The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Finale

I finished! How I feel (not in totality, just a few points):

1. If our medical system had a better interpreter policy in place, things may have turned out better for the Lees (and many others in similar situations).

2. Perhaps we truly are over-medicated as a population? While I would want doctors to work their hardest to cure me, maybe all the meds they pump into us hinder our health, too?

3. There is a high population of Hmong in Pennsylvania. They sew products for the Amish, so they can still be labeled "made locally." I thought this was hilarious, and hubby made a comment about how sad it is when even the Amish "outsource."

4. We all need to be more tolerant. A huge discussion in the book was about the thought that because a majority of Hmong are on welfare, they're lazy freeloaders. In actuality, we're the ones who forced them out of their mountain homes in Laos. We're the ones who brought them here. We're the ones who put them on welfare. The Hmong families Fadiman talked to in the book just want to work - they want to grow their own food, work in their own fields, build their own homes. We definitely don't make this easy for them.

5. However, in terms of No. 4, we can only be more tolerant if we're fed all the information. Our leaders keep these sorts of things pretty hush hush. So, we need more books like this one - and they need to be read.

It was an eye-opening book. I was pulled in many different directions - still am. It's definitely worth a read. Once you do, come back and tell me what you think about it. I'm dying to hear other people's opinions.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Part III

This book is very dense, so it's taking me awhile to get through it. But it's a good kind of dense. Not boring at all. In between the story of Lia's family's fight with her doctors, Fadiman tells the backstory of the family and how they arrived in the U.S.

I've learned about the U.S. secret war, or "Quiet War" or Laotian Civil War, in Laos during Vietnam. A war that was so secretive people still don't know all that much about it. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong people fought on our side during this Quiet War, and thousands and thousands died. The war was led by General Vang Pao. (If the name sounds familiar, he was in the news last summer for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government of Laos.) When Vang Pao had to surrender after many years of fighting, the remaining Hmong were displaced from their homes and had to migrate to Thai refugee camps, and then many eventually came here and were spattered about the country. Lia's parents made this journey, losing children and other family members along the way.

Fadiman then talks about what happens when Hmong arrive here: how they're treated, how they act, how they survive. The facts are not uplifting. But I'm enjoying this book for the fact that I'm learning a lot about a culture and a time in history that they don't teach you about in school.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Part II

I’m so torn with this book! I try to be culturally sensitive and respect the way Lia’s parents want to medically treat her. Also, the communication barrier is impossible to break. These parents don’t understand how to administer the medicine, which only frustrates the doctors more. I can see the difficulties from both sides. On one hand, these doctors really just want what’s best for their patient, but they can’t communicate this to her parents. On the other hand, the Lees are very wary of Western medicine as it is, and when the meds don’t show instant improvement, they stop administering them to Lia. Fadiman writes about how residents and pediatricians at this hospital are physically sick because of this family – they’re depressed, stressed, nervous, confused. Their ability to make this patient better is hindered by the cultural barriers. One doctor, knowing what a trial it is to work with the Lees, would vomit before each meeting. How awful. But, I also know if I lived in another country and I got sick (or a family member did) and I couldn’t communicate with the doctor or read the prescription information, well, I’m not sure I would take the medicine either – or I would probably administer it wrong.

I know every doctor can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every culture that may walk through his/her door. When is it OK to talk to an English-speaking relative? When must you address an elder? Do they have certain beliefs that deter them from following certain instructions? It seems wrong to me that the best option of communication they may be able to find is a Hmong janitor who speaks a bit of English. How is either side supposed to trust a stranger to communicate the most personal of problems?

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

I’m barely into this book, but I’ve already learned so much. This is why I love to read nonfiction and literary journalism, such as this, The Overachievers, Postville, etc. I leave the book with so much more knowledge then when I began. This book looks at a Hmong family living in California and how they disagree with the doctors on how to treat their epileptic daughter. So far I’ve learned the history of the Hmong people, which I have to say, I knew nothing about. They’re a fierce people and definitely don’t like to be pushed around. When it comes to your children, I think that’s a good quality to have.

One thought that stuck with me so far was in the author’s, Anne Fadiman, preface, when she talks about how when she set out to tell this story, she figured she could remain neutral and the facts would tell her who was right and who was in the wrong. In the end, she ended up liking both sides and learned to think differently about the situations at hand. I thought immediately of my sentiments regarding Postville. Here again, it’s not about right or wrong. It’s about finding common ground – respecting the other’s culture/way of thinking. I’m anxious to learn how it all turns out.