Frank 's Journey Through Illness

body and ignoring the mind, heart and soul can be deadly. When faced with sickness and the

An invention as an insight into the means of the sick to become a restored person. The understanding of this narratives serves as the beginning point for disease narrative ethics (Frank, 2013).

To begin, I will discuss how Bearing’s cancer and treatment generate pain that then leads to her salvation anxiety. Bearing first experiences physical pain which prompts her to seek a medical opinion. She describes this pain as “like a cramp, but not the same” (27). As it turns out, the pain she felt was ovarian cancer. After her diagnosis, Bearing chooses to undergo an experimental treatment. The medicine used produces nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills (31, 41, 47). After several rounds of chemotherapy, the chemicals kill all of Bearing’s white blood cells leading to her immune system being compromised and further subjection to illness (46-47). With extreme pain as a constant reminder of her death and what follows, it is no surprise Bearing also begins to suffer from salvation anxiety.

There are a number of key elements that help to provide a framework that enhances truthful communication. Firstly, there is the need to develop open and honest communication from the very beginning of the patient-health professional relationship. Secondly, the health professional needs to use patient penchant as a “weigh” by asking them what they wish to know, how much they wish to know, and determining what they already know. In other words, it is a responsibility of the health professional to get a ‘feel’ for the situation, including the patients’ perception of the situation (Ashcroft, Dawson & Drape 2007).

Communication is so important in a healthcare and social care setting for a number of reasons. The patient and the healthcare professional need to understand each other clearly in order for the patient to receive the best possible

Two different styles emerge when evaluating how providers communicate with patients, Biomedical and Biopsychosocial. According to Athena du Pre author of ‘Communicating About Health: Current Issues and Perspectives, “Health communication influenced by the biomedical model is typically focused and specific” (du Pre, 2005, p. 10). Providers that use biomedical communication elicit short ‘yes’ ‘no’ answers with direct questions to patients. This type of communication does not create open lines between the provider and the patient if it does not make the patient comfortable to help create a bigger picture of their health and wellbeing. Biopsychosocial communication engages the provider and patient in conversations that create in-depth answers giving the provider a stronger base to provide care to the patient. Knowing a patients extended life outside out their immediate appointment or health care crisis helps the physician treat and extend care appropriately.

Patient care is ultimately inadequate if the patient’s goals and preferences have not been assessed. Therefore, it is crucial that the attending physicians have insight into the thoughts of the patient as they go from diagnosis, to treatment and then the likelihood of death when the patient is confronted with a devastating illness. The physician’s task for their chronically ill patient discussed in a class lecture noted the importance of American Psychiatrist George Engel’s Biopsychosocial Model of Health and Illness’s, a view that psychological and social factors influence biological

Anne had to suffer many hardships throughout her life especially while in hiding. During this time, the living conditions were poor, relationships formed within the Annex, and having enough food for everyone was very difficult. As the Nazis began invading Germany, the Franks made their way to the Netherlands to begin hiding.

Emotional sickness has been a mind boggling point since the development of its known presence. While the meaning of dysfunctional behavior has developed, and been re-imagined for quite a long time, it can be best marked as a mutable, or a regularly changing thought that for all intents and purposes changes the result for treatment. (DeYoung 259) In early developments, up until about the nineteenth century, having an emotional instability was rejected as a man being under an obscure stupor which could bring about those being secured away mental homes forever. The other more radical conclusion had a tendency to be individuals who were rationally unwell were controlled by some kind of wicked compel and the best way to evacuate this underhanded drive was by expulsion or conceivable murder. While human blunder and

I'm amazed by the clear majority of “successful” people who overcame adversity and hardship. How do we react to ours? Do we crumble like cookies under the thought of a challenge and avoid them.. or do we conquer challenges and own them? Well, I say, it's up to us. All this [stress] plays into a huge feedback loop that can determine health, happiness, and ultimately our "success". For better or for worse. Why did patients in our readings have such different personal narratives of illness from what seemed to be very similar and even in the same biomedical causes of illnesses? These questions highlight the view that there is a deeper transcending non-biomedical cause of illness, which then, effects outcomes of treatment and healing. I believe an attitude of resilience fostered through experience, plays a huge role in how people react to their illness which then affects how one responds to treatment/therapy. How is it that some people in life have suffered so much and at the end of the day, sometimes after years. not only remain intact mentally, but thrive in the world and carry on with their lives, despite their condition(s) and exposure to trauma. Against all the odds. Through personal experience and evidence presented in the readings. I will persuade you to understand why I feel humans may respond so differently; to treatment and the processes of healing. I don’t expect you to agree with everything I say, you are entitled to that. I only expect that you acknowledge that the

As a professional administering and delegating care to a patient you have a great responsibility to communicate with them. The world of healthcare is large and to the general public is utterly confusing. As the professional you need make the patient feel secure about the care they are receiving. It also lends itself to informing the families of the patient as well. If the patient is confused, it’ the job of the professional to be the teacher. It’s not enough for the information to be given, the information needs to be interpreted.

This form of communication is developing every day with new inventions and ideas that are created to try and make things easier and more efficient for patients and staff. This communication is very important in the health care field. Using technology and internet can be a big help it is a quick and easy way to transfer information about patients to other doctors or staff. There can be issues with sending private information and files over the internet such as the chance that information can get into the wrong hands. If that happens then the patients’ privacy has been breached. When using email always use formal wording and never use slang, it is unprofessional and it can be misinterpreted. You also have to make sure you use this form of communication in the correct way e.g. you would not email one of your patients to let them know they are terminally ill as this would be the wrong type of communication and very unprofessional. In this report I have explained the importance of effective communication. The four methods that I have discussed are written communication, non verbal, verbal and computerized. From this report it has allowed me to understand how important effective communication is within health care and that if the correct communication is not given it can really have disastrous effects on patients in many

Effective communication among nurse and patient/family can improve care and relieve suffering. The diagnosis and treatment for cancer is a major challenge and it affects all aspects of life. By therapeutic communication, providing information, encouraging optimistic outlook, teaching how to reduce stress patient care will have better outcomes. (Yarbro, Wujchik, & Gobel,  2010).

Communication, in healthcare, is a multidimensional concept that involves patients, family members, and a health care team. There is a direct correlation with communication, improving a patient's well being, and quality of care. Adequate communication among physicians and their patients is an actively growing research topic. Results supplied by such studies have provided effective recommendations for oncologists and their team. These recommendations include the patient-physician relationship, how physicians utilize medical information, how physicians deal with patient emotions, physician self-management, and educational conferences designed to sharpen communication. Communication is important during each phase of cancer care.

Norman Cousins is renowned for his work as a journalist, peace advocate, editor, author and professor. He also developed an interest for medicine, but this interest was not nurtured by a traditional point of view, rather it had something of a holistic approach. The term has come to be used today for a specific type of medical initiative that requires a healing process not merely limited to the body, but also incorporating the mind, the spirit, and the overall emotions of human beings. Cousins would have known a few things about what it is like to be treated as a patient because he had been wrongfully diagnosed with tuberculosis and hospitalized in a sanatorium at the age eleven. In his old ages, he experienced illness symptoms that were diagnosed with