Introduction to Hmong Culture and History

Birth of Lia Lee and Early Health Complications

The Lee Family's Arrival in America

Medical Challenges Faced by Lia Lee

Cultural Clash between Western Medicine and Hmong Beliefs

Changes in Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches

Lia's Worsening Health and Hospitalizations

The Effect of Medical Legalities on Lia's Care

The Struggles and Adjustments of the Lee Family

Reflections on Culture, Medicine, and Compassion

This book probes the culture clash at a county hospital in California, where a group of American doctors tries to treat a Hmong child suffering from epilepsy as per Western medical practices, unable to understand the cultural nuances and spiritual beliefs of her family.

non_fiction

anthropology

science

history

memoir

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures