OPINIONS & COMMENTARY

One Day, You’ll Be Sick

The one thing that unites us all is that eventually our bodies are going to stop working the way they should. For some, it’s quick, like my friend who died in her sleep last week at 44 of unknown causes (as of this writing). For some lucky enough to make it to old age, you’re going to get sick at some point.

I have a friend who is in an extended care situation for a psychological issue. I have two acquaintances who went legally blind before they turned 40. I’m hearing more and more about people with long COVID. People are getting disabled by all these things.

My father, who just turned 80, has managed through some medical things - some big, some small. He’s the only person I know who has had three hip replacements. My mother, who is 77, hasn’t slowed down.

Ciba Geigy Should Never Have Happened

I have lived in Toms River my entire life. My family has lived here for generations, and several family members including my grandfather and 3 uncles worked at the Ciba Geigy Chemical plant and felt its impacts years

They are lucky, and I’m lucky. But eventually, there’s going to be something.

Something always comes for us. Which is why I don’t understand America’s attitude about illness. If a child gets cancer, everyone says “that’s sad” and maybe donates a few bucks toward a charity for the family.

But we refuse to change our health care system to make it any better for families who are already going through hell.

A significant illness will deplete a family’s fi nances. They spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to get by. Children in the family have no money waiting for them when they become adults. This means that the impact of a single disease is generational. It might be decades before a family is able to come back from the poverty that a single disease causes.

Some are born with special needs. They will always rely on someone to take care of them. They will always need more doctors, medicine, therapy, etc.

So if the one thing we have in common is eventual illness, how come we created a society that penalizes you for being sick?

People are looked down on for being poor. All it takes is one twist of fate, one chromosome out of alignment, or one cell to mutate wrong and your entire savings is gone.

We are told to toughen up, don’t give in, don’t ask for help. Everyone is going to need help one day. Everyone.

My good friend who committed suicide 15 years ago certainly suffered from depression. If he had gotten help for it, maybe he’d be here today. It’s more common than anyone thinks. I have it, too, but I’m treating it. Psychological illnesses are so easy to hide. It’s because we blame people for being “crazy.”

There are people who don’t call for ambulances because they are afraid of the cost. Some towns have free fi rst aid and they try to make it known to the public, but all it takes is one horror story about a thousand-dollar ride to a hospital and it makes someone think twice about calling 911. In the meantime, their delay might have cost them their life.

A few years back, I had a medical issue. I had to pay for the tests out of pocket, minus 20% copay. I think I wound up paying about $1,600 for results that didn’t fi nd anything. It made me stop getting tests. I can’t afford to find out what’s wrong with me. To this day, when the issue comes back, I have to just shrug and get through my day because I never learned what was malfunctioning and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Trying to get better and keeping up with bills and

Letters To The Editor

later through severe health impacts such as brain cancer. One of my uncles would commonly say when asked, it was because he worked in what was referred to as “the bad building.” This should never have happened.

I grew up attending Manchester Township Schools, where my Environmental Science class went out to the Superfund Site

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The proposed settlement has several elements, such as the park and nature center, that seem promising; however, we cannot greenwash the history of an environmental and public health disaster of national and historical significance.

The NJDEP should ensure that the narrative at such a nature center does not misrepresent the history of the site and community impacted, and the science of the superfund site’s remediation should be explained as a lesson in environmental health for future generations to come. The story told at the nature center should reflect the full truth in order to best honor the affected families.

Also, there should be an opportunity for community input along every step of the way paperwork is sometimes its own full-time job. They don’t make it easy for us. Health insurance companies take care of themselves fi rst, and do the bare minimum to help. They pay their employees to tell us “no” when we ask for help. Think about it: A health care employee is paid (throwing numbers around) $50,000 a year in order to tell us we have to pay more because we didn’t reach our $15,000 deductible. It costs the insurance company less to hire a gatekeeper than to actually do its job and pay for our health care.

I know universal health care is a tough sell, and I’m not sold on it either, but I think we can all agree that something needs to be done in order to protect us when the inevitable happens.

That’s why I urge compassion for those who have health problems. They are just going through things that you haven’t hit you yet. Before you think someone is weak for needing help, just realize that in less time than you think, you might require help from a nurse to use the bathroom.

Unless your death is sudden, you are going to get sick. You are going to be disabled. You are not going to be able to do what you used to do.

There should be plans in place for when the inevitable happens. This shouldn’t be a surprise. This is going to happen to each and every one of us.

If you got into a car crash tomorrow, and you became disabled, what would happen to your family? Would you still be able to do your job? Would you even be able to enter your home or your business if you were in a wheelchair?

What’s going to happen when you get sick?

Chris Lundy News Editor

involving the superfund site. The NJDEP and BASF must provide transparency as to the current status of the site; is it truly safe enough for our children to play on? Since remediation efforts began, the size of the toxic plume of contaminated groundwater has decreased but has not been fully resolved, despite claims otherwise. A risk assessment for the site should be updated, looking at realistic exposure scenarios if it is going to be used as recreational, and there should be opportunity for public input. This information should be made easily accessible to ensure all voices are included.

There was a total lack of transparency and inclusion of the public when it came to this settlement, and although we have the opportunity to speak (at a special hearing), it only came after demanding it. However, the latest five-year EPA review on the site is set to come out this May, but the new settlement deadline for comments is in April - the residents of Toms

River should have ample time to review the most recent science and status of the report before the comment period closes, and the NJDEP should further extend the deadline to July at minimum to ensure time to fully review the report.

Additionally, BASF is only on the hook at this site for 10 years yet the scars upon our landscape and community have spanned generations. BASF should be accountable for at least 100 years in order for regeneration to occur and to ensure due process is taken throughout restoration efforts. Climate resilience should also be factored into the long-term planning for the site to make sure that this landscape and natural resource not only recovers from past scars but is able to withstand future ecological changes as well.

Jackie Greger Communications Outreach Coordinator for the Sierra Club Toms River

Another Look At Rent Increases

After reading of the “greed” and “unconscionable” increases by landlords of manufactured communities “looking to cash in” and necessitating rent control, I figured I’d run the numbers provided. According to the quoted resident, Pine Ridge South rent went from $697 a month in Jan 2017 to $826 in Jan 2023. That’s an 18.5% increase over 7 years.

Looking at the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, general consumer inflation during this time period has run at 23%. So, the rental increases have been below inflation and, from what I understand, are inclusive of property tax increases! Not what I would expect after hearing words like “unconscionable” thrown around.

James McCabe