Being in poor health is not something that happens in a vacuum or isolated to the person suffering. When we think of global health we don't put ourselves in the position of those who are disproportionately affected by disease outcomes. We also don't really think about what effect the health outcome has on the family and communities, because we focus more on the problem than on the people. My sister has just her final round of chemotherapy to battle breast cancer. Whenever my sister is deployed our family has gone through the stress of wondering whether she will come home safely and when she comes home will she be mentally stable and with all her appendages. This stress and apprehension would last until she was back safely in the states. It's easy to understand the stress that military families feels during times of war, however what happens when military families have to watch a family member suffer through the damaging effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy damages the healthy as well as unhealthy cells in a persons body. It does damage to the mental psyche of the individual as they are mentally preparing for life and death at the same time. The family deals with the stress of medical procedures that seems to do more damage than good. They also face the psychological effects of living and dying and the emotional response of this. I see my sister alternate between anger, and resignation to hurt and loathing. I see the effects of what may have been and what may never be in her actions, tears and how she now lives. Watching my sister and reading the articles makes it rather difficult to process at times because they really resonate with me. I look at health not from the perspective of they are without proper health but the damage that it causes not only to the person but to the family and community. When a member of the community is hurting and without good health it removes them as a productive member of the community and depresses the livelihood and mental health of others in the family and community. Health is a shared experience and is not isolated. Good health is a right that everyone should have access to.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI really wish that your sister will get well soon & return back to her life and her family.
I totally understand your point of view. The story of your sister is, sadly, present in almost every family and the psychological damage in the whole family is tremendous. My grandmother died of carcinoma in the billiary ducts and my uncle could survive his gastric carcinoma after gastrectomy and extensive chemotherapy. However; in either cases stress was everywhere. It was psychologically damaging to every single member of our family.
Through my public health practical experience, I heard several heartbreaking stories from those living in the lower bottom. In these cases, the family damage was not only psychological but also financial due to losing the the productivity of the main working person. With their psychological pain, they keep struggling to cope with this financial stress to earn money for treating and providing chemotherapy to their beloved diseased one and to secure their lives as well.
Such social injustice should be taken into consideration when dealing with health issues. Health is a crucial human right especially that it has serious implications on individuals, families and communities.