For Leah,
I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts throughout the semester because they have been very interesting and have made me think about things I never considered before this unit. I enjoyed the lines, “One of the most nightmarish about our social practices is that we as people take in so many medications and put so much chemicals in our body. Can we wonder if it's really helping us?” It is true that we take different medications and things but I’m not sure we really understand what some of those things are doing to our bodies. We take medications for acne, pain, and many other things but it’s important not to become too dependent on medications. I also liked that you said you would try a spiritual healing but I’m sort of confused about what you mean? Are you referring to religion or allowing our bodies to heal on their own? Keep up the great work!
For Michelle,
I really enjoy reading your blogs because they provide background information. This blog focused on health care insurance and the atrocities of insurance companies. I liked how you encouraged the reader to think about how they would handle their situation if they suddenly found out they had a life threatening disease such as: cancer or heart disease. We never know what’s going to happen to us but we pray that we stay healthy. I also agree with the idea of home death because I would rather spend my last moments with people that I love, rather than nurses and doctors that may not be making me feel comfortable. I am also very sure about death because I have become more comfortable knowing that everyone is going to die someday, we just never know when.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
From Michelle,
"I agree, "we begin to classify them as their illness, rather than the person fighting the illness." This was your best line because in a reading from class it talks about the several ways not only to the sick but anyone who is stigmatized. For the treatment of the elderly was also new to me, had no idea how harsh it can be in these institutions, facing death in a strange place that is not your home."
From Leah,
"I like how said that we don't treat the sickness/dying people the same because they are their sickness just like Michelle had said. I agree because i know with personal experience, i have done that in the past with my sick family members. Maybe ill try it differently this time. My favorite part was when you said "We should not pity people for having an illness, neither should we reject them because they are different, but instead we should treat them as our equal because they are just like us, human." The nursing homes was something that came unexpected to me as you mentioned."
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
HW 32- Final Comments on Illness & Dying
The most nightmarish atrocity is that we isolate the dying & sick. Their illness becomes their “stigma” because we begin to classify them as their illness, rather than the person fighting the illness. The article “Stigma”, by Erving Goffman reveals how critical we are of people with certain illnesses. We should not pity people for having an illness, neither should we reject them because they are different, but instead we should treat them as our equal because they are just like us, human. Each person goes through different things and they have to come to terms with themselves and seek treatment on their own. There is a big process of dealing with an illness in addition to people improperly judging you based on your illness.
One thing I never knew about was the treatment of the elderly in nursing homes. I knew that people leave their relatives and friends in nursing homes because they may be unable to provide the proper care and attention to the elderly so they put them in a nursing home. I suspected that a nursing home would be a little town for the elderly to develop their own relationships with other elderly people but sometimes that’s not always the case. According to Leah, some elderly people feel neglected because they don’t get enough visitor and this leads to crankiness and very rude behavior. I always thought the elderly were bitter but I never thought about why. They are feeling this way because they are being rejected by people because they are getting old. This is not a good look and we should develop more relationships with elderly people. I enjoyed this unit because I enjoyed going deeper into different meanings behind death and the topics we avoid.
