HW 21

1. People often refuse to admit their sickness because they are embarassed/scared of showing vulnerability.

2. Insurance and other medical issue were also a problem, as they are for many people, however the medical attention once the insurance was acquired was sufficient.

3. It's essential to the morale of someone who is ill, to treat them and show them to others as human

4. Treating others like humans rather than tools

Beth's experience was obviously much more intense than any personal experience I have had with illness and dying. She dealt with a very difficult illness in a very extraordinary way. However, her struggle to get health insurance is a very common problem and leaves many people feeling stuck on how to take care of themselves and whether or not to even bother going to see the doctor or going to a hospital. She also spoke about how her husband refused to admit he was sick and go to the hospital when he first starting getting sick. She added that she has found this quite common in men. I can relate to this feeling, whenever I am sick or hurt I try to continue my daily life as normal as possible even though many of the times I should take extra caution to make sure my illness or injury does not get worse. This is probably closely connected with the fact that illness is a natural part of life that feels very unnatural to us because we have a somewhat invincible sense about ourselves.

The 3rd and 4th insight that I pulled from Beth's presentation are very closely connected and I found this too be the most extraordinary thing about how she handled her husband's illness. What she did was not particularly difficult but it was extremely uncommon. The fact that she made sure to treat all the hospital staff as well as her sick husband as people was something that is pretty unseen. The hospital staff are usually treated as a tool to heal the patients or at least viewed in that way. This is the same for the patient, they are treated as work by the doctor. However, by taking the small extra step to make people feel more like people she not only helped the morale of her husband but increased the quality of her care by having many of the hospital staff on her side.

I think the biggest the most significant thing I pulled from Beth's presentation is that there is a different way to deal with illness, especially serious illnesses. What she did was very rare but not that hard, especially taking in to account the difference she mad for her husband as well as many of the hospital staff. She was obviously a very strong woman to deal with everything in the fashion she provided me with a concrete alternative in dealing with illness and dying.