HW 29

When it comes to facing a terminal illness people have different experiences and ways of dealing with it. In Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom , Morrie who was dying from ALS chose to treat his terminal illness with a positive outlook which helped him cope with the idea of dying. For a family member or friend who is watching a loved one facing an illness according to quest speaker Beth Bernett, it can be overwhelming and “stressful to deal with”. Everyone has a different approach to dealing with the reality of and illness and death. As well as a different way of accepting their mortality and when to talk about it and address it.

In our society people sick and dying tend to be isolated from everyone else-the healthy. There’s a stigma that surrounds the unhealthy that disconnects them from people that see them not as people anymore, but as their illness. According to Beth Bernett she didn’t want people “to treat him (her husband) like a disease, but as a person, as a human being.” Those experiencing an illness are not seen or treated as “normal” people in our society and are labeled by their condition. They are made out to seem like less of a person than others without the condition which leads them to feelings of isolation (Stigma).

In hospitals patients experience isolation from the doctors who are treating them. Doctors and nurses have to personally and emotionally disconnect from their patients (Near Death). In hospitals the dying are not wanted “hospitals discharge patients, wants they are labeled dying as not to incur the cost.”( And a Time to Die). Hospitals would rather you be healthy and treatable than dying or terminally ill. In nursing homes the old and sick are also isolated, with them being put all together in a home, to live together away from others. Some don’t even receive visitors they are just left there alone with feelings of abandonment.

There are millions of people living without health insurance and that could be due to the rising medical costs and insurance that makes it hard for people to afford. Paying for medical care and insurance is very costly. “Despite such high spending, millions of us do not receive the care we need.” (Landmark) Even with health insurance which we spend a fortune on, it still doesn’t cover everything. This makes it difficult for people to pay for, because there are still medical bills and medicine you have to pay for out of pocket (Sicko). The government is proposing a plan to take effect in a couple of years to provide somewhat universal and affordable health care for all (Landmark) because why should we have a money sign put on our lives?

citations:

Staff of Washington Post. 'Landmark'. Public Affairs. New York. 2

Cohn, Jonathan. 'Sick'. Harper Collins. Ny. 2007.

Kaufman, Sharon R. 'And A Time to Die: How American Hospitals shape the End of
Life'. Simon & Schuster. New York. 2005

Goffman, Erving.'STIGMA: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity'. Prentice Hall. NJ. 1963.

'Near Death'. (Film)

Michael Moore. 'Sicko'. (Film). 2007.