ipl-logo

Summary Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Annie Fadiman

1144 Words5 Pages

The spirit catches you and you fall down by Annie Fadiman is a story about Hmong girl named Lia Lee, who is epileptic. Lia Lee suffered from seizures and eventually becomes vegetative for the rest of her life. The story is about a series of episodes of miscommunication, misinterpretations, disagreements between Lia’s parents and the medical team who is treating her. According to the Hmong culture they referred to the condition as the “quag dag peg,” which means the spirit catches you and you fall down (Fadiman, 2012). It first happened when Lia Lee’s elder sister slammed Lia with the door, which caused Lia to have a shocking reaction by jerking and frightening a “dab” (spirit) away (Fadiman, 2012). Lia’s parents were not planning to take her to the hospital first because they …show more content…

Lia’s parents spoke the Hmong language, which was a barrier during the treatment of Lia Lee. During the hospital stay at Merced County Medical Center, the doctors tried to explain the procedure of her treatment and provided the medications to cure Lia’s epilepsy. But since Lia’s parents had language barrier, the doctors and Lia’s parents were confused on the medications of what is supposed to be given for the betterment of Lia Lee. They even tried to send a nurse to their home to help with the medication regime. They soon realized that her parents did not want to give the medications to Lia. So, Lia was getting the wrong dosage of medications or not even getting medications. The doctors wanted to check her blood to know whether the medications were actually helping her or not. But they have realized that Lia’s mother has been lying or confused about how she administered the medications to her throughout this time (Guerrero et al, 2002). The next time Lia had a grand mal seizure; her parents blamed it on all the medications that were prescribed to

Show More
Related
761 Words | 4 Pages

- Dooley takes the fall is a mystery novel by Norah McClintock - First published in 2007, re-published in 2008 by red deer press - Dooley is trying to stay low, but unfortunately getting himself into more trouble than he can handle. 2) Summary: - Dooley has moved in with his Uncle the last few months to try to stay away from trouble, while also going to his mandatory counseling sessions - He gets off after work early one day, only to see a figure falling off a bridge - It turns out to be a student from his school, Mark Everley - At first Dooley is just a witness but the police are suspecting that Dooley had something to do with his death - Next Mark’s sister, Beth comes into Dooley’s life as she tries to figure out more about his beloved brother’s death. -

Read More
1416 Words | 6 Pages

This book proved that in the end, neither way of thinking was completely wrong or completely right. Both the medical community and the Lees should have sought out ways in which they were able to better come to an agreement. For instance, the medical community could have tried to find a translator for the Lees which could have helped them both determine proper medical procedures. They also could have decided to learn more about the Hmong culture to have some understanding of where the Lees were coming from and avoid any barriers for them to better treat Lia. A big drawback that the medical community made was having a pessimistic outlook to Lia’s critical condition.

Read More
229 Words | 1 Pages

“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anna Fadiman tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose life could have been different if only her family was caught up in western medicine. This book reveals the tragic struggles between a doctor and patient because of lack of communication. When Lia was around three months old, her older sister Yer accidentally slammed a door and Lia had suddenly fallen into the floor. This is the first recorded time that Lia was experiencing an epileptic shock.

Read More
1149 Words | 5 Pages

After getting back home and four months were over, Lia developed status epilepticus which saw her spend two weeks in the hospital. After months she experienced yet another intensified seizure, which was unending. It resulted that the child suffered septic shock, a state that made her brain to have an irreversible damage. By assuming that the child would die, her doctors permitted the family to have her stay at home.

Read More
2160 Words | 9 Pages

The Lee Family The book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, is a story of a Hmong child and her family who collide poorly with American culture and medicine. Lia Lee was their last child out of thirteen brothers and sisters. Lia, whose family is from a very cultural land, was diagnosed with epilepsy after her family fled to America. This led to numerous cultural collisions, miscommunication issues along with medical incompetence, and her parents’ custody battle with the American government. They came to America for safety and security, where they were left unfairly treated.