One thing I never knew about was the treatment of the elderly in nursing homes. I knew that people leave their relatives and friends in nursing homes because they may be unable to provide the proper care and attention to the elderly so they put them in a nursing home. I suspected that a nursing home would be a little town for the elderly to develop their own relationships with other elderly people but sometimes that’s not always the case. According to Leah, some elderly people feel neglected because they don’t get enough visitor and this leads to crankiness and very rude behavior. I always thought the elderly were bitter but I never thought about why. They are feeling this way because they are being rejected by people because they are getting old. This is not a good look and we should develop more relationships with elderly people. I enjoyed this unit because I enjoyed going deeper into different meanings behind death and the topics we avoid.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
HW 32-Comments 3
For Leah:
I really enjoyed reading your blog because it was an interesting account of patients in the nursing home. It is true that most patients don’t get enough visitors and I could never imagine being lonely in a nursing home without getting visits from my family and friends. It is also true that we would rather leave someone in the care of a stranger rather than actually taking care of the person yourself. I know that it may be difficult to decide whether to leave a family member in a nursing home but at the end of the day I will probably decide to take care of that family member the same way they took care of me time, and time again. I really enjoyed reading your blog :)
For Michelle:
I think your blog post was really interesting because I never really thought about what goes on behind closed doors in nursing homes. I do feel that some nurses are used to having to deal with old, cranky patients but I only believe they are cranky because they are people too and they have emotions, so how would you feel if you never received any visitors? I liked that you also included statistical evidence to support the idea that there are certain types of neglect a patient may face in a nursing home. Even despite some of these facts why do people send their relatives to nursing homes? The answer is simple, because we would rather have a stranger take care of someone than ourselves, we have lives, we need to look after ourselves, let alone someone else. I enjoyed reading your blog :)
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From Michelle,
I enjoyed your blog and elevator speech because having this disease affected a family member of yours so it gave you more perspective on this illness. My family fortunately has not but I have several family members who are affected by high blood pressure so felt a connection while reading your blog. The diet the people who are diagnosed with diabetes the way you describe seems exhausting and stressful. Does it make for a shorter life span? Can it leave for other complications? well good job!
From Leah,
Your opening sentence was a good grabber. I can relate alot to your post because i know a lot of people who had diabetes which made me more engaged in the post. I liked how you referred back to your own family history to what you want to do in the future to prevent yourself from getting diabetes. One thing that stood out to me was when you said "When people are diagnosed with an illness their illness becomes them", i thought that was very bold. People become their illness, i never thought of it like that. Overall your post was enjoyable and keep posting!
From Berenise (Older Reader)
WOW!! Diabetes. This is a tough one but I can relate. As a side job I baby-sit two girls and one of them, a 4 year old girl named Elizabeth has diabetes. Seeing all the stuff she and her family goes through in a couple of hours is hard to grasp. Her mother has to control everything she eats, and maintain a balanced schedule. I am so thankful for technology. The monitor monitors everything; it keeps track of her blood sugar. It records whether or not it is too high or too low, and it makes a noise to alert you. The monitor also calculates how much insulin should be given according to the carbs intake. As me being the outsider it is very hard, watching her go through it. It is hard for me to do the blood check because it hurts her and she cries. My heart goes out to everyone, children and adults with diabetes, fighting a good fight.
From Angela (Younger Reader):
I like the way you said the kids would get diabetes of they don't change their eating habits.
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2 Additional Comments
For Casey,
I really liked your post and it was cool that using a text from class, gave you the idea to conduct a survey about our ideas of being remembered and death. I liked how you said, " I learned from this project that teenaged males are probably more afraid of death than teenaged females are, and thus live in more misery." Using the survey you created you were able to draw that conclusion so you had evidence to support it. In some ways I agree with the conclusions you made because some people fear death because they fell that they have not made a sufficient impact on society. I really enjoyed reading your blog because it was creative, interesting, and informative.
For Sarah L.,
I really enjoyed your blog because you incorporated your ideas and feelings about death and connected it to the death of your grandfather, due to Alzheimer’s. I liked the line, "We should come to terms with reality and accept the fact that we are all going to die." This line is very true because we are all going to die someday and this is one of the many things people fear, its death. You also talked about the process he went through while living with Alzheimer’s and as you said I can't imagine my life changing that drastically. I am so thankful that I am healthy because there are so many sick people that are not receiving proper care.
