Here are links if you want to see what I saw online.
The actual wording of the joint resolution, compliments of the Texas House of Representatives
Bill Analysis
Several official documents posted on the Texas Legislature Online website on HJR90 (House Joint Resolution 90), as the bill was called before it was put to the voters as Proposition 15.
House Research Organization Bill AnalysisThis document specifies what the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas is supposed to do and how the state intends to fund it. It records points of view of both supporters and opponents of the bill.
I suppose with the accessibility of the Internet I'll get to annoy a whole new group of people with the posting below, but that's not my intent. This blog records my thoughts and experiences with things related to my breast cancer journey. Proposition 15 is relevant and bears mentioning.
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Proposition 15 passed! Thank you, voters of Texas!
November 6, 2007, the night of the election, I checked voting results online just before bed.
First I found a link for Travis County which is where I live. All the votes had been tallied and turned in and the results shocked me. It was a very close call, with fifty-something percent FOR and forty-nine percent AGAINST. Against?! How could people vote against the cancer bill? I had a co-worker give me a chance earlier that day to convince him why he shouldn’t vote NO. He said that he questioned why the State of Texas should take on this tremendous $3 billion burden of debt to fund research for cancer which affects people worldwide. “Shouldn’t it be a national initiative?” He asked. I pointed out that national funding for cancer research had been cut this year by our president.
If it benefits the world, shouldn’t the world pay for it? Why should Texas pay for it? This is what he wanted to know.
I told him that Texas pays $30 billion each year in direct and indirect costs related to cancer. Spending $300 million a year for 10 years is an investment in eventually lowering that outrageous expense. As I drove home I thought of other reasons. A tsunami hits India and America pours money and time into helping the victims. Earthquakes devastate other parts of the world and Americans are there giving money, time, and precious resources to help. We don’t always have a clear political or monetary gain inherent in these outpourings of love and support. Sometimes, despite the many faults of this county and its people, we do the right thing, the nice thing, because some of us are humanitarians and we can’t sit by to watch people die when we can prevent it.
I read that the State of Texas has a low amount debt, all things considered. We can afford this. There are people out there with innovative, useful, potentially life-saving ideas that have been approved by the American Cancer Society and all they need is funding for their research. I know that a well-funded organization can get more done than a poorly-funded organization. Check out the IT department of a mid-sized company with money versus a tiny office that’s just making it and you’ll see a vast difference in the sophistication of software and hardware. I figure scientific research probably operates the same way. Throw more money at the problem and you get a faster solution, or a better solution, or a crazy idea that leads to the best solution years sooner.
That’s what I want, because cancer is everybody’s problem; I want the mysteries of causation and cure to be unlocked NOW so my son doesn’t see his friends, family, co-workers, and their friends, family, and co-workers suffer at the hands of this multi-faceted, insidious killer disease.
I caught a cold that turned into a sinus infection recently. As I waited to see the doctor (after being sick a week and a half already), I started making a list of all the people I could remember who had had cancer. Most of the people I know or heard of have come to my attention only in the last two years. I didn’t include celebrities. I didn’t include my fellow survivors in the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls. Instead, I included my Aunt Jerry who died of breast cancer; her daughter, my cousin Lesley, who had an early form of breast cancer; my Uncle Kenneth (spouse of Aunt Jerry) who has recently been diagnosed with lymphoma; my grandfather who has breast cancer and has decided not to do a thing about it. That takes care of the family members I know about. Then there’s the lymphoma patient I met at the gym long ago during treatment when I was working out. There are six co-workers who come to mind. There’s the father of my friend Kim; the father of my friend Rebekah; the mother of one of my survivor co-workers; the sister of one of my survivor co-workers; the wife of co-worker’s Karen’s cousin who died a couple of weeks ago of breast cancer. She was in her 30’s and left teenaged children behind. There’s the sister of consultant Ken whom I’ve collaborated with on a project at work; the father-in-law of friend and former consultant Adam; the mother of former boss Melinda; my brother-in-law Richard; the guy who rear-ended my car last year when Guy and I were on our way to breakfast before chemo – his mother died of cancer.
I think you get the point. I have 32 people on my list and I keep remembering more.
That’s insane!
So Travis County’s votes were almost evenly split with the FOR votes just barely edging over the AGAINST votes. Then I tried a different link and found statewide results. At the time I went to bed only 72% of the counties had reported final results, but the total votes FOR Proposition 15 were 60.96%.
I saw that winning percentage of votes FOR the proposition and my throat tightened up. Before I knew it tears were running down my face and I was silently sobbing. Ever the analyst, I wondered why I was crying. This was a HAPPY moment! What were these tears about?
I thought of how people get so happy at weddings that they cry. I’ve done that before. Winning Proposition 15 was like getting word from a surgeon that your loved one came out of a risky surgery with flying colors and is expected to pull through. I sat in my chair for a few minutes, just sobbing, reaching for one tissue after another as tears streamed down my face. And I smiled.
There was one other emotion that was threading through the relief and the happiness: Hope.
For the first time, I felt hope that we can find a cure for at least some forms of cancer sooner rather than later. I didn’t realize I was so thirsty until I was handed this drink.
I calmed down, turned the lights off downstairs and went up to bed. As always I checked on my son first – my little angel who may grow up in a world that’s fighting some other number one killer because cancer by then has been tamed. I went into our room and saw that my husband, who had gone to bed early, was deeply asleep. I listened to his quiet, rhythmic breathing and smiled as I turned out the last light. Hope wrapped me in a warm blanket as I drifted off to a restful sleep of my own.
Angela
I later learned that the co-worker who asked me why he should vote for this bill was actually persuaded by my arguments and voted FOR it. Wow!
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