Cancer victim inspired Obama

Natoma Canfield, the Ohio woman who penned a letter to President Barack Obama that he noted in his remarks to the nation on Thursday and had inspired him to push on with his fight for health care reform, says she got "goose bumps" watching the president after the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

"I got goose bumps. To think the president of the United States has my letter hanging on the wall. Wow," Canfield told POLITICO in a phone interview minutes after the president concluded his speech from the White House.

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Canfield, who was diagnosed with leukemia about 2½ years ago after battling an early form of cancer for many years, had made national headlines after the White House shared a letter she wrote to the president a few years ago expressing grave concerns about her inability to afford insurance.

In a letter back to Canfield, Obama wrote, "Thanks for your letter. It's because of folks like you that we are still fighting to get health care done!"

In his remarks from the White House Thursday, Obama said he "carried Natoma's story with me every day of the fight to pass this law."

"It reminded me of all the Americans, all across the country, who have had to worry not only about getting sick, but about the cost of getting well," he said. "Natoma is well today. And because of this law, there are other Americans — other sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers — who will not have to hang their fortunes on chance."

Canfield told POLITICO that she didn't realize the president had her letter framed and hanging at the White House until he said so in his speech Thursday. She got a call from the White House just minutes before Obama stepped in front of the cameras, and said hearing her name on a historic day for the country was an emotional experience.

"I'm just blown away that the president has my letter on his wall. I'm just very proud," she said. "I didn't cry because I don't have any tears now. They were radiated away."

She said her cancer is currently in remission, although she continues to receive treatment and suffers from serious side effects of chemotherapy.

Asked what she would want to say to the president, Canfield said, "I think I would say congratulations. You've done a wonderful job."