I really enjoyed reading your blog because it was an interesting account of patients in the nursing home. It is true that most patients don’t get enough visitors and I could never imagine being lonely in a nursing home without getting visits from my family and friends. It is also true that we would rather leave someone in the care of a stranger rather than actually taking care of the person yourself. I know that it may be difficult to decide whether to leave a family member in a nursing home but at the end of the day I will probably decide to take care of that family member the same way they took care of me time, and time again. I really enjoyed reading your blog :)
For Michelle:
I think your blog post was really interesting because I never really thought about what goes on behind closed doors in nursing homes. I do feel that some nurses are used to having to deal with old, cranky patients but I only believe they are cranky because they are people too and they have emotions, so how would you feel if you never received any visitors? I liked that you also included statistical evidence to support the idea that there are certain types of neglect a patient may face in a nursing home. Even despite some of these facts why do people send their relatives to nursing homes? The answer is simple, because we would rather have a stranger take care of someone than ourselves, we have lives, we need to look after ourselves, let alone someone else. I enjoyed reading your blog :)
----------------------------------------------
From Michelle,
I enjoyed your blog and elevator speech because having this disease affected a family member of yours so it gave you more perspective on this illness. My family fortunately has not but I have several family members who are affected by high blood pressure so felt a connection while reading your blog. The diet the people who are diagnosed with diabetes the way you describe seems exhausting and stressful. Does it make for a shorter life span? Can it leave for other complications? well good job!
From Leah,
Your opening sentence was a good grabber. I can relate alot to your post because i know a lot of people who had diabetes which made me more engaged in the post. I liked how you referred back to your own family history to what you want to do in the future to prevent yourself from getting diabetes. One thing that stood out to me was when you said "When people are diagnosed with an illness their illness becomes them", i thought that was very bold. People become their illness, i never thought of it like that. Overall your post was enjoyable and keep posting!
From Berenise (Older Reader)
WOW!! Diabetes. This is a tough one but I can relate. As a side job I baby-sit two girls and one of them, a 4 year old girl named Elizabeth has diabetes. Seeing all the stuff she and her family goes through in a couple of hours is hard to grasp. Her mother has to control everything she eats, and maintain a balanced schedule. I am so thankful for technology. The monitor monitors everything; it keeps track of her blood sugar. It records whether or not it is too high or too low, and it makes a noise to alert you. The monitor also calculates how much insulin should be given according to the carbs intake. As me being the outsider it is very hard, watching her go through it. It is hard for me to do the blood check because it hurts her and she cries. My heart goes out to everyone, children and adults with diabetes, fighting a good fight.
From Angela (Younger Reader):
I like the way you said the kids would get diabetes of they don't change their eating habits.
----------------------------------------------
2 Additional Comments
For Casey,
I really liked your post and it was cool that using a text from class, gave you the idea to conduct a survey about our ideas of being remembered and death. I liked how you said, " I learned from this project that teenaged males are probably more afraid of death than teenaged females are, and thus live in more misery." Using the survey you created you were able to draw that conclusion so you had evidence to support it. In some ways I agree with the conclusions you made because some people fear death because they fell that they have not made a sufficient impact on society. I really enjoyed reading your blog because it was creative, interesting, and informative.
For Sarah L.,
I really enjoyed your blog because you incorporated your ideas and feelings about death and connected it to the death of your grandfather, due to Alzheimer’s. I liked the line, "We should come to terms with reality and accept the fact that we are all going to die." This line is very true because we are all going to die someday and this is one of the many things people fear, its death. You also talked about the process he went through while living with Alzheimer’s and as you said I can't imagine my life changing that drastically. I am so thankful that I am healthy because there are so many sick people that are not receiving proper care.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
HW 30 - Illness & Dying - Culminating Experiential Project
An aspect of the illness & dying unit that I explored was diabetes. Although diabetes is not genetic it is possible that your children may also get diabetes if they don’t change their eating habits. There are several forms of diabetes: the first type of diabetes is type 1, which is prevalent among younger children, and their parents have not had diabetes, type 2 diabetes depends on more environmental factors according to diabetic live. “If you have a family history of diabetes it will increase your chances of getting it, but only if you lead an unhealthy lifestyle with a poor diet and little or no exercise” (Diabetic live).
