Category: Chapters 5 and 6

In Chapter 5 we learn more about Lia’s treatment and the disconnect between the Hmong people and Lia’s doctors. The first part of the chapter talks about Lia’s relationship with her parents, how her dad likes that she is a little overweight and how Lia is much more soothed when she is around her mother.Continue reading Chapters 5 & 6 →

These two chapters go into the misunderstandings and frustrations associated with Hmong treatment in a Western hospital. Chapter 5 focuses a lot on the doctor’s frustrations with the Lee family, and how their expertise was rarely ever taken seriously or applied accurately. The doctors seem to be doing everything they can for the family, butContinue reading Chapters 5 & 6 →

Chapters 5 and 6 began by discussing how the Lee’s continued not to give Lia the proper medication for her seizures. Her two doctors Dr. Neil Ernest and Dr. Peggy Philip gave her multiple medications and increased her dosage of drugs over 20 times, but because the parents did not understand English and were stillContinue reading Chapters 5 and 6 →

     I found myself with mixed feelings after reading Chapter 5 and 6. The two chapters focused on the Lees and their trouble with Lia’s medication. There are several instances in these two chapters where this an idea that Hmongs willfully misunderstood the instructions given to them by doctors and that they have aContinue reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Ch. 5 & 6 →

In chapters 5 and 6, we learn more about the continuous struggle for Lia’s health at the hands of the American health system. In Chapter 5, one piece of information that stood out to me was the fact that Lia is overweight.  To the Hmong, an overweight child is a good thing, but for Lia’sContinue reading Chapters 5 and6 →

Chapters 5 and 6 reveal a lot about how the Hmong culture fits (or doesn’t fit) in the US health/medical system. It continues to tell the story of Lia Lee and her family’s personal experience with her illness; yet, it also provides many general ideas and beliefs about how people in the US medical fieldContinue reading Chapters 5 and 6 blog post →

In these recent chapters from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, we learn more about the progression of Lia Lee’s epilepsy and the negative light Hmong people continue to shed on Western medicine. While reading through Chapters 3 and 4, we start to get a since of how frustrating treating Hmong patients canContinue reading Chapters 5 & 6 →

Though immigration is a large part of American history, many immigrants struggle to adapt to life in the west. Chapter five of Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down captures one prominent struggle for many non-English speaking immigrants: the inability to communicate effectively with others in a given community. Given Lia’s condition, sheContinue reading Chapters 5 & 6 →

Chapter 5 focuses mainly on the language/culture barrier and how it affects Lia’s hospital stays and treatment. It goes into great detail about her two doctors Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp who both know her very well and have worked with her over the years. It briefly mentions how hard it is for parents toContinue reading Chapters 5 & 6 →

The Hmong immigrants were to be screened for perfect health, but they often were not. The doctors at MCMC should have expected a language and cultural barrier when new excited residents purposely took shifts at the hospital, but they did not. The Hmong were expected to follow directions given by a stranger (even if he/sheContinue reading Chapter 5 & 6 →