[Ohio-talk] What I Want!

[Suzanne Turner]

Good Morning,

The poem below is a collaboration of CSC employees asked by medical Students to dialogue about our experiences as patients seen by area physicians.  I hope you will find the poem that their Instructor has written based on our experiences and conversation enlightening.

Suzanne


What I Want

by Stats Ky Bey, Dr. Anthony Easley, Stanley Griffin, Alicia Howerton,

Moreed Kamal and Suzanne Turner

When I step into her office, I want my doctor to look at me
and see the whole human being that I am.
I want her to talk to me, not the sighted person who drove me here.
And if she pronounces a heavy diagnosis without acknowledging me,
I'll ask, "Since you're only talking to him,
can I give my sighted friend the cancer instead?
This is my appointment, and I'm paying you to talk to me. So talk to me."

I want all insurance companies to get this under their skin:
I'm a whole world more than a name, number, and dollar amount.
And for all my doctors to remember: I am not my body parts, and not my diagnosis.
So, please, let up on your typing while I'm talking, and turn off your beeper
so you can sit still long enough to hear my story.
Look, I'd like to know your story, too.
You come out from behind your white coat,
and I'll come out from behind my diagnosis.
Even if I have to pack us both a lunch for my visit with you:
Please. Sit a spell. Make yourself comfortable. Take your time.

And while we're at it, let's gather a full team of human beings
to lend me a hand as I stand up from my heavy diagnosis.
Not just medical experts, but those who've been through this, too,
folks willing to share the wisdom, wipe the tears,
and coach me on how to deal with this new version of who I am.
Edify me. Give me something more than bottles of pills rattling around
with side effects worse than the disease.
Do not send me off solo into my anger and grief.
Help me carry this pain. Cry with me.

And once this healing has begun,
I want to walk out from behind my diagnosis and come back into the community.
To be seen the way I look on paper-rich with credentials and experience.
And recognized for having my own kind of vision.
I want everyone to understand: It's a scientific fact that a tree
cannot grow strong without a strong wind to challenge it.
When people see me with my cane, I intend for them to behold my whole,
entire tree, from the root to the fruit. To look beyond the rough weather
I have withstood and focus instead on the way I'm standing,
and standing tall. To listen to what I'm saying
and to think, This tree has got it going on.
It's strong, it's blooming, and it's beautiful, from the root to the fruit.


Suzanne Turner, BSW, MPA
Employment Coordinator and Benefit Specialist

Cleveland Sight Center
216-791-8118 (main)
216-658-7350 (direct)
216-791-1101 (fax)
sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org <mailto:sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org>

Visit our website at www.ClevelandSightCenter.org <http://www.ClevelandSightCenter.org>


1909 East 101st Street
P.O. Box 1988
Cleveland, Ohio  44106-0188

Our Mission: To empower people with vision loss to realize their full potential, and to shape the community's vision of that potential.

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