My family has a long history of high blood pressure which also has something to do with the food we eat. My family, on both sides, comes from the south and soul food is the main food prepared in southern households and this doesn’t keep you healthy but it does taste good. Diabetes relates to low blood sugar and high blood pressure may contribute to diabetes if the proper medications are not taken. I can avoid the possibility of having diabetes but that means I would have to change my eating habits to become healthier. My mom prepares healthy food and I do not eat as many fatty foods as I used to, I have stopped drinking so much soda and eating lots of sweets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOvhKZUIGY&feature=more_related On NBC a special edition was done about the effects of diabetes. An 11 year old named Elena was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Elena doesn’t enjoy living with diabetes because she wants to be like the other kids who don’t have to worry about the amount of carbs they eat, in most cases. Elena has a sensor that monitors her blood sugar levels. Elena’s mother mentioned that the technology today makes it easier to address this illness. Doctor Anne L. Peters wrote a book about conquering diabetes that encourages patients with type 2 diabetes to exercise and try to lose weight; it also gives many other tips about living with diabetes. When we have other people going through the same issues that we are experiencing, who are willing to give us encouragement in our situations it makes it easier to accept that our illness requires more attention.
There are many people that live with diabetes that are able to get proper care because of the technology. I am so thankful that my grandmother is able to receive proper treatment for her diabetes because although things may have been different when she was growing up there has been some change since that time. When people are diagnosed with an illness their illness becomes them and the doctor is mainly focused on doing what they can to prevent this sickness from spreading and getting worse. Doctors do all they can to benefit the patient, and then they begin to create alternatives to benefit the patient. Sick and dying people matter in our culture because they are a “stigma”, we are more concerned with the illness and not so much the person behind it, the main goal may become to beat this illness but we never consider how much it can affect our daily lives.
Sources:
Diabetic live.http://www.diabeticlive.com/diabetes-101/is-diabetes-genetic/
Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOvhKZUIGY&feature=more_related
My family has a long history of high blood pressure which also has something to do with the food we eat. My family, on both sides, comes from the south and soul food is the main food prepared in southern households and this doesn’t keep you healthy but it does taste good. Diabetes relates to low blood sugar and high blood pressure may contribute to diabetes if the proper medications are not taken. I can avoid the possibility of having diabetes but that means I would have to change my eating habits to become healthier. My mom prepares healthy food and I do not eat as many fatty foods as I used to, I have stopped drinking so much soda and eating lots of sweets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOvhKZUIGY&feature=more_related On NBC a special edition was done about the effects of diabetes. An 11 year old named Elena was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Elena doesn’t enjoy living with diabetes because she wants to be like the other kids who don’t have to worry about the amount of carbs they eat, in most cases. Elena has a sensor that monitors her blood sugar levels. Elena’s mother mentioned that the technology today makes it easier to address this illness. Doctor Anne L. Peters wrote a book about conquering diabetes that encourages patients with type 2 diabetes to exercise and try to lose weight; it also gives many other tips about living with diabetes. When we have other people going through the same issues that we are experiencing, who are willing to give us encouragement in our situations it makes it easier to accept that our illness requires more attention.
There are many people that live with diabetes that are able to get proper care because of the technology. I am so thankful that my grandmother is able to receive proper treatment for her diabetes because although things may have been different when she was growing up there has been some change since that time. When people are diagnosed with an illness their illness becomes them and the doctor is mainly focused on doing what they can to prevent this sickness from spreading and getting worse. Doctors do all they can to benefit the patient, and then they begin to create alternatives to benefit the patient. Sick and dying people matter in our culture because they are a “stigma”, we are more concerned with the illness and not so much the person behind it, the main goal may become to beat this illness but we never consider how much it can affect our daily lives.
