I have chosen Cancer as my favorite constellation because it is the sign I was born under. Latin for "crab", it is the dimmest of all the zodiac constellations and used to be the Sun's most northerly position in the sky. It is located in between Gemini (to its west) and Leo(to its east). It is best known among stargazers as home of Praesepe, an open cluster. Cancer is most well known in Greek mythology as the crab sent by the goddess Hera to help the hydra kill Heracles.…
Case: 60 years old male with no previous significant past medical history, he presented with epigastric pain, weight loss and lethargy. After multiple investigations including CT chest abdomen pelvis, MRCP, ERCP, he was diagnosed with locally advanced pancreatic cancer T4N1M0, the pancreatic mass was encasing the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), his case was discussed at the gastroenterology MDT. In view of the patient’s good performance status(PS), the initial management was for induction chemotherapy with FOLFIRINOX then for rescan after 3 months, if there was a good response to treatment, patient will proceed to have surgery or chemoradiotherapy(CRT) depending on the operability of the tumour. Unfortunately, after 3 months of induction chemotherapy, patient…
My clinical experience so far has been quite interesting, because I learned basic clinical procedures and preventions that I know will benefit me as a nurse in the near future. During lab, we discussed infection control, personal hygiene, and isolation precautions. These procedures impact my personal health and wellness, because I need to ensure that I am using the proper techniques in order to keep me safe. Also, I know that it is important to make sure my patients are not at risk of developing hospital associated infections.…
The words just kept running through my mind. “The chemo is not working as well as we hoped, we need to make a decision. Increase chemotherapy or stop it all together.” As a forty year old women, that’s not the words you want to hear. Cancer who ever thought it was going to happen to me.…
I recall the day so clearly, impatiently waiting in the doctor’s office. Nothing was wrong with me; I was supposed to be at the rink for hockey practice or so I thought. Instead I was waiting to be called into a room. Little did I know I was about to hear those three dreaded words, the words no person ever wants to hear ‘You have cancer’. Everything around me stopped for a brief second while I sat trying to comprehend what was happening.…
Though mild, it has helped me learn and grow as a person. It took me a long time after to feel like I belonged after this. I felt less and less a part of this community after this diagnosis, and I don’t want any of my peers, especially the to-be newest members of this family, to feel this way, no matter what is going on in their life. This experience made me realize the importance of friends. Several of my friends have made me feel at home when I wasn’t, despite this being Our House.…
Cancerette At night, dogs move around the streets with their huge paws hitting the pavement as they wander around jerking at their pollution stained chains. Their masters walk next to them holding their thick ringed chains. These people were called the guards. The city was dark and distroyed as any other place would be at this time. Its filled with old-fashion glass and steal shaped by decades of destruction and chaos.…
Hi Ms. Sanders, Prior to my current role as a patient safety analyst, I worked as an oncology nurse in the outpatient radiation oncology department at the cancer center of the hospital. As an oncology nurse, my primary role is to be the patient advocate with regards to treatment information and symptom management. One ethical issue that always concerns me is informed consent. I see informed consent not just the patient signing his/her name on the dotted line. It is having answers to questions that the patient may have or ought to have.…
No more cancer is fantastic news! I was thinking about you and your journey. You are such a strong inspirational woman! I had no idea that Leslie had a stroke. I knew something serious happened, but I didn't want to just outright ask and make her feel uncomfortable and then as time went by I forgot about it.…
My parents have often jokingly called me the “Queen of Google.” Any time I ask a question that they can’t answer, I’ll immediately pull out my phone and research it until I find an answer that satisfies me. I love looking into a subject in depth and taking pages of notes on it, then formulating it into a cohesive paper that imparts the knowledge I have collected on it. This has led me to want a career in research; however, it wasn’t until my mother’s diagnosis with cancer that I was able to narrow my focus to the kind of research that I wanted to do. Watching how it has totally changed her life and the hopelessness of knowing that no medication can fully stop it, not even chemotherapy, has led me to an interest in cancer research.…
Though, the hardest part of all was we couldn’t even tell my father immediately that he had cancer because we knew he would lose all hope and just give up right there. We wanted him to give it all he had in this fight. Though, it was extremely hard seeing my father fighting for his life every day and yet knowing deep down inside that ultimately this was going to be the most arduous battle of his life!…
My mom made visits to detroit and eventually fought off the cancer. The cancer was not done. My mom was first diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2004. Right as she turned 40. In some time my mom had to undergo surgery ,and have to have mastectomy.…
That was when I found out I had IBD. The kept me in the hospital for over two weeks. During that time period was one of the hardest times of my life. When I had gotten discharged, I had no idea that at a dramatic change was coming my way. I had been taking ten pills a day.…
December 27th, 2014 my dad passed away. He was diagnosed in 2009 with Lung cancer. Though I have grown up in the church my entire life, my family and I still encountered many emotional and physical ups and downs. Care giving was hard, but when we act on God’s strength we can continue to thrive. All is well with my soul because God is still God and great is His Faithfulness.…
The First Clinical Experience It was an early morning in April. My friends and I arrived 45 minutes early to our long term care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. The three of us sat in my car and anxiously awaited stepping foot into the care facility as we had no idea what to expect. I began to wonder what the patients would be like and how I would care for them.…