Tuesday, January 25, 2011

HW#32- Final Comments on Illness & Dying

For Michelle,
I liked how each paragraph addressed every question that was given. Your first paragraph caught my attention the most because i feel the same way. The first sentence "The most nightmarish practice in our culture I found was the fact that insurance companies can choose not to accept you due to a prior ailment; at first this seems so insignificant." I thought that that was very insightful and interesting especially to start out the sentence. I feel like i can relate to your blog to my own experiences and how we witness and take in death/illnesses.

For Raven,
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.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hw#32-Final Thoughts

Looking at the movie comparing health care in the US compared to Canada and Europe was very shocking. You would think with all the advantages and thngs that the US has we would have good health care for everybody and that is not the case at all. People die everyday because they either don't qualify for health care for some "unrealistic" reason which is unfair. People in Britain are guarteened health care no matter what and without paying a cent most of the time. Unlike the US people treat each other as family rather than everybody for themselves. Money makes the world go round.

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's not it's just slowing our deaths. Another are nursing homes and hospitals allows people to be isolated from the rest of the world keeping them attached to their own sickness. I think that when people stay in hospitals and nursing homes it makes them kind of more sick because its the same routine everyday not allowed to get a chance to interact with everything else.

After this unit, I might try using more of a spirtual healing instead of the typical medication and pills. I never actually tried meditation because I don't think it works but I might give it try not saying it's a 100% accurate but something different.

Looking at the food unit it connects alot to illness/dying. In today's society, lots of people make horrible food choice and on top of that we don't know where our food comes from which affects a lot how our body reacts to things and can make us sick. Then on top of that we get diseases such as diabetes etc, some get treated and some don't. So where does that leave us? I feel like it's our faults for this but at the same time the government for what they are putting out there in the world. There is something evil always happening behind closed doors that we don't know as a whole.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

HW 31 - Comments 3

Brandon,

I thought your elevator speech was very engaging. I liked how you said that every time you saw the old man he was like a fish in a fish bowl constantly going up and down the hallway. It was kind of funny in a way at the same time kind of weird and disturbing. You mentioned that all the people there was all fish stuck in that bowl with no place to go at all. I never really thought of it like that. They all are stuck in a world within a inside world.

Jessica,

Your elevator speech was very intriguing. I wasn't expecting you to create a vivid picture for us about the human heart at all. It was interesting and once again unexpected. I liked that fact yiou gave out the papers about the human heart and the details. There was one part you said that imagine you wake in a place where you dont know, i could actually picture myself if that happened to me. Your elevator speech was different from everybody's elses. Good Job!

Hw#30-Comments

Raven,
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!

Michelle,
I thought your blog was very interesting. I like the part where you discussed we as a total don't know what happens behind closed doors in the nursing homes. I like that fact that you kept trying to get deeper and deeper insight on why they would allow to go there, i thought that was cool. I never knew that actually 30% of the ederly and the sick get abused so much. I find that to be very scary and hurtful towards them. Your post was nice to read and i also enjoyed the recording we heard in your elevator speech.
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For Me,
Raven
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.

Monday, January 17, 2011

HW 30 - Illness & Dying - Culminating Experiential Project

My classmates and I decided to go to a nursing home to see what life there was like. The nursing home is Mary Manning Walsh on 72 Street. When we first go there, it reminded me when i went to go visit my great-aunt. It looks like a regular building maybe to make the elderly feel "comfortable" as if they are living normally but there aren't. Both nursing homes were very simliar. The fact that it looked like they had own their own apartment and go about their business any other day as if it wasn't a nursing home. It was as if the nurses weren't there and they only responded when assisstance was needed. Like as if, the old people live like did 20 years ago.

As we you go up more floors that "homing" feeling began to go away. We all looked at each other like "what the hell?". It smelled digusting. There was the smell of urine and all kinds of medications. Most of the patients look like they didn't enjoy being there and seemed depressed compared to all the pictures on the walls as walked. Lots of them where in wheelchairs and honestly i think they would probably want to die in their own home than be here. Why stick a whole bunch of depressed lifeless people in one building and make more sad, it just doesn't seem right.

