I decided to spend a few days with my biological mother since she is ill. I dont know the medical term for her illness but she has to use oxygen to breathe correctly for the rest of her life. Instead of analyzing how she lived I asked her a few questions on her daily life.
How did you feel?
- I'm alright, I just took my pills so I wont be so sore
How many pills do you take a day ?
- I have about 7 prescriptions, but I dont like to take them all. I just take my pain killers whenever my body aches
Have you ever tried going a full day without pills?
- Yeah but I ended up in the hospital , my body needs the pills now
Do you pay for them?
- No health insurance does thank god or else I'd probably be dead by now
How do you feel when you walk around in public with an oxygen tank?
- I'm use to it now but I use to feel ashamed because people would stare dont you remember?
MY INSIGHTS
My mother has been sick for pretty much my entire life shes always needed an oxygen tank.I remember setting out her pills and getting her glasses of water to take them, I'd give her her shots and get her new oxygen tanks before I turned 10. Whenever lincare delivered new tanks I'd sign the forms. I had a lot of responsibilities at a young age to help her get through her sickness. Which isn't a normal dominant social practice the "grown ups" usually take care of the sick and dont involve the children but my brother and I were fully involved. We knew her doctor appointments when she needed her pills re filled and how many shes allowed to take. I never asked why my brother and I were given the responsibility to take care of her or why we were allowed to know so much. In the African culture its the child's duty to pay dues to their parents, make their beds clean their rooms laundry dishes etc to show they're appreciation towards their parents. My brother and I involvement in her sickness can be considered a dominant social practice but it depends on your cultural background, from the perspective of someone who's involved in African culture we were doing the right thing but someone who isn't involved in African culture might think we were to involved. When in introduced my mom to the terms "holistic" and "allopathic" she identified herself as a holistic , I told her that didn't make sense because she took medicine she replied "with out these pills I would get worse" I wonder why doctors provide medicine that the body becomes dependent on. This doesn't allow them to live well it just allows them to feel better for a certain period of time. Just like when they're trying to revive a patient, yeah they have a chance to survive but they're ribs are broken, if someone was diagnosed with aids or HIV they can survive but they have to take pills for the rest of their lives. There is always a "but" when it comes to social dominant practices. Being around my mother showed me that death can be cheated although she depends on an oxygen tank to help her breathe and medicines to stop her aches and pains shes still living.
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