re: #33 BlazerBeav

(finally delurking for the first time, since I actually have something to contribute)

I guess since I’m a stay-at-home mom to 6, was raised Mormon (though I’m agnostic now) AND I have multiple sclerosis, that makes me qualified to comment O_o

My main thought is: whatever. If a woman can be a stay-at-home mom, and has the desire to do it…great. If they want to but cannot, I feel badly and wish we, as a society, put our money where our mouths are and make it easier for single-income families. If a woman has the means to be a stay-at-home mom, but wants to work, that is great too. Whatever floats her, and the family’s, boat.

My secondary thought is: Ann Romney is blessed in many, many ways. I’m not sure how many people know how unfairly expensive a disease MS is. I take what is called a “disease modifying drug” which, if it works, will slow down the progression of the disease. There are 5 different ones to choose from, all injections. They each have about a 30% chance of working (so, a 70% chance it will not do what it is supposed to do). I recently had to switch to a different drug because the first was not working for me. Oh, and the cost of these drugs? About $36,000 a year ($3,000 a month. I joke that I’m injecting myself with liquid gold). That is ONE medication. I take four more medications on a daily basis. At a cost of an additional $600 a month. And, believe it or not, I hate taking medication so I have resisted ones that my neurologist recommends. Thank goodness I live in NY where the health insurance standards are high!

Not only does Mrs. Romney not have to worry about the cost of her medication, or her therapies (I would adore it if I could do horseback riding therapy!), but she also does not have to worry about lost wages due to her illness. I began a relapse around Thanksgiving of 2011. Since it was the Holidays, and I was nearing the end of my first semester of college, I ignored my symptoms as much as possible. I pushed through it…until after the New Year. I hit a wall and pretty much fell apart. I ended up needing to have a steroid treatment to try to stop the damage that the relapse was causing. To make a long story (slightly) short, due to a reaction I had to the steroid treatment, I had to have my husband rush home from work because I was home alone with our youngest (she is almost 3) and I was fighting to not pass out. It was a week before he was able to go back to work, and weeks before I could do more than the basic child care responsibilities. I went through a second steroid treatment in the last few weeks. Luckily this time I’m recovering easier.

My husband has used almost all of his paid time off for this year already. He has applied, and been approved, for FMLA through his work so it will not count against him if he needs to miss work in order to care for me or the kids. We are also blessed that his employer was very willing to let him change his work hours so that he gets home early enough to make dinner for the family.

I consider myself extremely blessed to have access to medication, a great neurologist, a wonderful husband who takes care of me when I need it, and his great employer who is very understanding. And, we have these blessings on a yearly income that is equivalent to what Mitt Romney earns every 18 HOURS.

I do not begrudge him his money. I begrudge his lack of empathy for the thousands of others who fight this miserable disease.