It's funny because in cartoons and things, old people seem grumpy and don't ever want to talk to people because they are alone. The majority of the people there, you could tell do not get enough vistors. We talked to a two elderly people and it looked like they were enjoying the company. It was like a warm feeling inside they had which made me feel good as well. Going there kind of made think that i don't want to end up there or any of my family members because it's just not a good feeling. I want to be able to take care of my family especially my mom and dad till their very last day. It's easy to give the responsiblitiy to a stranger who gets paid to take care of old people.

I was reading an article and it talked about how the nurses don't really get to know that patients very well because they are always rotating.

Visitor: How’s my father doing today?
Aide: Which one is your father?

Or:
Visitor: Is my mother’s appetite better today?
Aide: I’m not sure; I wasn’t here yesterday.

Or:
Visitor: How’s my aunt getting along with her new roommate?
Aide: I’m sorry, I don’t know. I usually work on the third floor.

The nurses do not establish a relationship with their patients because there isn't enough of them. Its like a revolving door. It's always someone new each day. I wouldn't want someone taking care of my loved one and know nothing about them. I think these are the few reasons why dying/ill feel the way they do. "Nearly 43 percent of nursing homes have signed on to the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Home campaign, which began four years ago. Yet Dr. Mary Jane Koren, the geriatrician who is leading the campaign, estimates that only a quarter of homes practice consistent assignment on weekdays and perhaps only 10 percent for all shifts on all days." They should be able to have that "homing" feeling while they are "guests" just as people do in hotels.

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/getting-to-know-you/?ref=nursinghomes

Sunday, January 9, 2011

HW#29 - Reading and noting basic materials

The process of dying and illnesses has many parts to it and how it's seen differently no matter where you go. The book i read My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid discussed the issues of her brother having AIDS and nobody caring about you and not getting the proper service/care that you need to stay well coming from the island of Antigua. Especially how she didn't know how to cope with her feelings. In the book it said "My friend Bud said to me her found it strange the way people in Antigua regard illness, that when a person is ill no one mentions it, no one pays a visit; but if the person should die, there is a big outpouring of people at the funeral"(page 146). Nobody there understand how to deal with people with AIDS who are dying and believe they should stick to themselves because they are healthy. Jamaica Kincaid didn't know whether to be sympathetic to the whole situation or move on with her life. Some people have resistance to dying people while other are the exact opposite.

We had a guest speaker who talked about her husband who passed away, the struggles that she had and different aspects that she chose to cope with everything that was going on. Beth dealt with her husband's terminal illness by always being right by his side no matter what. It didn't matter the place or time. She said that they didn't have to be talking, that she could be silent with him and that's all that matter. Just the fact that she was in his presence is what made their relationship very special. Her husband wasn't being isolated but instead rewarded with the other people's company such as his wife and family.

When people have become terminal sick they become isolated from the world and other people. In the documentary, Near Death the doctors and the nurses to do not have any physical or emotional attachment to the patients just like in the book "My Brother." In the movie it was as if they weren't a part of the human world anymore but this sick world. The patients were very abandoned and alone to just lay there and die. It's like two completely different worlds. If you are on the verge of dying, why would they treat you? When this happens there nothing really much to do but to give you the little treatment you need to slow your death because there is nothing you can do to make things better.

Just like hospitals, nursing homes do the same thing. They take these older people with other older people and stick them in one place where they all feel the same depressed, sick, and old. They probably don't recieve much companies from others so they live their life to whatever they can. That's probably why most old people enjoy young fresh company. In stigma it said "the term stigma, then, will be used to refer to an attributr that is deeply discrediting, but should be seen that a language of relationships, not attributes, is really needed. An attributer stigmatizes opne type of possesor can confirm the usualness of another and therefore is neither creditable as a thing itself". It's kind of like you being judged by what you have like your disease etc. By that sickness you are premantenly put somewhere with your own kind. You are always reminded that yiou are a part of that "stigma".

Monday, January 3, 2011

Hw#28-Comments 2

For Raven,
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. :)

For Michelle,
The lines "So their view on life is different than a healthy person’s because they just wish they were normal healthy person and instead worry how long will I live? then about what to wear to a party", i thought that it was very insightful comparing healthy people and people who have been sick all their live just trying to make it by in life. I also like how you compared your friend's sickness to how your mother said that you should "I should be thankful to God for being born a healthy baby unlike some other unlucky kids" my mom says the same thing to me all the time. The ending sentence i thought was clever and good cut-off. :)

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Younger Reader

When it come to people that are close to you in your life, family or friends, you should always take full advantage of that relationship and build on it because you never know when you might loose someone. In terms of taking advantage i don't mean taking for granted. Whether someone is in your life for a long period of time or a short one, the time period is not what counts, its the type of relationship that come out of it.