Sources:
Diabetic live.http://www.diabeticlive.com/diabetes-101/is-diabetes-genetic/
Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOvhKZUIGY&feature=more_related
Saturday, January 8, 2011
HW 29
1) Terminal Illness
Facing a terminal illness can prove to be difficult because we wonder why such a terrible thing can happen to such a strong-willed person. The truth is we all go through our own battles, and those battles are only there to make us stronger. In the book “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid, Jamaica returned to her home of Antigua after her brother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, AIDS. Jamaica said, “But his life was real, not yet a part of history; his reality was that he was dead but still alive; his reality was that he had a disease called AIDS (My Brother, Pg. 95). Jamaica didn’t understand how her brother could get AIDS at such a young age, because to her it seemed like his life was just beginning, “his life was real, not yet a part of history.” Many people who have suffered from a terminal illness have never been able to live their lives and create history, in a sense, because they were diagnosed at an unexpected time.
Another example of a patient facing a terminal illness was Beth’s husband Erik. She met her husband and they feel in love but the problems began when he began getting sick but like so many people, he didn’t go to the doctor about the problems he was facing. After finally going to the doctor he was diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer. The family went into oblivion because no one could believe Erik was facing cancer, “he was a good father, husband, artist, and this wasn’t going to beat him” (Beth’s Presentation). Erik fought this cancer with everything he had until the end when it was his time to go. The point is when people are diagnosed with terminal illnesses they go about living their lives doing everything that makes them happy, but why don’t we do those things now. We don’t know when our time will come so we should be prepared.
2) The process of dying
In Near Death, a documentary was done about the background of death in the hospitals. One of the doctor’s kept saying that “it’s in god’s hands,” this meant that if they decided to take the ventilator off they will pull the plug because he will be brain dead anyway and if he died it was in god’s will. Sometimes this idea is tossed around but people don’t understand the true meaning of god’s will. Everything happens for a reason but when our time comes we will die, there will be no other way to avoid death when our time comes. This is another issue that presented itself in the movie, the issue of consent and its connection to death. In one case a patient was getting worse as each day progressed and his lungs were too weak to work by themselves, and even with help they wouldn’t get better. The doctors had to come up with the decision of whether they should just let the patient die or keep him alive just a couple more days. Doctors take an oath that they must do everything they can to make sure a patient lives but they must also decide whether to help that patient who is near death or help a child suffering from a minor illness.
Death is something that is avoided, ignored until the right time has come to die. “Today, more Americans die in hospitals than anywhere else, and the most frequent response to critical illness there is to try and stave off death with the most sophisticated technological means available (American Hospitals, Pg.25) More people have died in hospitals than anywhere else, and hospitals should be the one place where you feel you can be supported or fought for until death. In Near death, while the patient was dying instead of thinking about how he was going to stay alive all he could think about was what he did in the past. He began reflecting on his life and whether he believed he lived a happy life. When we are close to death something we do is think back on everything we ever did wondering if we would do something different.
3) Isolation
The sick are regarded as people that don’t belong to our society. People have a stigma in which they feel they must bring up other attributes people possess and compare those undesirable attributes to their own skills and make that person look like they don’t belong. This is how illness is approached in our society. In “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid, Jamaica’s brother was isolated by many people after he got AIDS. “Stigma”, by Erving Goffman, reveals how critical we are of people with certain illnesses. A stigma is an attribute that people can’t change about themselves, but people hold themselves on a higher pedestal while regarding people with illnesses on a much lower pedestal. “A stigma then is really a kind of special relationship between attribute and stereotype…there are important attributes that almost everywhere in our society are discrediting” (Stigma, Pg. 4). People with some type of illness, say cancer for example will always be associated with their illness. Rather than looking at the person and not the illness, we look at the illness as the person.
Usually when old people are placed in a nursery it’s because we believe there are workers who can take better care of them than we can. In some cases this is true because when people are diagnosed with an illness or when they become dependent on others to eat, sleep, and do many other things it may be more difficult to care for them. In an old folk’s home, seniors will be around people who are facing a similar situation to theirs and they will be more able to connect with others rather than having no one who understands their situation.
