Osteosarcoma is a life- threatening disease but many survivors, like Charlie Lustman use their experience to help others. Charlie Lustman created a 13- song album, Made Me Nuclear, explaining his cancer experience and travels the country sharing his inspirational message. In 2006, an out of the ordinary bump on his jaw was biopsied and determined to be osteosarcoma. He received two major surgeries and chemotherapy. Even without 75% of his jaw, Charlie stayed uplifted and positive. He brings his positivity and inspirations to hospitals, clinics, wellness centers, and schools. (Broderick) Survivors go on to encourage and help other through their cancer experiences and any difficulties they may face.
Osteosarcoma is a malignant cancer of the bone. This tends to be in the extremities of the human body. It tends to occur in the shin, thigh, and upper arm, usually large bones with very fast growth rates. But it can occur in any bone. This type of cancer is most common in teenagers and people over 60. ("Osteosarcoma") In teens with cancer, about 5% is osteosarcoma. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) It is more common in males than females. (“Disease Information”) In males it usually affects people between the ages of 15-19. And in girls, it is usually ages 10-14. Most teens effected are taller compared to the average. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) Growth spurts can onset this cancer so it is very rare in children less than 5 years of age. (“Disease Information”) It usually is never expressed in children before puberty. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) There are more incidences of this in black children than in white children. (“Disease Information”) This could be as a result of the genetic factors. This ...
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... occurs in the shin, thigh, and upper arm, but not explicitly. This can be localized, meaning in one place on the body, or metastic, having spread to other parts. This cancer is more common in male teens than any others. For the greatest part, teens suffering from osteoarcoma do recover. The survival rate for this cancer, if localized, is 70-75%. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) If this cancer spreads, it is customarily to the lungs of the patient. X-rays are generally the first diagnostic test. Biopsies are performed to make the final and certain diagnosis. This disease’s treatments include chemotherapy, and surgery, ordinarily together. Radiation, though uncommon, can be used as a treatment for osteosarcoma. After treatments, it is recommended the patient receives follow up care to monitor the cancer in case it returns or any side effects are present.
Although illness narratives are not novel or new, their prevalence in modern popular literature could be attributed to how these stories can be relatable, empowering, and thought-provoking. Susan Grubar is the writer for the blog “Living with Cancer”, in The New York Times, that communicates her experience with ovarian cancer (2012). In our LIBS 7001 class, Shirley Chuck, Navdeep Dha, Brynn Tomie, and I (2016) discussed various narrative elements of her more recent blog post, “Living with Cancer: A Farewell to Legs” (2016). Although the elements of narration and description (Gracias, 2016) were easily identified by all group members, the most interesting topics revolved around symbolism as well as the overall impression or mood of the post.
In 1977, at the age of 18, Fox was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) in his right leg
There are many different diseases that can affect our skeletal system and Osteoporosis is one of them. Osteoporosis lessens bone strength and bone density (amount of bone mineral in bone tissue), which will lead to fragile bones. It mainly affect the hips, ribs, spine, and wrists. Male or female, at any age, can get this but it is mostly occurs in older women (Team, 2016). Osteoporosis is very common, there are more than 3 million cases a year. There are many causes/risk factors, symptoms, and some treatment cases. About 54 million Americans have Osteoporosis and low bone mass (Foundation, 2016).
...ancer research. “The Jimmy V Foundation” was created and is forever changing cancer research today. Over 100 million dollars has been generated thus far and there will be no stopping there. James Valvano influenced us all that life has it challenges but emphasizes that dreams really do come true if you really want to grab it, take it and never let go. So how do we take Valvano’s words and use them as a stepping-stone to get back in focus in the positive direction? For Jimmy it did not matter if he was terribly weak or at the end of his life but he was able to have found strength to continue his ambitious fight. For the rest of us no matter how tired we are from a tough day at work, long day at school, or economic woes we can take what Jimmy has preached to us, and though adversity we can make changes to ourselves to better prepare us for the present, and the future.