Partners

Michelle
Leah,
The line i enjoyed reading was, " She still the happy grandma that she was when i was child and i'm glad she is still there." Because it shows something we all do we remember the person in their prime not when their frail and lying on the couch, we'd rather remember when the person was healthy. Also found myself nodding my head to this, " No matter what is going on, you should make sure you have time for those love ones especially the sick and dying ones like she did with her husband." Something many people can resonate with because we don't make this priority instead our school or job, technology distract us and not every stop to smell the roses. To just stop for a minute and just spend time and will be better way to spend your time to its full.

Larche

I liked the line "Looking back i feel bad that i don't visit her as much as should because one day something can happen to her and i can't tell her what i wanted." because it showed me that you didn't want to have any regrets about the relationship you have with your grandmother. That you didn't want to disconnect yourself from her as she's with Alzheimer's. That you want to cherish every moment you have left with her which is important to you because life is not guaranteed to anyone.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

HW#27 - Visiting an unwell person

Over the break, I visited my grandmother who has Alzheimers. I haven't seen her in a long time so it was weird seeing her after a couple years. When i walked into the house she was laying on the bed not doing much. She was watching television, pretty much relaxing. My dad had told me previously that she had been in and out the hospital. When i saw, i felt like she kind of looked the same when i saw her about 8 years ago just a little lifeless. She had been sick for a long time, i think she just adjusted to the situation. Also being that she is old. When i walked into the room she didn't remeber what my name was and who i was. I guess it being so many years or because she had the disease.

She wasn't really talking to me. I had to speak in spanish but that wasn't really helping neither. I was making small talk here and there. I was looking at her body and she was very skinny and looked very frail. She seemed to just deal with the fact that she is sick because she can't do anything about it. She still the happy grandma that she was when i was child and i'm glad she is still there. She smiled a few times when i was talking like she was happy. Looking back on the book, to seeing my grandma i will always love her, i don't understand in the story she didn't feel the same. Just cause you don't see somebody for a long period time doesn't mean you should forget about them. I think she wanted to let go what she had left on the islands but to me honestly i can't let go my own family.

Looking back i feel bad that i don't visit her as much as should because one day something can happen to her and i can't tell her what i wanted. I made sure that i got everything out before i left her. I took back to what Beth had said that "time is important". No matter what is going on, you should make sure you have time for those love ones especially the sick and dying ones like she did with her husband. I thought that was important aspect.

HW#26 - Looking back & forward in unit

1.) What really goes on behind closed doors of health care
2.) How differently the health care is in America, Canada, and Europe. America seems the most money hungry of them all.
3.)Just cause you have health care doesn't mean you always benefit from everything.
4.)I learned from the perpective of love one dying and how it was different to how i saw views of illness and dying.

The first movie we saw about how the health care was really intriguing. I didn't really know about the health care situation till actually seeing what other people go through and how it all started. I thought it was very interesting how the doctors in Europe just automatically did their job without getting paid upfront as they do in America and just simply help the ill people because it's their job not just for the money. In America people are just so money hungry and greedy not caring about anybody else and their problem which is the problem.

Another source that was very helpful was when the lady came in to talk about her husband who had pasted away. It settled well with me because you were able to hear the story of how he started off to his last breathe which was interesting. She talked about talking to a Buddha and doing different techniques to not try and save him but keeping those positive thoughts. Not a lot of people i know go to visit buddhas but talk to a priest or say prayers most often. It was something different i never heard before.

In the book that i read, My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid, I learned that not everybody is going to be there for you even if you are sick and everybody won't love you just cause your family. Where Jamaica grew up and where her brother was living if you got AIDS you were automatically forgotten as if you had died already. I thought that that was pretty harsh and just selfish on their part. Also the author didn't really know how she felt about her brother's death. One day she wouldn't know if she loved him and the next day, she didn't know how to feel. I found it very confusing but also that not everybody thinks the same way we should typically feel or say.