Facing a terminal illness can prove to be difficult because we wonder why such a terrible thing can happen to such a strong-willed person. The truth is we all go through our own battles, and those battles are only there to make us stronger. In the book “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid, Jamaica returned to her home of Antigua after her brother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, AIDS. Jamaica said, “But his life was real, not yet a part of history; his reality was that he was dead but still alive; his reality was that he had a disease called AIDS (My Brother, Pg. 95). Jamaica didn’t understand how her brother could get AIDS at such a young age, because to her it seemed like his life was just beginning, “his life was real, not yet a part of history.” Many people who have suffered from a terminal illness have never been able to live their lives and create history, in a sense, because they were diagnosed at an unexpected time.
Another example of a patient facing a terminal illness was Beth’s husband Erik. She met her husband and they feel in love but the problems began when he began getting sick but like so many people, he didn’t go to the doctor about the problems he was facing. After finally going to the doctor he was diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer. The family went into oblivion because no one could believe Erik was facing cancer, “he was a good father, husband, artist, and this wasn’t going to beat him” (Beth’s Presentation). Erik fought this cancer with everything he had until the end when it was his time to go. The point is when people are diagnosed with terminal illnesses they go about living their lives doing everything that makes them happy, but why don’t we do those things now. We don’t know when our time will come so we should be prepared.
2) The process of dying
In Near Death, a documentary was done about the background of death in the hospitals. One of the doctor’s kept saying that “it’s in god’s hands,” this meant that if they decided to take the ventilator off they will pull the plug because he will be brain dead anyway and if he died it was in god’s will. Sometimes this idea is tossed around but people don’t understand the true meaning of god’s will. Everything happens for a reason but when our time comes we will die, there will be no other way to avoid death when our time comes. This is another issue that presented itself in the movie, the issue of consent and its connection to death. In one case a patient was getting worse as each day progressed and his lungs were too weak to work by themselves, and even with help they wouldn’t get better. The doctors had to come up with the decision of whether they should just let the patient die or keep him alive just a couple more days. Doctors take an oath that they must do everything they can to make sure a patient lives but they must also decide whether to help that patient who is near death or help a child suffering from a minor illness.
Death is something that is avoided, ignored until the right time has come to die. “Today, more Americans die in hospitals than anywhere else, and the most frequent response to critical illness there is to try and stave off death with the most sophisticated technological means available (American Hospitals, Pg.25) More people have died in hospitals than anywhere else, and hospitals should be the one place where you feel you can be supported or fought for until death. In Near death, while the patient was dying instead of thinking about how he was going to stay alive all he could think about was what he did in the past. He began reflecting on his life and whether he believed he lived a happy life. When we are close to death something we do is think back on everything we ever did wondering if we would do something different.
3) Isolation
The sick are regarded as people that don’t belong to our society. People have a stigma in which they feel they must bring up other attributes people possess and compare those undesirable attributes to their own skills and make that person look like they don’t belong. This is how illness is approached in our society. In “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid, Jamaica’s brother was isolated by many people after he got AIDS. “Stigma”, by Erving Goffman, reveals how critical we are of people with certain illnesses. A stigma is an attribute that people can’t change about themselves, but people hold themselves on a higher pedestal while regarding people with illnesses on a much lower pedestal. “A stigma then is really a kind of special relationship between attribute and stereotype…there are important attributes that almost everywhere in our society are discrediting” (Stigma, Pg. 4). People with some type of illness, say cancer for example will always be associated with their illness. Rather than looking at the person and not the illness, we look at the illness as the person.
Usually when old people are placed in a nursery it’s because we believe there are workers who can take better care of them than we can. In some cases this is true because when people are diagnosed with an illness or when they become dependent on others to eat, sleep, and do many other things it may be more difficult to care for them. In an old folk’s home, seniors will be around people who are facing a similar situation to theirs and they will be more able to connect with others rather than having no one who understands their situation.
Monday, January 3, 2011
HW 28 - re: HW 27
For Leah,
I liked how you connected the visit if your grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, to the book “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid. Your connection is meaningful because you connected the fact that you had not seen your grandmother in several years, to the feelings or resentment Jamaica faced after visiting her brother who was sick and suffering from AIDS. I also liked how you mentioned a way you were different because while Jamaica felt some dislike towards her own culture and its people, you embrace your family and accept that they all have faults. You don’t reject them for their illnesses if anything you accept them more. I really like this personal account of your visit to your grandmother.
