I was diagnosed with a very rare type of soft tissue sarcoma (cancer) on my head in Nov. 2011 at the age of 15. I had two major scalp surgeries to remove the cancer itself in January and February 2012, along with two other surgeries to reconstruct my scalp in summer 2014. My parents and I were scared, but we knew that we were in the knowledgeable hands of surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. My parents and I were completely shocked when we found out I had cancer. We were all in denial for a few weeks after the initial diagnosis because I had no symptoms whatsoever, other than a little bump on my head the size of a pencil eraser. Furthermore, two doctors had previously told us that it was a cyst and that we should not be concerned.
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As we discussed in class, a protective factor can be defined as the forces that aide in resisting or stopping risk factors. Geography was a protective factor because having a world-class medical center a 30-minute drive away was much more convenient than having one that was a one-hour flight away. One hour does not sound like a long flight, but by the time you factor in time spent driving to the airport, driving to the hotel, as well as time spent at the airport before and after the flight, it would have added up to an entire day of travel. In contrast, we were able to drive from our home in Glencoe to the hospital downtown in 30-45 …show more content…
I highly doubt that any parent would ignore a child’s diagnosis of cancer, but who knows… it could happen! Doing so would be an example of neglect, or not meeting the basic needs of the child (as discussed in class). Oppression can be defined as ‘unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power’ (www.merriam-webster.com). Oppression was not a factor due to my family’s socioeconomic status. Because we are an upper-middle class family, we have more economic resources and thus more choices in terms of what institutions to go to meet our needs. The members of the middle and upper classes dominate over the working and lower (poor) classes in American
As we discussed in class, a protective factor can be defined as the forces that aide in resisting or stopping risk factors. Geography was a protective factor because having a world-class medical center a 30-minute drive away was much more convenient than having one that was a one-hour flight away. One hour does not sound like a long flight, but by the time you factor in time spent driving to the airport, driving to the hotel, as well as time spent at the airport before and after the flight, it would have added up to an entire day of travel. In contrast, we were able to drive from our home in Glencoe to the hospital downtown in 30-45 …show more content…
I highly doubt that any parent would ignore a child’s diagnosis of cancer, but who knows… it could happen! Doing so would be an example of neglect, or not meeting the basic needs of the child (as discussed in class). Oppression can be defined as ‘unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power’ (www.merriam-webster.com). Oppression was not a factor due to my family’s socioeconomic status. Because we are an upper-middle class family, we have more economic resources and thus more choices in terms of what institutions to go to meet our needs. The members of the middle and upper classes dominate over the working and lower (poor) classes in American