Read More
540 Words | 3 Pages

This blatant disregard to the Hmong’s perception of lab work shows that their distrust in doctors is well placed. Had the situation been explained, as with the baby’s family (51) they may have been more willing to accept treatment. The Hmong people have little to no knowledge to how western base medicine works, thus can only speculate on how it works from what they observe. The language barrier adds another level of confusion, for even if time was taken to explain procedures, there is still the lack of producing an adequate, understandable and accurate translation. In this passage, the lack of information causes the Hmong people to conjure up explanations for what the American doctors practice, obvious from the title, “Do Doctors Eat Brains?”.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

In Chapter 5 there is a passage that discusses the frustration the doctors are having toward the Lees. Neil and Peggy were very upset at the parents for their noncompliance and it was difficult to work with the Lees because of how hard the work was and they had to face resentment, instead of appreciation from the Lees. They were also frustrated that the Lees never paid for any medical care and didn’t seem to appreciate their generosity for helping them when Medi-Cal was a low insurance program. Lia’s parents made Peggy and Neil feel as if all their year’s education, awards, and the amount of time they spent educating themselves about the Hmong didn’t matter. They struggled watching Lia fail to receive treatment and thought they could give her a better life (Passage summary found on page

Read More
1302 Words | 6 Pages

Nao Kao did not understand why his daughter was tied down, revoking more of his trust in the health care system he kept removing them. This is a perfect example of how easily communication and trusting nurse-client relationship could have prevented this misunderstanding and ambiguity. Peggy and Neil prescribed numerous medications for Lia over the course of her hospital visits. Nao Kao and Foua did not speak or read English, leading her to keep seizing because she did not have enough Phenobarbital in her blood, “Foua and Nao Kao, of course, had no idea what the labels said” (p.46). American doctors believed decreasing the risk of the seizures as more important, and the Lee’s viewed Lia’s nature and personality as more significant.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

A young Hmong man presents a five-minute oral report in French. The topic he chose was a recipe for la soupe de possion: Fish Soup. He extensively detailed the whole ordeal in a ‘in order to, you must ‘manner. His complex example of something simple extended to forty-five minutes long oral report. The ending results of his presentation left the classroom black board with factors, options and a flowchart written in French with Hmong.

Read More
568 Words | 3 Pages

North Dakota Road Trip The passage from The Horizontal World by Debra Marquart’s 2006 memoir is all about growing up in North Dakota and knowing the land around it. She is describing one of her memories when she was growing up in North Dakota. She relates to TV news anchors and really anyone who may know some of the geography of North Dakota such as the residents. Talks very highly of North Dakota’s geography and how great it is to live and grow up there, so she is trying to tell everyone why they should live there.

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

Darien Wellman Latin American History Dr. Nadel November 1, 2014 Ramsey, Kate. The Spirits and the Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. In the book The Spirits and the Law, author Kate Ramsey showed vodou history in relation to Haitian law.

Read More
623 Words | 3 Pages

In the book The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, is centered around the main characters and their efforts of defining what family means. Due to the traumatizing event that happened to them, their unfamiliar environment and, the image that society has label onto them, which led the main characters to question themselves what does family means. Both of the protagonist in the story suffers from the traumatizing event that had happened to them by the cause of their family. When Rachel was still a child, her mother always told her that she will always be there to protect Rachel, however, that was not the case. Rachel's mother pushed Rachel and her siblings off a 9 story building.

Read More
194 Words | 1 Pages

Have you ever thought about how difficult it might be to go into a different country knowing absolutely nothing, not even language, and something horrific happened to you or anyone in your family?  Don’t you think you would feel so powerless, so helpless, so clueless? This happens commonly and it has never had any attention brought to it, at least not until 1998. Anne Fadiman wrote a book entitled, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This demonstrated a collision of two complete opposite cultures, but they both have the same goal to help the child get better.

Read More
1960 Words | 8 Pages

Makenzie Griffith EDSE 460 Denise Hitchcock 1 March 2018 Midterm: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down It is a story about a family who shows so much loyalty to their traditions and cultures, but it clashes with the strict American “norm” and creates conflict for their most prized possession, their daughter. Young Lia’s health is at risk when the doctors are trying to treat her epilepsy, but the culture barrier between them and her parents put her at risk. Lia’s parents, Nao Kao and Foua Lee believe that their ancient traditions and healing is what Lia needs in order to get better, but Lia’s doctors prescribe her with many prescriptions to help with the seizures and her parent’s inability to read or speak English to communicate

Read More
371 Words | 2 Pages

Death of the soul is worse than the death of the body. Without your soul, you’re essentially nothing. According to the United Nations webpage, 6,775 people perish daily but that doesn’t exactly mean physically. Therefore, the death of the soul is far worse. Night is a book about Elie Wiesel and other Jews undergoing a traumatic time in history most commonly known as the Holocaust.

Read More

More about Summary Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Annie Fadiman

Related Topics

Open Document