When I met the patient I was paired with through the Duke Hotspotting Initiative, he was recently homed after many years of struggling with housing insecurity. There were many hardships he faced adapting to life inside of four walls and to a completely new lifestyle nearly 60 years into his life. He needed to get used to sleeping on a mattress, and living with neighbors. He learned how to get up three flights of stairs to his apartment, even though he walked with a walker. He had to figure out wifi and electric bills and a touch screen cell phone. He once told me about a struggle I didn’t know he was dealing with: adapting to the crippling silence of being indoors. Luckily, he was able to secure a radio to help with this problem, but it truly stuck with me. This comment, and the newfound importance of sound in his life is what inspired my project; it is a journey through the soundful environments that my patient has experienced. We follow him as he is hospitalized, housed, and faced with the struggle of coping with a difficult diagnosis. I truly feel honored to share my interpretation of my patient’s story, and to give you a glimpse of the very stubborn, unceasingly kind, and incredibly selfless person I have come to know.
About the Artist: Nicole Diaz
I spend my days watching musicals, bad reality tv, and Food Network. Recently, I have developed a hobby perfecting the Bon Appetit Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. I had the pleasure of participating in this year’s Student Faculty Show, Sickened, which showed me how talented and passionate my peers and faculty truly are. I am so excited to be involved in a similar opportunity to find out more about my classmates and all their endless, wonderful talents, while also hearing about the patients that they have made such strong connections with.
