That is an injustice because we, as a society, can do something about that. “If you can't get health insurance because you love the wrong person or because you are unemployed or because you are too poor, that is not just a misfortune. He says he was struck by how medical misfortune affected various segments of society, and became more determined than ever to increase every person’s access to affordable health care. So I want health insurance for everyone, colonoscopies for everyone.”Īt the time of his diagnosis, Congressman Raskin was the floor leader in Maryland on marriage equality legislation. It was hard enough for someone like me, who has great health insurance, to deal with my diagnosis, I cannot imagine how devastating it must be for those who have no health insurance. “It can happen to anybody–liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Independent, old, young, every race, and every ethnicity. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the mass was malignant, but several days later test results confirmed that it was. Raskin fell asleep during the colonoscopy, but when we woke he was told that the screening revealed a mass the size of a walnut in his colon. The physician recommended Raskin have an endoscopy as well as a colonoscopy.
It all began when he went to the doctor because he was experiencing reflux symptoms. But we were fortunate to have fantastic doctors and nurses who saved my life.”
He was diagnosed with the disease in 2010 and says “It was an excruciatingly difficult experience for me and my family. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8th District) recently talked to us about how his journey through surviving stage III colon cancer began with a life-saving colonoscopy.