that Hitler and his Nazis unleashed on the Jews and other "undesirables" in the fierce and merciless Holocaust of World War II. Among the "undesirables" marked for death were "the elderly and infirm."

This single statement will be enough to stir up liberal Democrats frothing at the mouth in denial. But it's true. And denials will only bring forth the humiliating truth.

In the meantime, many of us, due to age and circumstances, are left to content with a future of being denied available scientific treatment and care. If that's not criminal, it should be. This, after all, is still America, no matter what President Barack Hussein Obama happens to think.