> My desire to survive means I still can’t bring myself to unravel survival’s ethics. One of the chemotherapy drugs with which I was treated, cyclophosphamide, passes into the urine only partially diluted, is only partially removed by water treatment methods, and lasts in the common water supply for 400 to 800 days. Another, carboplatin, is described in its manufacturer’s information sheet as having the “environmental fate” of accumulating in aquatic environments, where it lingers but no one yet knows what damage it does.
Tons of complaining about the drugs, economy, medical professionals, and people that keep her alive. Can’t you appreciate that the system worked and is keeping your ass out of the grave? Yes, it costs millions, but that’s why we all pay an absurd amount into insurance.
> Everyone understands as a matter of fact that unless you are currently entered into this world’s customary romantic partnership, or unless you have lived long enough to raise devoted grown children, or unless you are young enough to still be in the care of your parents, you are, on the occasion of aggressive cancer in the conditions of aggressive profit, rarely considered worth enough to keep alive.
The reality is that the people most likely to care for you at your weakest, most vulnerable moments is your own family. I don’t know how the government can make strangers love and devote themselves to your care with sincere emotion and affection. If you don’t have family because you prefer not to live in a “customary romantic partnership” this is a choice you have made for yourself.