"Care." "Self care." "Take care of your self so you can take care of others." "Take care." "Be careful."
All those lines came into my head last evening as I was getting ready for bed, following two long and stressful days coordinating care and communication around a family member who had just gone into the hospital following yet another brain bleed.
Care. What is care? How do we care? Do we care? How do we show we care? For whom? For what? Let's start with "healthcare." What is "healthcare?"
The family member in question was whisked away by ambulance in the early hours of Tuesday morning to the local hospital. The ambulance was turned away. The hospital was "too busy." Aside from the clear ethical implications, after
reacting to the news, I found my mind turning to the overfilled, understaffed state of hospitals statewide. Is there even a substandard of "care" when a patient in an ambulance is refused admittance? Is this "health care?"
That family member was transported to another hospital, received treatment and was moved to another hospital, where he awaits his insurance company's thumbs up to move on to inpatient acute rehabilitation- back at the hospital that sent him to the hospital where he currently waits. This family member has "Medicare."
The purpose here is not to trash hospitals- or insurance companies, even, for that matter. The purpose is to place the word "care" out on the table for consideration in a number of contexts, with the inspiring situation as a case study.
I am curious. Do any of the "care" associations above particularly strike you? If so, how? (TBH, "self care" is a term that rubs me the wrong way, not in the same manner as "health care," but in a way that tells me I have some reflecting to do.)
Those of us who "take care of" - or "care for"? - often set care of our own selves a
side, sometimes until we are depleted of the ability to "care." A healing path is a caring path. And we have help. Does "self care" still mean the same if we call on our helpers, whether in Ordinary or Non-ordinary Reality, to help us take "care" of our selves?
I "care" about what you think and would
love to hear from you on this topic!
Leeschwa