Bioethics Reflection

ELEGIO, ELIO, ENCINARES, ESCAO, ESCOBIDO, ESCONDO
BIOETHICS 2
2B
September 2, 2015
Bioethics Reflection: Familys Role in a Patients Disease Process
Being sick is undeniably difficult to people. The worry, stress, and hopelessness all add
up to aggravating the pain a sick person is experiencing. It is actually belittling if we think that a
disease only affects the physical aspect of someones life. In fact, a disease has multifaceted
effects in such a way that it also affects a persons psychological, spiritual and social health.
More often than not, a less severe disease affects a person so much that the disease becomes
more austere or the person becomes more aggravated than he should actually be. However, a
disease does not only pose effects on the person experiencing the sickness. It actually brings
unpleasant outlooks to the family members and to friends as well. In fact in some cases, it is the
family members that feel more hopeless than the patient himself.
Last August 26, 2015, we interviewed a patient named Ariel Manoloto and luckily his
wife, Ina Manoloto, was with him in the ward. He was admitted Thursday the week prior
because of difficulty of breathing. During the interview, we learned that Sir Ariel was diagnosed
with Pneumonia thus the reason for his admission and also has hypertension. Hypertension was
due to a familial cause and Pneumonia was due to different factors such as familial, occupation,
personal and social, and environmental. During the course of the interview, we discovered that
he has family history of asthma and in fact, has asthma when he was young; he drives jeepney
for their familys livelihood, he smokes heavily, and their house is dusty because of repair. Sir
Ariels family consists of 8 children in which two are in Taiwan working. His fourth child and the
husband have 3 children who live with them in their house in Cristobal Street, Sampaloc,
Manila. Their youngest child is male who the wife said has autism and stopped school.
When we asked the role of the family in the patients disease, the wife said that their
children who works in Taiwan give them financial support, their married child brings them
clothes and accompany Sir Ariel when the wife goes home to rest. Their youngest child on the
other hand, watches the house since he stopped schooling. She even mentioned that she
treated his son normal and even sent him to school before. They also received support from the
wifes sister who gave them financial help for Sir Ariels hospitalization. Friends also gave
support by frequenting the hospital. It seems that the family get by from all the support they are
receiving but cues from the interview revealed that they are in fact having a hard time especially
the wife who said that their family relies heavily on her. The wife actually has a bright personality
but became teary-eyed when asked about their familys standing. She said that she doesnt
know how else would they pay for the hospitalization which summed up to 11 thousand pesos in
addition to medicines which she said cost 1 thousand pesos per bottle. She said that although
she brought her husband to the hospital because ayaw ko naman siya mamatay kasi hindi
makahinga, she cant stop thinking about the bills they have to pay and the medicines they
need to maintain. Self-pity is very apparent from the couple. The wife blames herself for her
husbands disease because she said she tolerated him. She explained that she would buy
cigarette rims for her husband because that would be cheaper than buying per stick. She also
said that how can they have a good life when her husband only drives and she only sells
breakfast food. In this scenario, it is evident that a disease not only affects the person but also
gravely affects the family. The disease also affected their psychological well-being which is
manifested from their self-pity.
When the wife was asked on what are the things she do in order to alleviate his
husbands sickness, she said that she cooked healthy food that his husband likes to eat.
Whenever we asked a question directed to Sir Ariel she would always say that Ako na dun,
wala na siya. Its apparent that she doesnt want to trouble his husband anymore and that she
wants for him to concentrate on getting better and not think about their other problems like the
bills. Mrs. Ina Manoloto even said that, Ako nalang dapat yung nakahiga dyan kaysa siya. This
scenario showed the wifes devotion to his husband that its alright for her to suffer as long as
his husband gets better. This emphasizes the vow they made in marriage that they will always
be together in sickness and in health.
To end the interview, we asked how will they cope up with the outcome of the disease
and the couple said that they would take it day by day. Poverty and the disease made the
couple very resilient. It is good to see that although we can see the hardships they are
experiencing, they wont give up and concede to the disease. We became hopeful when they
said makakaraos din kami sa buhay. We realized that indeed, family has a big part in a
patients disease process. When it comes to this scenario, we would immediately think of the
familys role in supporting the finances. But we were able to see that the family provided
emotional support to the patient and even strengthen each other to overcome their fears and
difficulties in life.
As future doctors, we would be encountering patients and their family who will lose hope
because of the circumstances. We cannot be hopeless as well because we feel their pain, as
good doctors in training, we should encourage patients and their family to keep fighting the
disease and strive to become better. From our encounter with Sir Ariel and his wife, we learned
that doctor-patient relationships shouldnt revolve on treatment plans only, it should encompass
the plan to improve quality of life in general.

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ELEGIO, ELIO, ENCINARES, ESCAO, ESCOBIDO, ESCONDO

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