Analysis Of ' Living With Cancer, And Life Writing By G. Thomas Couser

Everyone hears the word “Cancer” and automatically thinks death? Imagine being told you have cancer a month before Christmas and having to start chemotherapy right away. That was me at age 16 barely a junior in High School, they say high school is supposed to be a great experience. And it was at the beginning which was my freshman and sophomore year. I was that girl athlete with lots of friends who went day by day not caring about my health I would eat lots of junk food and stay up late at night. I come from a Hispanic family single parent my mom and 4 siblings 3 girls and one boy. Two had already gotten married and there was only 3 left at home including me. My mom would work out in the fields so sometimes she 'd come home late, therefore

Through experience, I?ve found that to heal is very different than to be cured. Cure implies a successful outcome and the eradication of disease from the body. Healing on the other hand is born out of self discovery and examination. It is the recovery of the whole self from the trauma of disease. It is my job as a volunteer to aide patients during this laborious journey as much as possible and I believe the first step is to help them change the way they perceive the situation and provide them with inspiration.

March 15th, 2010, was a completely normal day. As normal as any day is for a twelve year old homeschooler. I was home with my oldest sister Brittany who was twenty at the time and I was just finishing up my homework for the day. After finishing up my math work I went to go watch television in the living room. Brittany was in her room and my parents didn't get home until later because of work. A few hours into my movie, my stomach started to hurt. Since I was twelve I didn't no the differences of pain so I just left it alone for a while. Later in the day my abdomen was aching so much I couldn't even get off the couch. After wailing for Brittany to call Mom I was sent to the emergency room in an ambulance with severe abdomen pain. After several hours in the ER and multiple tests, doctors found nothing. I was sent home and was told to take Tylenol for the pain. Once I got home, it didn't hurt anymore so I thought they were right and that I could just go on with my crazy life as a twelve year old. I was wrong. Two months after, I got the same

When someone is suffering or living with a chronic illness it can have a huge impact on them psychologically and socially. Chronic Illness is a condition that is prolonged in duration, usually more than 3 months and is rarely cured (DoH, 2012). Having to cope with a chronic condition might lead to life changes, such as dependency on others, loss of income, which can cause feelings of loss and reduced self-esteem. They can also report feelings of social rejection, poor healthcare and workplace termination due to their presenting condition (Earnshaw, Quinn, & Park, 2011).

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

The recovery model comes from the medical model, and has been improved upon and redefined for many years. One of the many definitions that had been agreed upon state that “people can be

Those with a devastating illness often have a need to tell their stories. How can others ensure that they are able to tell their stories, and how does telling one’s story impact the way patients are treated?

Discussion how “words of comfort” encapsulated the books take on medicine, I feel that these words are showing us how in medicine being a caring and sympathetic health care provider is important. (Verghese, 2009) In the book relationships with patients is shown to be as important as the care they are providing. Knowing how much technology and medicine has advanced in the last years I feel that no matter how good the scientific side of it is there has to be a relationship with the health care providers and patients. It is proven that a positive relationship helps a patient recover faster. Relationships can help in many ways just having someone to talk to, give feedback, and encouragement are all way relationships are able to benefit and speed up recovery. (Brainline, 2015)

Recovery of a patient is much more than the management of medial symptoms. It involves a person regaining control, individualism and independency, “socially re-connecting” and rebuilding their life (Welch, 2010). Protective factors such as self-care, quality of life, pain and illness perception, and physical outcomes can be associated with the recovery of a patient. Welch suggest, “Excessive individualism or self-reliance is an obstacle to resilience when it undermines relationships or prevents people seeking and receiving help when they need it” (Welch,

The person component according to Marchuk’s philosophy and science of human nurturing, is clarified as an exemplified soul in which there is solidarity of nature, brain, and body (Marchuk, 2014). Through experience, I realize that anxiety, depression and low self-esteem most of the time ruins recuperation and successful outcomes. This not only refers to the patient but the family/caregiver as well. Involving the patient’s family into the patient’s plan of care is also known as family-centered care, reinforcing the education also promotes positive patient outcomes. Therefore I always take my time to explore any worries in my patient’s or family member that can influence in their recovery.

“’So what’s your story?’” she then then replies “’I already told you my story. I was diagnosed when-‘” He interrupts and says “’No, not your cancer story. Your story. Interests, hobbies, passions, etcetera… Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who becomes their disease. I know so many people like that. It’s disheartening. Like cancer is in the growth business, right? The taking-people-over business. But surely you haven’t let it succeed prematurely’” (Green, 32).

When I was a kid, I always wondered why it took so long for an ill person to become well again. I always thought that if the ill person went to the doctor they would be back to normal the next day, but that’s not the case. For some people it took several days, weeks, months, and even years to conquer an illness but as a child I never could understand that. I don’t know how many times I’ve asked my mom or dad how come the doctors don’t get together and make a “miracle” drug that could heal anything and everything. It wasn’t until the age of 15 when my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer that I understood why it took so long for others to heal and the process that they had to endure in order to be healthy again. Shortly after my grandmother’s diagnosis, I started looking into what it would take to get a drug that would cure cancer through the approval process on the shelf to save some many others just like my grandmother. But I kept running into a dead end. Everything seemed to keep pointing towards chemotherapy and radiation. Although I wanted something to heal my grandmother fast, chemotherapy and radiation was the only solution if I had wish to see her watch me graduate high school. I went to almost every appointment with her to watch how it helped strengthen but also watch as it drained her energy. A month of chemotherapy and a few weeks of radiation and my

After a while of sitting in my grandparents living room mindlessly playing with my toys I decided to get up. I walked towards the commotion going on in the small hallway connecting the living room to the kitchen. The gathering of people consisted of my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma. Curious about what was going on I walked over to the group. I reached my mom and looked up to see that her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying. I looked over to my dad and his face, like everyone else's, was grim. During this time I kept hearing one repeating word, cancer. I started to listen more closely to the conversation going on around me because even at the age of seven I knew that cancer was bad news. I listened intently and heard my mom explain how she had colon cancer.

‘Recovery from a mental health problem can be understood either as an outcome or as a process.’ Also known as ‘clinical recovery’ an outcome is present depends on whether the symptoms/problems are present or absent (Serafín Lemos-Giráldez 2015). Usually involving a reduction or absence of symptoms and a significant improvement in occupational and social functioning, an outcome does not change from person to person. On the other hand, individuals who go through a process in order to live a joyful and fulfilling life, experience personal recovery. (Serafín Lemos-Giráldez 2015). This form of recovery involves learning to become self-managing of one’s illness, whether recurring symptoms are at that point in time present and working towards a self-caring, independent and fulfilling life. The definition of a satisfying like varies from one individual to the next. This is why each consumer’s recovery journey is personal and tailored to fit their goals and beliefs (Serafín Lemos-Giráldez 2015).

A twist on the "patient's perspective" approach is to describe a time when medicine failed to save or heal someone close to you. The purpose of this tactic would not of course be to rail against the medical profession, but rather to show how a disappointing loss inspired you to join the struggle against disease and sickness.