My name is Jacqueline Tomlinson. Call me Jackie. I am 64 years old and live in Newport, Rhode Island. I am recovering from the removal of a cancerous lung tumor 2 weeks ago.  I long to join my friends marching in Washington DC tomorrow, but am still too ill to participate.

I was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2016 and immediately put under the excellent care of The Cancer Center at Charlton Hospital in Fall River, MA.  Because I have access to affordable health insurance, there was no impediment to quickly being scheduled for treatments and finally, the operation.  I received the diagnosis that I am cancer free just two days ago. I am ecstatic, but can’t help shuddering at the thought that so many might be denied my positive and timely experience because the new administration are threatening to repeal the ACA. That is just one reason I want to participate.  I begin Medicare on February 1, and have been receiving early retirement from Social Security since my cancer diagnosis, so the threats to both are truly terrifying.  I also fear for my younger family members and women friends who may be denied the excellent services offered by Planned Parenthood because of the threats to deny funding by the new administration.

Having grown up in the U.K., I was fortunate enough to have experienced the comfort of National Health, and I miss it bitterly.  I believe strongly in Universal Health Care as to me it is a fundamental human right.  I am here now because my mother’s and my life were saved by the care we received from the doctors and nurses of the National Health in 1952.  That is no exaggeration as my mother’s condition would have been considered fatal just a few months before my birth.

My very best wishes go out to everyone marching tomorrow.  I will be with them all in spirit.

Good luck!

Jacqueline Tomlinson

Blond-haired woman wearing glasses and a bright pink top sitting in a puffy-stuffed chair