I’ve been quieter than usual. 

This past year has been one of the hardest of my life. My son was hospitalized for nearly a month, and there was a moment when I truly believed his life was on the line. It was one of the hardest years since his liver transplant. I had never seen my son in that much pain before. Once again, I found myself begging doctors to help him and pleading for someone to listen, to act, before it was too late. No parent should ever have to sit in that fear, praying that someone will help their child before it’s too late.

That experience changed me and once again, I learned so much from the experience.

During that time, and months before it, my priorities had to shift. Every ounce of my energy went into keeping my kids healthy, stable, and emotionally okay. Advocacy is work I care deeply about, but comes with enormous sacrifices of time, money, and emotional bandwidth. This year, those sacrifices caught up with me in ways I couldn’t ignore. My priority had to be making sure my children were okay, so that when I return, I can do this work with the heart and strength it deserves

I know that some lobbyists and members of certain associations may have hoped my brief slowdown meant that I had finally thrown in the towel. I didn’t. I couldn’t. What it meant was that I was carrying more than one person should have to carry at once. Without my faith, the struggle would've been unbearable.

I want to be absolutely clear: I am not giving up. I still believe, with everything in me, that patients and families deserve better, that choice of pharmacy saves lives, and the lives of patients depend on the access and survival of local independent pharmacies. I’m just navigating a painful season that required me to step back so I could keep my family standing.

But here’s the truth. Advocacy cannot rest on the shoulders of families and patients already in crisis.

That’s why I’m asking you to take action in whatever way you can. Thank you to those who already are!

Support the federal Pharmacists Fight Back Act. Share it. Talk about it. Call your representatives.  Advocate in any way to improve the access, safety and affordability of medications.  Stand with pharmacists, patients, and families who are being crushed by systems that value profit over care.

You don’t have to do everything, but you and every person can do something.

This isn’t the end of my advocacy. Wesley is finally doing better, and living through this has only reinforced why standing up for patients and families is so important

Together, we’re stronger. 

Thank you, 

Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate

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Share your story or thoughts: Loretta@uniteforsafemeds.org