| Changing Identity | |
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"I asked this man to draw a picture of who he was before he ever got sick. He drew himself as a rock. This big solid rock. And I asked him to draw who he was now that he was diagnosed as having cancer, and he drew himself as an explosion." |
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Living with asthma, heart disease and
emphysema, this 59 year old woman feels that no one really understands what she
is going through because she physically looks well. Her soul has a lot of gloom
because she is frustrated about her condition. The small hearts in the drawing
represent her friends that are no longer in her life. |
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"As a woman with heart disease, I'm treated differently than men. Doctors don't take my symptoms as seriously. I never look ill, so that is a problem." |
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| As a 49 year old man coping with
advanced liver disease, this patient drew an image of himself looking into a
mirror - he sees himself as neither happy or sad. The lines around his face represent the energy in the mirror. "Other people might see me as the devil but I try to maintain a balance in my life. I am ying/yang - good and evil. Sometimes I make people angry and get mad because I am ill and sometimes I feel as if I take up too much space." This image has two layers. The layer you see here is what this patient sees in the mirror; the image below is what the patient sees inside himself. Move your mouse over the image to see the layer below. |
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| "My body betrayed me. I wasn't ready to be old." | |
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This drawing is a self-portrait showing the scars
and stitches over this patient's heart. Coping with heart disease and emphysema,
this 59 year old woman also drew question marks over her lungs--wondering what
the future holds. |
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"In Chinese culture, it is bad luck to talk about death. Yet, we needed to address these issues for my mother and for ourselves so we know how to support her and she knew we were going to care for her and do what she wants." |
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| Continue the Patient's Story... | |
| To the Family's/Clinician's Story... | |