The following post is one of a series of posts appearing Monday through Friday on The Cancer Blog. This feature -- Today, I am grateful -- allows me to share with readers my appreciation for all the treasures in my life, both big and small. In my post-cancer world, I find It healing for my soul to be mindful of the good in my life. It is my pleasure to share my gratitude with you.

My house was struck by lightening the other day. I wasn't home at the time but heard the violent storm from inside my mom's house, in the same neighborhood. The thunder and lightening was so loud and crashing, I wondered if it would tear through the roof above me. It didn't -- but it did tear apart quite a lot at my house, just a block away.

When I got home, I smelled a burning odor, heard a surge protector beeping, and discovered I'd lost power in half my house. A neighbor came to my rescue -- my husband and boys were at the beach while I stayed home to recover from my recent illness -- and restored the electricity in my house. I thought all was well, except for a cable outtage which I determined a minor inconvenience. But then I noticed plaster, rock, and wood had been sprayed around my boys' room and a guest room. My youngest son's bed was covered. A lone piece of wood sat in the middle of the guest room. Where had this come from?

It came from the baseboards located in one corner in each room. They had been shred into pieces and torn from the walls. And my carpet had been somehow lifted up from the floor and appeared singed at the edges. When I spoke to my husband about this amazing destruction, we came to appreciate just how powerful weather can be. Mostly, though, we counted our blessings. No one had been home. No one had been outside at the time of the strike. Our house had not burned down. Our smallest child was not in bed when the debris flew. We are lucky.

Today, I am grateful my family survived the storm.

Health care coverage for working Americans is like a brittle tree in a hard wind -- and the larger limbs are beginning to snap. Between the years 2000 to 2005, 6.8 million more people became uninsured according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. Current data estimates 46.6 million people are without health insurance coverage. As employer-based health insurance continues to fade, government programs are taking up the slack -- up to a point. But given the lack of funding, there is only so much that can be offered.

In a statement issued by the Center for American Progress, "These problems did not just happen: they resulted from flawed economic and health policies which force Americans to work more for less. When it returns after Labor Day, this Congress should act to mitigate these problems by passing a straightforward minimum wage increase and extend health funding for programs like the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Moreover, policy makers should recognize the need for major change, such as providing affordable health care to all Americans and taking action to address growing income inequality."

Some are calling for a government-based universal health care system that guarantees health care coverage for all Americans. Others are suggesting a mix of private and public health care coverage. What ever the solution, there certainly needs to be one.

We can start with a shift in perspective and change in expectation. If you are working full-time for a company, presumably your efforts are helping that company make a profit. Health insurance coverage should not be viewed as a luxury benefit, nor should the largest burden of health insurance premiums be shouldered by the employee whose earnings just meet living expenses. Yet, this is happening every day in this country. The hard wind continues to batter the brittle tree.

Personally, I am not sold on a government-run, government-backed universal health plan simply because I have covered too many horror stories about rationed care in other industrialized countries. It seems a combination of programs might be the solution but the government and our elected officials certainly need to be held accountable for implementing programs that insure all Americans.

American Public Health Association Georges Benjamin is quoted by United Press International as saying, ""This is the worst news we've had all year. Our nation is not secure if we're not healthy."

Husband and wife team -- Dr. Tyler Curiel and Dr. Ruth Berggren -- prepare to relocate to San Antonio, Texas and will leave behind the city torn apart by Hurricane Katrina -- the same city where they worked tirelessly in 100-plus degree heat to rescue frozen cells and tissue from destruction during a storm that destroyed nearly everything in its path. They worked for one week caring for trapped patients at the inner city Charity Hospital, using diminishing generator power and the very basic of supplies. And they worked by flashlight to preserve their temperature-sensitive cells -- the cells that made up most of their life's work. They were successful in their mission -- and happily saved the cells of one of Curiel's medical students who once worked in his lab but died in 2004 of a rare cancer.

In September, the duo will leave New Orleans and will begin work at a nationally recognized cancer center -- the San Antonio Cancer Institue. Curiel will share his expertise in gynecological cancers -- specifically ovarian cancer -- and Berggren will join the health science center as an infectious disease specialist.