Caudle dies of cancer; husband joined Army to get health coverage

[jefferson_dem]

Caudle dies of cancer; husband joined Army to get health coverage

Couple spent time apart as she fought illness

By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel


Michelle Caudle rests her head on husband Bill’s shoulder after his graduation ceremony from Army basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., in December 2009. Caudle entered the military after being laid off to provide for his family and get health care for Michelle, who died Friday after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

Michelle Caudle, a mother of three and ovarian cancer patient who became a reluctant symbol of the nation's fight over health care reform when her husband joined the Army to get coverage for her, died Friday. She was 42.

After receiving chemotherapy for 30 of the last 57 months, after brain surgery, after days when she couldn't stand the smell of the hospital or the click-click-click of the chemo pump, Michelle longed finally for relief.

"I just feel like I've fought all I can fight," she said from her hospital bed a few weeks ago. "I want to be peaceful."

Sitting at her bedside that day, gently combing her hair, was her husband of 23 years, Bill, who'd returned in late April from his base near Tacoma, Wash., to be with her. On a sofa in her hospital room, wrapped in a blanket, was the youngest of their three children, Chelsea, now 16 and a junior in high school.

In 2009, the Watertown family made international news when Bill Caudle, laid off from the plastics company where he'd worked for 20 years, and facing dramatic increases in the cost of health insurance, took the unusual step of signing up for a four-year stint in the Army. His decision meant that in order to get coverage for Michelle, he would have to leave her side for the first time in her then three-year battle with cancer.

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/129173268.html

[madokie]

1. Damn the politicians responsible for this bullshit to be

rec'd with tears in my old eyes

[Maccagirl]

2. What a story of love and sadness

I send this family condolences, and knowledge that their mother is now at peace-but this should never have happened.

[hlthe2b]

3. Such a tragic symbol of our society and state of our country today...

RIP Ms. Caudle. May there be more compassion in your next realm. And, may your husband be at peace, knowing he did all he could. :cry:

[dkf]

4. "But the Army's health coverage paid for everything; it was better than the plan he'd had at the

plastics company. "

[Bluenorthwest]

5. not one of our peer democracies would stand for this:

"in order to get coverage for Michelle, he would have to leave her side for the first time in her then three-year battle with cancer."

[Kennah]

7. I have to wonder if some in our peer democracies read stories like this ...

... and the story is lost on them.

The concept of NOT having universal healthcare must almost seem like an Internet rumor to some. "What do you mean they have no healthcare coverage? This has to be a misprint. There must be more to the story."

[Kennah]

6. A true Army of One. I salute you, Bill Caudle. RIP Michelle Caudle.