Despite ongoing research, the cause of osteosarcoma is still unknown. Occurring in 2 persons per million per year (Michael et al., 2006) osteosarcoma is the most common primary tumor of the bone, but yet its incidence amongst malignant tumors is rare. However there are numerous factors that have been shown to effect prevalence. Osteosarcoma occurs predominantly in males, although the tumor does have a tendency to develop earlier in females (American Cancer Society, 2014). The risk of osteosarcoma is highest for people who are aged between 10 and 30. Most common however is during the teenage growth spurt, due to the rapid bone growth and higher chance of a mutation occurring in DNA replication. Height can also be a risk factor. Children with osteosarcoma are generally tall for their age, which again indicates a link to rapid bone growth. Osteosarcoma also appears to have a slightly higher prevalence in African Americans than other races. There is also evidence of genetic predisposition being a risk...
Osteoporosis is a condition, which advances with age, resulting in fragile, weak bones due to a decrease in bone mass. Externally osteoporotic bone is shaped like normal bone, however it’s internal appearance differs. Internally the bone becomes porous due to a loss in essential minerals, including phosphate and calcium. The minerals are loss more quickly than they can be replaced and in turn cause the bones to become less dense and weak. The bones become prone to fracture, due to their weakness. Therefore the awareness of the disease tends to occur after a fracture has been sustained. The bones most commonly affected are the ribs, wrist, pelvis and the vertebrae.
Cancer is a deadly disease that millions of people die from a year. Many loved ones are killed with little to no warning affecting families across our world. My family happened to be one that was affected by this atrocious disease. This event changed the way my family members and I viewed cancer.
Osteoporosis is a condition, in which bones are weak from deterioration, loss of bone mass, and quality bone strength. Osteoporosis usually triggers postmenopausal women (women who have not had their period for a whole year), or older men and women. Some risks both older men and women endure when experiencing osteoporosis are decreased calcium and bone fractures. These symptoms or effects can all be caused by weight loss, smoking, age, ethnicity, genetics, medications, bone structure, and certain diseases that can later on contribute to osteoporosis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis may be prevented by going to drug therapy to stop alcoholism and smoking, a sufficient amount of calcium intake, and exercising such as jogging, walking, and aerobics.
Osteoporosis is a systemic, debilitating disease of the skeleton, characterized by significantly decreased bone mass in combination with the deterioration of bone microarchitecture. Osteoporosis has three types of categories the first category is type 1 which occurs in women after menopause and results from declining levels of estrogen and other sex hormones in the body, this could also occur in men due to low levels of the sex hormone testosterone. Type 2 is called Senile Osteoporosis, which occurs in elderly men as well as elderly women because of decreased bone formation due to aging. Type 3 is caused by long term use of medication usually with steroids and drugs to treat elipsy. Osteoporosis which literally means “Porous Bone”,
For cancer patients there are several treatment options. Surgery can remove cancerous tumors, chemotherapy uses drugs for treatment, and radiation therapy. The doctor in charge of the patient’s treatment may also choose to use radiation therapy. “Radiation
Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.
...pread to nearby tissue in the neck and or to the lymph nodes. Cancer may spread to the lungs and bones as well. Staging consists of more testing; ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, Chest x-ray and a whole body scan. (Thyroid Cancer, 2012)
Scientists do not yet know the main cause or causes of bone cancer; but there are many risk factors that factor into an increased risk of being diagnosed with bone cancer. Age is one risk factor. Surprisingly, bone cancer is more common in younger adults than it is in older adults. As stated above, other cancers including but not limited to breast, prostate, and lung cancer could increase someone’s risk of developing secondary bone cancer if the cancer spreads to the bones. Also cancer treatments for a different cancer can cause an increase of developing bone cancer because exposure to radiation can cause b...
Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become so weak and brittle that even a cough can cause enough stress on the bone that it will cause the bone to facture. The most commonly broken bones are the hip, wrist, and the spine. Although it affects men and women of all races, post-menopausal Caucasian and Asian women are more commonly affected than those of other ethnicities and sexes. In fact, thirty percent of all post-menopausal women in the US and Europe will be diagnosed with Osteoporosis and at least 40 percent of those will suffer from a fracture in their lifetime.
It is highly important to seek medical attention if bone pain exists for more than 3 days in adults and children. It is highly unlikely for growing pains in children to last longer than 3 days or pain persisting at night. Likewise, for adults, majority of bone pain is due to arthritis. If the cancer spreads to other organs like lungs and spinal cord, there may be troubled breathing or spinal cord compression, which is a medical emergency. So seek prompt medical attention before it is