7. Enough Time
Ashley Dehudy and Yorgos Strangas

There’s never enough time. There isn’t time to go to the doctor, to cook a healthy dinner, to work enough hours to pay for prescriptions, to fix the car, to finish the kitchen, to take care of one’s body, and to still do the things that are truly important.

Some of the themes surrounding our volunteer’s lives and illness:

• 12:00: Family is at the apex of our volunteers lives. It’s their major source of support, and its place in our project reflects its central role
• 1:00: The financial strain of illness is a potentially bottomless source of stress.
• 3:00: Balancing work and family activities and fitting both into a busy schedule
• 4:00: The struggle to eat a healthier diet under financial and time constraints.
• 6:00: Addressing the feeling of stigma and the difficulty of standing out in public as an ill person
• 7:00: The day to day activities required to maintain personal health.
• 8:00: The huge time drain involved in dealing with a health-care system that, at it’s worst, makes the volunteer feel smothered and infantilized.
• 9:00: The difficulty and courage of confronting one’s own mortality in the face of illness, yet continuing to live hopeful lives.
• 10:00: Concerns for the next generation in light of the inheritability of disease.
• 11:00: Celebration of the passage of time. Every day, every week, every year is a gift.