GRSJ224Bobby

After reading Rose Kushner’s, If You’ve Thought About Breast Cancer, I thought to myself how this reading can be very useful to women and men who are concerned about the possibility breast cancer. Although the table of contents covers a wide range of steps, starting from seeing which doctor to post cancer treatment, the reading covers only up to reducing the risk of breast cancer. Interestingly this reading is formatted similar to a manual; it is organized in categories and outlines the necessary steps of seeing a doctor and what to do after a self examination.

I believe that Kushner provides a detailed account necessary for individuals who are: unaware of the seriousness of breast cancer, uninformed of how to deal with breast cancer or knowing somebody with breast cancer and in need of help. I did take up much information that I was previous unaware of. Although the reading is not much in length it does allow me to question whether there is further information that would also be of relevance to dealing with Breast Cancer.

What I found interesting from the reading was the section; Can healthy practices reduce breast cancer risk? Kushner provides some references to previous studies done on diet and breast cancer. I found this section interesting because not only does she focus on breast cancer she also informs the reader on questioning their own diets and exercise which is linked to many forms of cancer and heart diseases.

When you are ill you ask yourself how you can recover and at what steps are taken to ensure your recovery is safe and most effective. Should you be concerned about your illness being diagnosed? According to, How Many Die from Medical Mistakes in US Hospitals, the 2010, the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services reported that ‘bad hospital care contributed to the deaths of 180,000 patients in Medicare’ (Allen, 2013). The recent issue of the Journal of Patient Safety says that the numbers may be much higher between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year, making medical errors the third leading cause of death in America (Allen, 2013). With these figures it really questions how ill are you and how are you diagnosing your illness? When you are ill are you getting treated by doctors and are doctors responsible for determining your illness. According to Naming and Framing: The Social Construction of Diagnose and Illness, diagnoses represent the time and location where medical professionals and other parties determine the existence and legitimacy of a condition (Brown, 1995). When you are ill who is defining your illness? When you are ill I believe you share a responsibility with your health care provider in determining and diagnosing your illness. In the Journal of Patient safety, the results shows that the 10 hospitals in North Carolina showed lower incidence of deaths associated with adverse events because there was high level of engagement in efforts to improve patient safety (James, 2013). How will you determine whether your health care provider is working to improve your safety and will your doctors continue to play the traditional role in your health choices?

When I am ill I try my hardest to shrug it off and not pay attention to it. My mother always has some home remedy she suggests, usually a homemade soup, tea or even at times forcing me to mix lemon, chilli powder, green tea leaves in hot boiling water and drinking it. Almost always my mother gets these ideas from health magazines or from reading it online. Ben Goldacre provides an interesting Ted talk on this in ‘Battling Bad Science’ as he provides a critical insight into the stories about new innovations in health within the media and how they are not only misleading but false. My dad on the other hand is always forcing me to go to the doctors (even for the slightest of illness) as he only trusts a physician’s word. I found the Social construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications article very useful as it made me realize about how I view my illness as something that would not restrict me into continuing my daily activities such as going to work or school. This also made me think of Foucault’s idea of how the medical discourse constructs knowledge about the body and illnesses (Conrad & Barker, 69) and how I would be dubious of mom’s remedies or going to the doctors because I always thought I would get better on my own. Interestingly after reading this module I have realized that most of the medical discourse and society’s definition of illness is based on the construction of labels on people’s experiences with illnesses.

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