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Session 1:

April - 19 - 17

Y ustedes hablan ingles?

 

Carmen:

Bueno yo me defiendo, ella también sabe, ella también sabe….

 

Monserrate:

Yo no se hablarlo.

 

Nellie:

Pero lo entiendes.

 

Monserrate:

Si lo entiendo y pregunto cualquier cosa

 

Carmen:

Seguro, para eso están ellos.

 

Mariana:

Entonces es mejor hacerlo en español?

 

Carmen:

Como quieran.

 

Mariana:

Entonces vamos a presentarnos. Yo soy Mariana, soy una estudiante de NYU…

 

Vicente:

Para presentarnos, vamos a decir quienes somos pero también cómo nos sentimos hoy día, porque como ya les contamos el tema que estamos trabajando es salud y bienestar. Mariana, quieres terminar de decir cómo te sientes hoy?

 

Mariana:

Estoy sintiéndome un poco ansiosa y nerviosa con cosas que tengo que hacer para la escuela y los estudios. Y no me gusta estar tarde.

 

Brennda:

Hi, my name is Brenda and i'm just juggling between work and school. Healthwise im very tired, but i'm very excited and happy to be here to work with you.

 

Vicente:

Yo soy Vicente, estudio con ellas en un programa de arte

 

Carmen:

Pero tu eres hispano?

 

Vicente:

Soy Peruano

 

Carmen:

Ah ya porque estás hablando bien el español.

 

Vicente:

Vine aquí en septiembre para estudiar. Y me siento bien, contento y felizmente sano.

 

Carmen:

Mi nombre es Carmen, y ya estoy pasadita de edad. Estoy con los huesos que no los soporto. Aparte de eso no tengo nada mal gracias a Dios. Si no fuera por los huesos, estaría yo corriendo.

 

Vicente:

Y el dolor mejora con el verano?

 

Carmen:

Yo no tengo distinction de verano o invierno para el dolor. Me han dado unas píldoras de emergencia porque no aguantaba el dolor. Estuve 4 días así en la cama tiesa. Poco a poco mejorando, vamos a ver que pasa. Tengo reumatismo, osteoporosis, osteoartritis, y artritis regular.

 

Mariana:

Y para eso qué cosa hace? Medicamentos? Ejercicios?

 

Carmen:

Ay! No puedo hacer ejercicio. Si hago ejercicio estoy todo el dia en la cama después. Ahora me van a dar un tratamiento nuevo el día 25 porque me tuvieron que quitar el que tenía porque me causaba (¿colon blando). Tuve que ir a la doctora porque no podía moverme, entonces me dieron Pregnisol por 7 días. Por eso es que estoy aquí, si no estuviera en casa. Entendiste?

 

Mariana:

Un poquito.

 

Carmen:

Trata.

 

Monserrate:

Yo soy Monserrate, me dicen Monse porque es más cortito. Escuchen esto:

Estoy en….. jajajajaj… ay dios mio.

Estoy en pelig….. jajajajaja…. Ay…..

Estoy en peligro de extinction!

Tengo las arterias bloqueadas, por eso es que yo digo eso. Y no me pueden operar porque tengo mucha edad. Si me operan y salgo bien tengo que estar tres años en rehabilitación, entonces el doctor principal dijo que me aconsejaba que era mejor me quedara así, que no me hiciera nada. Entonces pues con el doctor del Corazon yo le dije vamos a dejarlo así a ver que pasa. También tengo los riñones malos, no producen sal. Yo no se qué quiere decir eso! Pero están trabajando! Solo que estan malos, están viejos. Es por eso que digo que estoy en peligro de extinción. Pero podría vivir mucho años!

 

Nellie:

(…) If she has the surgery she would have to be in bed for 3 years, and that’s no good, I wouldn’t do it either. So she lives on day after the other, she follows the doctor, she takes pills and she does exercise. That I know.

 

Monserrate:

No me molesta para nada, no hay dolor. Estoy con el cuerpo malo pero yo me siento bien tu sabes.

 

Nellie:

My name is Nellie. I have diabetes. Its in control, but I have  diabetes for many years. And I go through the diabetes. I do exercises as much as I can, I eat good, and sometimes, I spoil myself a candy, but I eat good. And I have arthritis and osteoporosis in my back. Arthritis and Osteoporosis that’s painful. Oh yes, they give you pills, but that is something that is not going to come out. It is going to stay there so you have to deal with it. You have to do exercise, you got to do everything… I don’t like the pain, I don’t like to stay in bed. So I walk, I do exercise, in the weekends I walk… i'm always walking, and I always do everything. Those are my main problems.

