Breaking Diagnosis

Disease Class -  Winter Term - 1/29/2023

    In our Winter term course titled "disease" we learned all about how to classify a disease and all the different ways to identify them.  We then learned about the different body systems and what body parts fit under those body systems.  To really visualize and make things really click we visited the Museum of Science and Industry to see the 'YOU!' exhibit.  It was really cool to see.  The 'The Exploded Man'  specimen in particular was incredible. The 'Exploded Man' is a real human specimen that had all its body systems separated from one another so you can easily visulize what was what.  We saw all kinds of technology and specimen just like the 'Exploded Man' that really knit our whole class together.  Following this we began wok on our Action Project (AP).  A project that will encapsulate all we learned this term and prove that learning all in one sussinct presentation.  For this AP we drew up a humanoid character who we endowed with some disease.  Our job was to visually represent the disease and the different parts of the body system that it effected.  We then had to write up a story explaining all about the disease and what the diagnosis and prognosis looked like for our character.  Here's how it turned out!

The Patient

    Walter White is a 50 year old married man with one teenage son.  At the time of his lung cancer diagnosis he was working as a highschool chemestry teacher, with a side job at a local car wash.  He has never smoked in his life, but his job at the car wash surrounded him with a harmful and potentially carcinogenic materials.  He would experience all his major symptoms in one day while at work.  In quick succession, Walter, would first experience a severe coughing fit.  Next he felt a tight pressure in his chest, and would finally collapse from his third major symptom - shortness of breath.  He was rushed to the hospital where a series of imaging would confirm the worst.  The doctors diagnosed him with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) adenosarcoma.  NSCLC is the less aggresive form of lung cancer compared to Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), and Adenosarcoma of the lung is when the cells on the outside of the lung become cancerous.  Walters cancer unfortunatly wasnt found until in stage 3a meaning it had already begun to spread to sites around the lungs but not to distant bodily sites.  The cancer also was determined by doctors to be inoperable so his only choice was to go through rounds of chemo and radiation for his treatment.

    After the diagnosis Walter was put through various rounds of chemotherapy and radiation to try and shrink the cancer.  After begining the treatment, Walter began to experience various harsh effects from both the cancer itself, as well as from the radiation and chemo.  Walter frequently experienced symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and hair loss, as well as increased coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath.  He was also warned that weight loss was a common effect of the treatment, but reported no significant change in weight.  

    Another important aspect when it comes to cancer is the mental toll it takes on the patient.  The diagnosis is so world-shattering that many find the situation hopeless.  Doctors commonly talk to cancer patients about building and identifying a supports network of people to talk to when the treatment get tough and when they feel like giving up.  Support groups were suggested to Walter, but he chose not to join any such groups.  He instead seemed to find a support in family, friends and even a former students of his.  His son Walter Jr. even put together a go fund me for Walter to help put together money and support from others to help with his treatment.  Walter is a very self-assured man and would say this about his condition:  "You think I came all this way just to let something as silly as lung cancer take me down?  Not a chance.  I'm not going anywhere."  Hearing this put many doctors at ease over his confidence in the treatment  and his drive to survive.  

    Walter White was diagnosed on his 50th birthday and recieved radiation and chemotherapy for over 5 months before the cancer thankfully went into remission.  The cancer would come back over a year after.  Walter White would sadly pass due to non cancer related circumstances almost a day off from the doctor initial cancer prognosis.  

E.R. "Walter White" 1/29/2023

Cancer

    Cancer is a type of disease where cell growth is uncontrollable.  Humans are made up of Hundred of trillions of cells that come together to form anything from the tissue in your nails to the muscle fibres in your little toe.  If a mutation takes place in any one of those trillions of cells; thee damaged cells will grow and multiply when they shouldn’t potentially create tumors.  If the tumor is malignant it means it's cancerous and can spread around the body rapidly through the lymphatic system;  The spread of a cancer is called metastasis.  

According to the CDC methods for treating cancer include:

• Surgery: An operation where doctors cut out tissue with cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy: Special medicines that shrink or kill cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy: Using high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to kill cancer cells.
• Hormone therapy: Blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.

In lung cancer the etiology ( The cause or origin of a disease.) of the disease is the expternal exposure to carcinogenic substances in most cases this is usually caused by a history of smoking, but Lung cancer can be caused by risk factors other than smoking like exposure to secondhand smoke, radon, air pollution, a family history of lung cancer, and asbestos.

According to the Lung cancer Society Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. Most people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older; a very small number of people diagnosed are younger than 45. The average age of people when diagnosed is about 70.

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death in the US, accounting for about 1 in 5 of all cancer deaths. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.

Afterword:

After completing the Action Project and am quite satified with the results.  I feel like I have a better idea of the ins and outs of the groupings if deiseases and body systems.  I ended choosing a form of cancer for this project because I recently learned that my family carries a genetic defect that increases the odds of developing certain cancers so I like that this project also provided me an opportunity to familiarize myself with the disease.  One thing I felt could have been better was the detail on my respiratory system in my visual representation.  If I had more time I feel like i could have put together a more clear and detailed visual kind of like what I saw at the museum.  Over all this project was an fun experience that definatly pulled everything together.  Thank you for reading!