Why Is It Emotional For Him?

On May 11th 2013, my grandma passed away due to pancreatic cancer. A little later that year on September 25th, my mom received a call from my aunt in Guam that my dad had passed away in his sleep. Then on May 14th 2014, my grandpa passed from complications of an allergic reaction to a medication. So within a year, I was left to deal with three immediate family deaths, one right after another. Losing such important figures in one’s life could leave someone depressed and unmotivated to move on with their own life and to rise above those challenges is difficult, yet possible. During this time of hardship, I grew discouraged and saddened, but over time I became motivated to set aside these struggles and make a change.

I have chosen my sister’s family as the focus of this reflection. Paternal and maternal grandparents shared a health history that consists of heart disease, diabetes type II, lung cancer, and depression. My sister is in her mid-fifties and has been recently diagnosed with type II diabetes. My father’s health problems consisted of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and type II diabetes and died at age 81. My mother suffered from depression in the last ten years of her life and succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 66. Her husband is the same age and has a health history that includes heart disease and had a quadruple coronary artery bypass three years ago. Both his mother and father died in their sixties after experiences many years with various cardiac ailments and disease. The oldest, a son, is 26 years old and has not experienced any serious health problems and is very active physically. Their middle child, a daughter, is 24 years old and does not have any serious health problems and works as a nanny. Their youngest son, now 23, experienced problems soon after his birth. The doctors diagnosed him as having the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis (CF). This was a very emotional time that produced many questions and worries not only for his immediate health and of what quality of life he would have, but also of the risks that this genetic

PART III: Analyze the impact for others in health and social care when an individual experiences significant life events (800 words maximum)

My dad left for work like any other morning, but he never came back that night. I don’t remember my birthday that year. I spent a lot of time in various hospitals, thinking my situation couldn’t get any worse and that no one could possible understand what I was going through. That is, until I finally looked around and saw people in positions exactly like mine or even worse. I let myself get so intertwined with my own problems, I didn’t take notice to my surroundings. It was during these times spent at the hospital that I really developed a compassion for others. Up until that point I was considerably self-absorbed, but during this period I was enlightened and was compelled with the need to care for others. This trying time for my family sparked a fire in me to not only notice the needs of others but fulfill

My instructor showed empathy toward the patients with diabetes; she emphasized her understanding on how challenging the diabetes disease process can be and the importance of following a healthy diet and the medication schedule. As a diabetes educator, she offered us valuable resources and also emphasized the need for more diabetes educators while encouraging those of us who were thinking about it as a career path.

That situation with the younger doctor made me think of the reading Narrative Medicine which is about aiming to introduce into everyday medical practice the use of narrative (story telling) as an instrument to gather and understand information about the patient's history and illness. Having knowledge of their psychological and physical state is very helpful. When Dr. Charon spoke with the 36-year-old Dominican man, she didn’t take over the conversation. She listened and it touched him because he says, “No one has ever let me do this before.” This made me really think about my family’s interactions with doctors and nurses since my teen years to present. Her diabetes began to spiral out of control and it never really stabilized. Over the course of the years, she was hospitalized

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately, 610,000 people in the United States die from coronary heart disease every year. Even with this astounding statistic, CHD is still unknown to most people, especially youth and young adults. This was apparent in nearly a century ago in the heart of Kerala, India with Thomas Abraham, a man so close to my family he is considered one of us. He had a hardworking attitude all his life, even as a child. Sadly, in his youth he lived a very unhealthy lifestyle and by the time he was older he was a victim of coronary heart disease. He died before I could ever meet him; however, his life has had an impact on me in many ways. Hearing stories about him has impacted me socially, but

When I turned 11-years-old my whole childhood began to change my life went from being perfect to everything but perfect. One day I came home to hear the news my father, my best friend; my hero was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Not knowing the struggle my family was about to take on I just began to cry. I had a million things running through my head what’s going to happen? Will everything be okay? Why him? What is going to happen? With all these things rushing through my head all I could do was cry not knowing this was least worse to come.

Task 1.3: Analyze the impact for others in health and social care (John and Tim) when an individual experiences significant life events.

Throughout college, the most valuable lesson that I have learned has been to live in a “culture of compassion,” a world that is respectful of people in from backgrounds and current circumstances. I first heard this phrase, “culture of compassion” during my freshman year in an Honors College seminar, called Art to Life. During this course, students participate in art therapy with participants who have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. My participant’s name was Billie Jean, BJ for short. BJ is a woman that reminds me much of my grandmother, a woman who is romantic, dreamy, and traditional. Every Friday when BJ and I met for art therapy, we would talk about her memories and experiences, in addition to learning about her present self. Our

As part of a large extended family, I watched my parents and their siblings deal with their parents’ elder years and the health and financial issues they faced. Then came my turn as my father endured dementia for several years before his death. I was a long distance caregiver and he was in a rural area with few resources. Also, I’m a nine year survivor of Stage 3B cancer. I had to face the possibility of my own mortality and think about how I wanted to deal with that and how to make that easier for my loved ones.

Seeing him in pain hurt me. During those times, all I did was try to encourage him and help him through conquering his own demons; I almost lost my own sense of self in the process. I tried to make his life as comfortable as possible. To do this I would try to start up positive conversations when he was down or find ways he could improve his eating patterns to help his blood sugar levels. On the other hand, while I was so preoccupied with his well being, I was neglecting my own. For instance, I would stay up on my laptop in my lap during the night with my ears open, listening to his movements until morning, because I would be worried if he would have another diabetic hypoglycemia seizure while he was sleeping. On average, I would sleep a minimum of four hours for the next year. Seeing him struggle through having mental illness and diabetes, I decided I wanted to make my life’s work helping those who were experiencing the same kind of issues. I want to help relieve some pain like I did for my dad, and try to make their lives a tad bit easier to bear in the process.

Seeing him in pain, hurt me. During those times, all I did was try to encourage him and help him through conquering his own demons; I almost lost my own sense of self in the process. I tried to make his life as comfortable as possible. To do this I would try to start up positive conversations when he was down or find ways he could improve his eating patterns to help his blood sugar levels. On the other hand, while I was so preoccupied with his well being, I was neglecting my own. For instance, I would stay up on my laptop in my lap during the night with my ears open, listening to his movements until morning, because I would be worried if he would have another diabetic hypoglycemia seizure while he was sleeping. On average, I would sleep a minimum of four hours for the next year. Seeing him struggle through having mental illness and diabetes, I decided I wanted to make my life’s work helping those who were experiencing the same kind of issues. I want to help relieve some pain like I did for my dad, and try to make their lives a tad bit easier to bear in the process.

My Dad died from liver disease in April. That has become my “tag line.” When people ask me about my father, I can easily pass it off, summing up the only information they need. However, for me, this response carries a heavier meaning, than the numbness of my tone. My “tagline” only skims the emotions I feel about my loss because there is nothing in the English language that can express how my world shattered, leaving me a completely different person than before.

I never has a chance to meet my grandparents from my father’s side because they were both deceased before I was born. They both passed away from terminal illnesses which include lung and colon cancer. Although I did not have a chance to meet them they are still known through the legacy their children have passed on. My grandparents gave birth to four children including my father. My aunt, Madlen, and my two uncles, Avik and Vartan. From all of my aunt and uncles the emotional endurance and strength of my Uncle Vartan has amazed me. His wife recently passed away from a terminal illness in which she lost her ability to complete everyday functions such as speaking, eating, or moving. As her