 

Mariana:

Do you all live around here?

 

Nellie:

Yes. They have exercise here. Now she (Carmen) can't do it, but we have exercise here. Two or three times a week.

 

Carmen:

I tried, but after the exercise I go to bed.

 

Brenda:

What type of exercise is it? Is it fast?

 

Nellie:

Todays exercise is for the bones. It has a Chinese or mandarin name.

 

Brenda:

Is it taichi?

 

Nellie:

No, it's for the bones. And then on Thursday we have the regular exercise. And we have a walking club too.

 

Mariana:

And what does wellbeing mean to you?

 

Nellie:

Yo vivo mi vida normal. I am 83, so I go along with it, because I have to.

 

Carmen:

I have too much pain. Luckily I have somebody to help me, but it is too much.

 

Brenda:

So in terms of social support, what kind of support do you have in your life that helps you… either family, friends…

 

Carmen:

She has home care, and I have one too. I have one from 9 to 1 pm. Monserrate is from 3 to 6. The main support that we have is that they sweep and they pick up things that you can't. And sometimes they cook for you too.

 

Monserrate:

I cook

 

Nellie:

I don’t cook, but I don’t make the home care cook. That’s why I am always broke. I buy food. On Saturdays and Sundays if I don’t buy I make something easy. Because I am forgetful, and you can put that in there too. I burn myself a lot. I think it's off when its on and I put my hands. Sometimes Im supposed to put the spoon. I'm always burning and it gets me really mad, really frustrated, so I don’t cook. I make my coffee, I make some eggs, but usually I burn things. But Carmen cooks, and she loves to cook.

 

Mariana:

What are some things that you really like doing and make you happy?

 

Carmen:

Bingo, casino,

 

Monserrate:

A mi lo que me gusta es el ejercicio, y caminar.

 

Nellie:

I do the walking I do the exercise, but my main thing is reading. I love to read. I got a lot of books. I have christian books, and any book that I get my hands on I read it. And specially I like to read… when it comes to news I already know it because I read it in the papers and everything. Because I can read in English in Spanish. Sometimes I do knitting to, but not much.

 

Mariana:

What is eating well for you?

 

Carmen:

I like my rice!

 

Monserrate:

A mi lo que me gusta son los spaghetti con meat ball.

 

Carmen:

I like fruits, except apples.

 

Nellie:

I have diabetes so I have to take care of that. I eat fruit… and rice, I eat rice because i'm puerto rican, but not like before, because of the diabetes I have to cut my rice. In my house rice and beans no. I eat it on my daughter's house or my granddaughter's house. I like spaghetti, and I like… Yesterday I had shrimp and tostones, and tomatoes. So something that is not pushing the sugar up.

 

Carmen:

Nellie no puedes comer mucho seafood, por el cholesterol

 

Nellie:

The shrimps I love, but I could only eat five of them. I boil them with a little bit of vinegar too. But I love shrimps and I eat them once a month. There are a lot of things that you love but you can't have… because If you push me I will tell you candy. I eat candy, I love candy. Cookies with coffee. I have coffee every day. I don’t stay away from coffee. I stay away from Puerto Rican coffee.

 

Carmen:

But coffee is coffee.

 

Nellie:

But it’s a different taste. I prefer to have my sugar a little bit higher, because low is dangerous.  If your sugar is high, you drink a lot of water, and you walk a lot. But if your sugar is low, your body feels heavy, down, and you are anxious.

 

Mariana:

So let's talk a little bit about mental health. You’ve mentioned anxiety…

 

Nellie:

Yes I get anxiety. And most of the time when you’ve got the sugar low I get really hipper. Carmen tells me to control myself.

 

Carmen:

Same for me. Yo me pongo frustrada cuando no puedo hacer mis cosas. Cuando no puedo limpiar bien….

 

Monserrate:

Yo estoy tranquila siempre.

 

Nellie:

But it's true you get down a lot… because imagine.

 

Carmen:

Yo lloro.

 

Nellie:

I cry too.

 

Mariana:

Because of the pain?

 

Carmen:

No! por la frustración!

 

Nellie:

Because I am frustrated. I used to do everything. I had 3 kids, brought them up here. I used to work, and if there was extra work I would take it because I had to bring my kids up. And I used to go dancing Friday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday. Now it's all gone. Why do I feel so alone now? Why do I feel so uncomfortable?

 

Carmen:

Because of sickness

 

Nellie:

Why can't I do this? Sometimes I pick something and it drops. And it makes me made. Sometimes i'm making mashed green banana, and I am right there, but they get burned. And I eat it anyways, because I get so frustrated. But that is something that I had to do! I used to cook! Because I had three kids and a husband. And I used to go and wash because I didn’t have a wash machine, and I used to come back… So sometimes I just cry. But then I get up and walk. I don’t go shopping or nothing, I just see the stores, walk, and then have a coffee and a donut. And then I come home and i'm alone again.

 

Mariana:

Cual es el secreto para siempre estar tranquila?

 

Monserrate:

No ponerle atención a las cosas que le vienen a molestar a uno. Siempre aparece algo, pero uno no le pone atención.

 

Camren:

But when you have a pain, you have a pain, that’s it. I am happy when I have all of my family together.

 

Nellie:

It's good when you have family and you get together, because then you cook… but I am all alone.

 

Vicente:

Where is your family?

 

Nellie:

One is in Texas, and the other one is all the way in the Bronx and she's got kids. Oh they call me! And the one that lives in the Bronx comes and picks me up and takes me shopping Carmen's daughter is in her house.

 

Carmen:

They love my cooking, but they clean everything. I don’t do that.

 

Nellie:

My granddaughter always brings me food, and my daughter always takes me out to eat.

 

Monserrate:

Mis nieto viven en diferente partes y a veces me visitan.Pero en mi casa siempre estoy sola. La hija mía vive allá en el Bronx, lejos y le cuesta venir porque ella adoptó a dos chicos con autismo. Y ya son mayores, pero parece que estuvieran chiquitos.

(they talk about their children and family for a while: how many they children they have, how many grandchildren, their names, where they live…)

 

Mariana:

¿Qué cosa podemos hacer juntos para crear una actitud de salud, de positividad? ¿Qué podemos hacer para ayudarlas?

 

Monserrat:

A mi me visitan todos los meses las estudiantes de enfermería y entonces hablamos un rato ahí….

 

Vicente:

Y lo que usted disfruta de eso es poder conversar con ellas?

 

Monserrat:

Sí! Vienen a ver si estoy bien, hablamos cualquier cosa…

 

Nellie:

The thing is that because of the sickness she gets nurses. I don't get nurses. So…

 

Benda:

You've mentioned brian games, activities, for example we were thinking of creating art together. I don't know if you are interested in making things with your hands….

 

Carmen:

We play dominos.

 

Vicente:

Y le gusta hacer cosas manuales?

 

Carmen.

Yo hacía muchas cosas manuales porque yo tengo una prima que estudio en Puerto Rico entonces ella me enseñó. Pero ya no puedo tampoco mucho. Me canso aquí, me duele la mano.

 

Nellie:

Over here we used to have it.

 

Carmen:

Era tejer una semana y la otra no… tu no vas a aprender así!

 

Nellie:

We used to do ¿beats? They dont come anymore, but before we used to color following the numbers. They have that here. That's to take your mind out of the pain. I like doing that. And we have another one… brain games. I enjoy them. But lately they dont come anymore. She used to bring us stories and then ask us questions about it… or make us draw the story. Also arithmetic exercises.

 

Carmen:

I like to saw. But right now i don't have a machine.

 

Nellie:

I like crochet. Y me gusta coser.

 

Nellie:

And we like dominos but we shouldn't do that because then we spend 3 hours sitting and that's not good for you.

 

Brenda:

I have one last question for today: I am interested in the community, since you all have been living here for a number of years. How have the changes in the neighborhood and in the community affected you and your health over the years.

 

Carmen:

The only thing that has changed is the rent, it is too high. I don't pay that much because i am a senior and i'm on a senior building, but the other people my god!

 

Nellie:

It's true that we don't pay that much, but housing doesn't pay attention to what we need. For example my door doesn't close well, and if i want to fix it i get it next year. When you call they give you a number, and they give it to you next year. And you pay for that! But they don't come and fix it.

 

Carmen:

You know how much i've been without a mailbox? More than six months already.

 

Nellie:

They are really lazy, but they send you the rent right away.

Nellie:

You have to go and get tickets and get tickets…

 

Carmen:

In my english, i fight with them!

 

Monserrat:

I had no sink, i had a big hole. You have to really fight to get things done.

 

(They keep on talking about how housing doesn't help them fix things in their houses and how bad the system is)

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