Luxury to Struggle
Question:
Discuss about the Health Sociobiography And Sociological Imagination.
I am a 21-year-old Asian born on the 10th of December. I was born to lovely parents who, I must say, were still very young. Having been a second born son at that time, I was at the center of attraction for both parents. My dad was working as an accountant at the time of my birth, while my mum was a housewife, it wasn’t a big issue, and my mum being a housewife since the salary that my father collected was enough considering it was just a young family composed of only four members (Mills, 1959).
My dad, mum, my elder brother and myself. My dad owned residential plots that he used to collect revenues at the end of each month not mentioning a series of business that he had employed people to work. He also owned a Peugeot 504 which at that time was a luxurious car. We lived in a self-contained house in the city in one of the estates that were preserved for the rich kids. My elder brother was enrolled in one of the best private schools in the country. These summarize the kind of luxurious life my family was before I was born.
I was born in the city’s best hospital, matter hospital. Everything went well until I was two years old and my mother noticed something unique about me. My eyes used to turn pale yellow and I experienced severe chest pains and at times had convulsions especially, when I was either excited or unfortunate. My condition seems to have worsened as time moved on. I also showed allergic reactions to a lot of things in the environment. Any product made of Sulphur would trigger nose bleeding. Any time I took salt, I would feel dizzy and what followed was vomit.
The doctors that my dad seek medical attention from seemed to have never recorded such an infant disease before. They treated regular infant diseases such as malaria, anti-allergic drugs, but no change was recorded in the relation of health recovery. My parents were starting to get nervous and felt there was black magic involved since before me; my mum had lost a pregnancy in unknown circumstances. When all clinical interventions seemed not to work, they went to a high priest of the temple to seek divine interventions. Surprisingly, all the conditions they were given, although unsensual, they all followed nothing changed if anything things got even worse.
A Rare Heart Condition
All hope was lost my dad has sold a few of his enterprises, and worse enough his car while trying to salvage my health status. My brother was transferred from the private school luxury he was enjoying to one of the city public schools.
One day, as I got a convulsion attack, I was rushed to the hospital by mum. On the way, I laid breathless. My mum must have concluded that I had lost my life. Therefore, she called my dad, who was at work and informed him of my condition. At work, my dad was already contacting the hearse service to transfer the body to the morgue. As fate would have it that day, the famous pediatrician, Dr. Mary was visiting the Matter Hospital for a particular case-patient. She spotted my mum silent weeping from a distance while holding me. Well, mother Theresa still lives! By giving me just one look, she summoned my mum to her car, and we proceeded to her office. In her car, she explained to my mum how I was alive and that I had a cardiac condition that was very rare, and that she was going to give me a few tests to confirm her fears.
I was diagnosed with a rare condition of the heart called the ventricular dysfunction. She gave me a few drugs, and I usually breathed once again. She gave my mum additional dosages without any pay that would last for the next three months. They exchanged contacts, and she forever remained my doctor.
The doctor had helped the family a great deal. However, the recommendations she gave to my mum to keep me alive were many. My mum wondered if she would maintain them. They ranged from exercises to avoid nutritional foods, moods to support and many others. When my dad looked at the written recommendations, he noticed they were so many and got jittery. The idea that his son was also going to stop taking drugs for the rest of his life shocked him too and prompted my mum to ask the doctor a possible cure.
Dr. Mary suggested that I had to fly to a better facility in India since the hospital did not have such surgery facilities, though she had offered to do the surgery herself as a pro bono. The amount of cost estimated was way much what my father could afford, but he devised means to get the money. All this was in vain as he failed to collect the needed amount. The last thing he thought of doing has always made him regret to date. He sold his residential flats. Even after he failed to raise the money and, therefore, he decided to live with it. All the amount that he had collected was projected towards buying the medicine, which my mum got from the doctor after every three months.
A Doctor’s Intervention
This condition changed a lot of things at home. My mum and dad lived on blame game on who might have been a career of such a disease. This was after the doctor acknowledged that the condition was genetically transmitted. My mum, being the weaker of the two, carried all the blame including from my aunts and even her sisters.
That was not the only thing that change. My parents did not even think of getting another child. The torture they had gone through wouldn’t allow. And since none of them was willing to attend counseling sessions, they didn’t want to get another child.
My dad’s salary was also getting overwhelmed; my mum had to find a job. Therefore, she took up a hotel job as a cook in one of the five-star city hotels.At least both incomes would help manage the situation
It also meant that I was not going to go through regular schooling as any other child could. I enrolled in a private school for children with special needs. I only attended the school for a year, since my parents could not afford the expensive school fees. Well, my dad never seems to fall short of ideas. I was going to attend the same school as my brother who would act as my guardian angel.
At the end of eighth grade, I had learned how to take care of myself. Without my parents’ knowledge, I started playing hockey. My parents expected that I wasn’t playing any game, just making my drugs and academics. They, however, loved me since, however, much I would stay admitted to the hospital for any longer, I still would be top of my class. That catered for my home nickname “Dexter,” a genius main character who would build a laboratory inside his room (Navarro, 1999).
Up to date, I play hockey for the national champion’s side while still taking my drugs, maintaining my health and my parents too got the fear out of them and got the beautiful bouncing baby girl, Perry the only sister we have. Attitude, belief, and prayer keeps the health in me going even after Dr. Mary passed away predicting my death at 20, I wish she were here to tell her I am 21
Reflection 1
The one thing that I learned writing the sketch of the socio-biography is that life is more to our attitudes towards it. Living with a positive attitude opens up hopes hence we live to fight every day. The smile on our face should never fade since living each day as if it were your last makes each day better.
Reflection 2
The fear that I had. What if my family go broke and there is no money to buy the drugs? But what has kept me going is that there is always a better plan though we might not have it now it will eventually come when in need
Reflection 3
The one thing I would change is to stop everyone from blaming my mum for being the genetic career of my cardiac condition. Why then don’t they blame God instead of pointing fingers at my mum? I would also wish to help dad get all of the resources he spent in getting my health condition back to stature. After completing this assignment, I would not change anything.
Reflection 4
This was meant to change our perspective on factors that we believe shape our health and start thinking the sociological imagination as a factor hence it had to come at the end of the course.
References
Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press.
Navarro, V. (1999). Health and equity in the world in the era of “Globalization.”
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