End of Me The date was January 27, 2090. They did it. They actually did it. Those were the thoughts running through my mind as I was sitting with John on my fluffy brown couch. On our flat screen TV the sentence Local Doctors have found the cure for cancer kept flashing. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the tears forming in the sockets were impairing my vision. I turn to my adoring husband and see that tears were rolling down his eyes as well. “They did it” he said in a whisper never taking his eyes off the screen. About 3 years ago John’s brother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. While this was taking place they mentioned to him that they were running trials on people who were good candidates believing that they’ve actually found the cure. But it didn’t work and this past year John’s brother passed away, leaving john in the state of depression. Though on that date January 27 he was getting back to his old self the man i fell in love with. This was a bump in the road that was smooth and could hopefully impact everyone’s life for the better. …show more content…
As we arrive at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, we see about 100 or so people waiting outside to get in. We decide to stop and ask what was going on before visiting Nate. “Hello sir, what is this line for”, I ask the young man in the front of the line. “Didn’t you hear, the cure is a certain blood type and they need it to start making more of the solution”, said the young man. “Oh okay, thank you”, I say as me and John continue on to Nate’s
Wit sheds light on the problems within the American healthcare system regarding patient care and making decisions based on the well being of the patient, and not focusing on the scientific developments that can be made by studying the effects of certain drugs and illnesses on patients - this is done through the interactions between Vivian and her two doctors: Dr. Kelekian and Dr. Jason Posner, as well as interactions between Vivian and her nurse, Susie.
Terry knew that aches and pains are common in athlete’s lives. At the end of his first year of university there was a new pain in his knee. One morning Terry woke up to see that he could no longer stand up. A week later Terry found out that it was not just an ache he had a malignant tumor; his leg would have to be cut off six inches above the knee. Terry’s doctor told him that he had a chance of living but the odds were fifty to seventy percent. He also said that he should be glad it happened now fore just 2 years ago the chance of living was fifteen percent. The night before his operation a former coach brought Terry a magazine featuring a man who ran a marathon after a similar operation. Terry didn’t want to do something small if he was going to do something he was going to do it big. "I am competitive" Terry said, "I’m a dreamer. I like challenges. I don’t give up. When I decided to do it, I knew it was going to be all out. There was no in between Terry’s sixteen month follow up he saw all the young people suffering and getting weak by the disease. He never forgot what he saw and felt burdened to thoughts that died to run this marathon. He was one of the lucky one in three people to survive in the cancer clinics. Terry wrote asking for sponsorship " I could not leave knowing that these faces and feelings would still be here even though I would be set free of mine, s...
Diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live, Randy Pausch decided to give a last lecture. Randy felt this was important so that he may give a sort of goodbye to those who he cared about, share advice and life-experiences that he felt were important, and most importantly for his kids, whom would never really get to know him because of their age. This book is a collection of stories and general life advice that Randy felt was important to share before moving on.
Bad Blood: A Cautionary Tale focuses on the lives of many hemophilic patients and their journey to seek medical treatment which eventually led to exposure to hepatitis and AIDS for as many at 95% of the hemophilic community. The documentary focuses on the creation and consequences of a medication known as “factor 8”, which was used to stop bleeding in patients with hemophilia. The documentary exposes pharmaceutical companies and the fact that they were using contaminated blood to create such medications. These pharmaceutical companies were using unconventional methods of obtaining blood with the addition of not testing the blood for any diseases as they were looking to fulfill the large demand of the drug in the United States and many countries around the world. The film focuses on exposing the problem of the lack of governmental regulations to protect patients against the pharmaceutical companies in the United States, especially the hemophilic community. Patients with hemophilia had access to medication that would control their disease, however, that treatment was contaminated and would eventually cost them their lives. The film has one goal and that is to expose one of the worse outbreaks of diseases in the United States. It achieves its goal by putting emphasis on the fact that many lives could have been saved if someone had listened and stopped the pharmaceutical companies who were looking to make a profit out of their newly created “miracle”
...x the problem. In today’s society, because of the advancements in the medical field, technology and the rise of professional doctors, we do not need to resort to supernatural phenomena to cure medical hardships. Doctors have the ability to fix most of our troubles through procedures such as medicine or surgery. Hence, this demonstrates how the study of history, puts human experience in context and allows us to understand ourselves as people and how much we have evolved, and will continue to evolve for centuries to come.
