Sometimes I really struggle to understand how the US healthcare system can be so behind this far down the line. Why is it that every time a woman within my family shows an ounce of sickness, they feel the need to go on like it isn’t there? Why do so many black women feel as though they need to over exaggerate their symptoms to get an accurate diagnosis? Why do our doctors only identify our health issues when they are unfixable?
The women in my life are the strongest people I know. They could have little to no support, and still find ways to be overachievers. They are the backbone of the lives of many, yet there is such little regard for their health. I’ve had to see so many of my loved ones suffer because the US does not have the black woman in mind when they say they want to “help everyone”. I could talk about how black women were used as test subjects and experiments so that the majority could find better health solutions, but I digress. That is not the point of this article. Instead, I'll speak on the failure of the US health system from an inside perspective.
The women in my life are the strongest people I know. They could have little to no support, and still find ways to be overachievers. They are the backbone of the lives of many, yet there is such little regard for their health. I’ve had to see so many of my loved ones suffer because the US does not have the black woman in mind when they say they want to “help everyone”. I could talk about how black women were used as test subjects and experiments so that the majority could find better health solutions, but I digress. That is not the point of this article. Instead, I'll speak on the failure of the US health system from an inside perspective.
Vulnerability has never been my strong suit, but it is rather important at the moment. My older cousin suffered from so many internal pains, fatigue, and swelling for years. She went to the doctor several times and got X-rays when things got worse, yet she was always told nothing was wrong. This went on for so long that she eventually brushed it off. That was until 2023. My cousin was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. You'd think that all those X-rays and tests that were run could've caught on before this, yet somehow they didn't. I'll save you the details, but this wasn't my first time taking note of how the healthcare system failed a black woman.
My mother has had to experience issues revolving around an iron deficiency. She has had transfusions done, and been put on medication for close to a year, if not more. I was happy when she told me she was taking care of herself, but that optimism quickly faded when I saw little to no changes. She had to push for days on end with little to no energy because nothing was helping. Fast forward to April, she's told that whatever medication she was given was the least effective for black women. Thankfully her prescription has been changed but this only makes me wonder why it took so long for her to receive proper care. Was this not something doctors could've considered prior to this? Not only was pharmaceutical care faulty in her case, it was essentially a waste of money and time.
Now if we step out and look at the bigger picture, Black women have never been seen as people of importance, patient-wise. According to the National Library of Medicine, black women tend to experience around a 2-month delay in diagnosis and surgical treatment, as opposed to white women. I want you to think about how much can change in 2 months. And I haven't even touched on the fact that as black women, we are rarely able to get mental assistance or taken seriously when we are at our lowest. Black Women receive the minimum amount of care when given public health assistance. So many African American women have spiraled or been seen as “crazy” because they are never taken seriously when it comes to their well-being. The system does not see me. The system does not see the women in my family. And until my community can be properly acknowledged, things will only worsen.