For Michelle,
I liked how you mentioned an actual account of your friend being sick and it was sweet that you brought her some chicken soup. I also liked how you talked about the fact that we separate ourselves from sick people, I guess its because we don’t want to be tied down with the very sickness they have. So we isolate the sick and hope they get better. It was also interesting that you mentioned that there are things in our lives we take advantage of, there are people with worse situations than us. I agree because no matter how bad our situation may be there is always someone who has much less than the things we were blessed with. I also agree that we should begin to think about the things that are most important in our lives, not materialistic things but those things that matter the most. I really enjoyed reading this account of your friend who was suffering from a fever.
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From Leah,
The best part of what you wrote that i liked is when you compared a person who worked in meat market compared to a person who works in a mattress store and the disadvantages the person had. I thought that was very interesting. Another thing was how you had an opening sentence to introduce what we were about to read. "When someone is diagnosed with an illness their main priority consists of them taking medicine and other treatments to keep the illness down."I thought that it was a good attention grabber especially about sickness and dying. :)
From Michelle,
The line that resonated with me on the ill was, " It may also be embarrassing because as you get older you may want your independence and being dependent on people does not make you feel very self-sufficient." When I see people who are ill like my sister in law's father who always wants to do things by himself but unfortunately recently had a stroke so during that time he had to lean on others and for him and for many other people is embarassing and even undignififing. A line that made me feel ashamed of myself and I'm sure it does for many is that, " Instead of complaining about things and wondering why this has happened to her, she doesn’t let this illness become her." because we (healthy people) complain for littlest issues and like raven's person who is ill doesn't complain when she has serious health problems.
From Berenise: Older Reader (Friend)
When I Read this the first thing that came up was how when we are saved we deal with an illness, Sin. Sin can bring us down and harm us. But our doctor is God and our medicine is reading the word, praying, and fasting. For us to have faith and hope we have to look at the bigger picture which is that our time on earth is only for a while.
The lady you speak of seems like she won't allow for her illness to bring her down and she will fight as long as she can. People like her I admire because they are strong no matter what they are going through. Great Job.
From Angela: Younger Reader (Friend)
What I liked was that how you compared a person who worked in a meat market and a person who worked in a matters store.
I liked how you connected the visit if your grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, to the book “My brother”, by Jamaica Kincaid. Your connection is meaningful because you connected the fact that you had not seen your grandmother in several years, to the feelings or resentment Jamaica faced after visiting her brother who was sick and suffering from AIDS. I also liked how you mentioned a way you were different because while Jamaica felt some dislike towards her own culture and its people, you embrace your family and accept that they all have faults. You don’t reject them for their illnesses if anything you accept them more. I really like this personal account of your visit to your grandmother.
For Michelle,
I liked how you mentioned an actual account of your friend being sick and it was sweet that you brought her some chicken soup. I also liked how you talked about the fact that we separate ourselves from sick people, I guess its because we don’t want to be tied down with the very sickness they have. So we isolate the sick and hope they get better. It was also interesting that you mentioned that there are things in our lives we take advantage of, there are people with worse situations than us. I agree because no matter how bad our situation may be there is always someone who has much less than the things we were blessed with. I also agree that we should begin to think about the things that are most important in our lives, not materialistic things but those things that matter the most. I really enjoyed reading this account of your friend who was suffering from a fever.
