M T H E M O N TA G E
Mindful of Cancer
Meramec educates students on cancer prevention CASSIE KIBENS PRODUCTION MANAGER What started out as just a lump on his throat, turned into four months of Chemo and three months of radiation. His junior year was disrupted and family was worried, but through it all, he found a new passion. Lan Trinh, nursing student at STLCC-Meramec, was diagnosed with Hotchkins Lymphoma at 17. Trinh is in his last semester of nursing school and will graduate in December. “[The Doctor] said it was just a couple rounds of chemo and radiation and you’re done. It kind of disrupted my junior year. I couldn’t run track that year,” Trinh said. “I was in orchestra but I couldn’t continue because they put a port in me, which allowed easier access for chemo and situate in such that the violin would have rested right there so I couldn’t maneuver it, so I had to stop.” Trinh’s family, friends and teachers supported him. They knew to not push him too far the day of and the day after treatments. According to Trinh, people need to be mindful of cancer, especially if there is a family history of it. “Some [cancers] you can’t really screen until it gets too late. Be more vigilante with your yearly checkups with your doctor, don’t wait like five years before something is wrong,” Trinh said. “If anything is wrong, don’t just blow it off.” According to the American Cancer Society, in 2012 men had a one-in-two chance of developing some type of cancer and women had a one-in-three chance. STLCC-Meramec has been dedicating a day to the disease for about ten years now. Meramec has been hosting Cancer Awareness Day for over 10 years now. For the past few years Debbie Corson, Service Learning Coordinator, and Stephanie Franks, professor of nursing, have planned the event, which took place Oct. 9. “As an RN I did health teaching with patients and their families for years, and I’ve been an RN now for 25 years,” Franks said. “I always liked the teaching aspect of it because it empowers people to take care of their own health.” Franks’ Nursing of Adults and Children II class has been participating for the last three years by creating handouts and posters in order to educate their peers about the various types of cancer. These nursing students are in their second year and will graduate in May 2014.
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Volume 49 Issue 4
www.meramecmontage.com
October 24, 2013