Almost all of us have heard of a scenario such as this one: A woman battling cancer has lost almost all hope of recovery. She has not been able to turn to her family for support for fear of their reactions to her illness. One morning she finally breaks down and tells her husband about the cancer. Instead of being devastated and turning his back on his wife, the husband supports the wife, every step of the way, and she gradually seems to improve.
Through the tears of losing my partner in crime, I opened my eyes to the realization that life comes with a silver lining. All through my life I have been blessed with one miracle after the other, but through loss of Papa and the gaining of Eli, I truly saw it. For the longest time, I was unable to see any way that my life could be able to recover. Nothing would ever fill the whole in my heart, after the portion my Papa took with him. You see, a week after my Papa went to party with the angels my brother Elijah Blaine Nielsen was born. It was as if God had sent me a reward for letting him take away my life. I understood that not everything was wrong with the world and that maybe there was hope for joy to come back. I remember when I was young and would cry constantly about how my father didn’t love me, and my Papa would calm me down by saying, “Don’t see it as, ‘He doesn’t love me’, see it as, ‘Others love me’..” As a child I didn’t understand the thought process behind this silly saying, but as a young adult, I understand the silver lining. Although losing him was a pain that I will never be able to mask, I have been able to pull away the look on life that there is always a silver lining.
In October, 2009, the malicious virus hit a little too close to home when my mother was diagnosed with cancer for the second time in her life, this time coming in the form of Stage 3 Breast Cancer. Even as a 10-year-old, the extreme gravity of the situation was evident. Yet, being the youngest in my family, my parents and siblings attempted to shelter me from the grim reality in order to protect my childhood innocence; however, I always had my ways of finding the truth. Early on, I realized that being the serious steadfast solider was not my role in this equation. Rather,
The sun gleamed vibrantly on August 5, 2008, but I did not sense the warmth as my thoughts were elsewhere. I was only six years old at the time and preparing to begin first grade in less than one month. As I crossed the threshold into the home of my best friend, I had a sensation everything would change. At such a young age, I was having to tell my best friend goodbye. Blake Basgall had leukemia and would not be around when I returned from vacation, according to my mom. That day, I had spent hours coloring a picture in his favorite color, blue, so I could give it to him prior to heading to my grandma’s for the week. Blake was my first real friend. He had a thoughtful and daring heart through all of his surgeries and medication treatments. Blake Lee Basgall would become an inspiration
My stomach weakens with a thought that something is wrong, what would be the answer I could have never been ready for. I call my best friend late one night, for some reason she is the only person’s voice I wanted to hear, the only person who I wanted to tell me that everything will be okay. She answer’s the phone and tells me she loves me, as I hear the tears leak through, I ask her what is wrong. The flood gates open with only the horrid words “I can’t do this anymore”. My heart races as I tell her that I am on my way, what I was about to see will never leave my thoughts.
In December, my father suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His heart stopped twice during the operation, and he was not expected to survive. He had an intensive recovery period, and I wanted nothing more than to make him better immediately. His trauma had made me impatient and afraid to hope. I was having trouble waiting for things to unfold naturally and wanted to know what would happen in the end. Simple, everyday decisions or occurrences took on great importance.
The phone rang early the morning of July 21, 2013. It was a call from my brother-in-law telling me the news of my mother's death. The news came as no surprise. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May of 2013, and her death had been expected. I had been trying to prepare myself for this day ever since I had heard the diagnosis.
I remember the tears in my parents’ eyes the day my older brother, Niraj, was diagnosed with Thalassemia major, a blood cancer where hemoglobin is deformed resulting in improper oxygen transport. I remember the countless times he had been rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, leaving me to wake up in the morning to an empty house. Most regrettably, I remember slowly drifting away from my parents as our top priority became saving my brother. I tried to help as much I could, but how much could a nine year old girl contribute to curing cancer? The cancer affected not only my brother, but also my entire family. It was brutal, tragic, hapless and most notably a thief. It stole time, effort, money, and energy, but the most important
I am sentimental, out-going, indecisive, understanding, curious, naive, lazy, and young. I want to be ... , well a lot of things, and growing is discovering what they are. I feel people cannot see the potential within, although there is no one to blame but myself. I look to others for approval instead of to myself. I aim to please; it leads to approval. I don’t like to discuss my faults; I pity myself.
I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.