----------------------------------------------
From Leah,
The best part of what you wrote that i liked is when you compared a person who worked in meat market compared to a person who works in a mattress store and the disadvantages the person had. I thought that was very interesting. Another thing was how you had an opening sentence to introduce what we were about to read. "When someone is diagnosed with an illness their main priority consists of them taking medicine and other treatments to keep the illness down."I thought that it was a good attention grabber especially about sickness and dying. :)
From Michelle,
The line that resonated with me on the ill was, " It may also be embarrassing because as you get older you may want your independence and being dependent on people does not make you feel very self-sufficient." When I see people who are ill like my sister in law's father who always wants to do things by himself but unfortunately recently had a stroke so during that time he had to lean on others and for him and for many other people is embarassing and even undignififing. A line that made me feel ashamed of myself and I'm sure it does for many is that, " Instead of complaining about things and wondering why this has happened to her, she doesn’t let this illness become her." because we (healthy people) complain for littlest issues and like raven's person who is ill doesn't complain when she has serious health problems.
From Berenise: Older Reader (Friend)
When I Read this the first thing that came up was how when we are saved we deal with an illness, Sin. Sin can bring us down and harm us. But our doctor is God and our medicine is reading the word, praying, and fasting. For us to have faith and hope we have to look at the bigger picture which is that our time on earth is only for a while.
The lady you speak of seems like she won't allow for her illness to bring her down and she will fight as long as she can. People like her I admire because they are strong no matter what they are going through. Great Job.
From Angela: Younger Reader (Friend)
What I liked was that how you compared a person who worked in a meat market and a person who worked in a matters store.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
HW 27 - Visiting an unwell person
When someone is diagnosed with an illness their main priority consists of them taking medicine and other treatments to keep the illness down. I noticed that she has to take more than three different types of pills each day, several pains for the pain, and others for the illness itself. She has Carpal tunnel syndrome and watching her in pain is very unbearable. I couldn’t imagine being in such a situation and couldn’t dream of knowing what I would do if it happened to me. She goes on about her day doing things just as she did before she found about this illness but sometimes it’s overwhelming to suddenly feel numbness in parts of your hand. It may also be embarrassing because as you get older you may want your independence and being dependent on people does not make you feel very self-sufficient.
She doesn’t let this syndrome keep her from living her life. Instead of complaining about things and wondering why this has happened to her, she doesn’t let this illness become her. There were a number of times that I have been with her and suddenly her hand feels numb. I can say when this happens sometimes I feel bad for her and sad that I can’t be there all the time to help her when she experiences those feelings, or numbness. Illness & dying in our culture is a topic that is widely ignored until the time comes when death is near. You never know when you are going to die but when you are diagnosed with an illness you must take many different pills that may get annoying at times.
I do think social conditions have to do with the illnesses people contract. Let’s say there’s someone who works in a meat packing industry and someone who works in mattress store. Which person is more prone to being injured, the person that works in the meat packing industry, right? This is because the person in the meat packing industry may not have as many opportunities for health insurance at their job and they can’t afford to pay hospital bills. It is very difficult to survive when people are not very wealthy. If you were the breadwinner of your family you would rather be in pain at work, than to return home empty handed wondering how your family is going to eat. I believe that there are sacrifices people must make for themselves but everyone should be provided with an equal opportunity for healthcare.
She doesn’t let this syndrome keep her from living her life. Instead of complaining about things and wondering why this has happened to her, she doesn’t let this illness become her. There were a number of times that I have been with her and suddenly her hand feels numb. I can say when this happens sometimes I feel bad for her and sad that I can’t be there all the time to help her when she experiences those feelings, or numbness. Illness & dying in our culture is a topic that is widely ignored until the time comes when death is near. You never know when you are going to die but when you are diagnosed with an illness you must take many different pills that may get annoying at times.
I do think social conditions have to do with the illnesses people contract. Let’s say there’s someone who works in a meat packing industry and someone who works in mattress store. Which person is more prone to being injured, the person that works in the meat packing industry, right? This is because the person in the meat packing industry may not have as many opportunities for health insurance at their job and they can’t afford to pay hospital bills. It is very difficult to survive when people are not very wealthy. If you were the breadwinner of your family you would rather be in pain at work, than to return home empty handed wondering how your family is going to eat. I believe that there are sacrifices people must make for themselves but everyone should be provided with an equal opportunity for healthcare.
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