Mama Might Be Better Off Dead

“Mama Might Be Better off Dead: the Failure of Health Care in Urban America” by Laurie Kaye Abraham, follows a families struggles over the course of three years in a poor Chicago neighborhood. Abraham points out specifically how the health care system in the United States has failed the different members of the poverty stricken Banes family. The main character, Jackie has the responsibility of taking care of her sick and elderly grandmother. Jackie also cares for her three young children with little help from her husband, Robert who also suffers from various illnesses. While, there are some government programs set up to help families like the Banes’, the health care system is certainly lacking. Cora Jackson is an African American woman in her late sixties when the book begins. She suffers from many chronic conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes. Cora had a leg amputated because of complications from her diabetes. Diabetics often have poor circulation in their extremities which hinders wounds from healing properly. Besides being bed-ridden and wheel chair bound, Mrs. Jackson suffers from bed sores and incontinence. She also sufferers from severe depression over losing her leg which is common among many with physical disabilities. Despite, her poor health Cora Jackson remains the matriarch of the family. Mrs. Jackson raised Jackie as a young girl and before becoming ill, had a remarkable relationship with her great-granddaughter Latrice. As time goes on, Mrs. Jackson becomes more ill and Latrice begins to pull away from her great-grandmother. This seems understandable because it must be very difficult for children to understand and deal with the terminally ill. Jackie however, remains warm and caring toward her grandmother. She expresses her frustrations, but few of them are aimed at her grandmother. Most of them are aimed at the doctors and particular government agencies set up to treat and help her grandmother. Obtaining health care services is