Life is about choices that are made by a person related to their situation. People make choices everyday that can alter their lives for either the better or the worse. In the story, It Happened To Nancy, the main character falls for a man, named Collin, who takes away her ability to choice by raping her and transmitting the HIV virus to her.
A few weeks after Collin raped Nancy, she started to notice that she was becoming very sick, and that Collin was nowhere to be found. Finally she tells her mother that she needs to see a doctor. At the doctor’s office, they perform a blood test on Nancy to see what is the matter with her. Shockingly the test shows that she is HIV+. Nancy comes out to her mother say that the boy she has been seeing, Collin, had raped her. At that moment Nancy realizes that all her life is now limited by the choices she can make.
When she was diagnosed Nancy talk about how she felt like she cannot go on with life anymore, highlighting the fact that she knew she was going to die. HIV, also known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus that attacks the T-Cells of the immune system throughout the body leaving a person unable to fight off disease and infection. HIV is spread through bodily fluids. Leslie J. Schoenfield, editor of the article HIV on Medicinenet, writes, “HIV is present to variable degrees in the blood and genital secretions of virtually all individuals infected with HIV, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms”(Schoenfield, 2011). Symptoms of HIV can range from person to person. In Nancy’s case she experienced symptoms very quickly and similar to the flu. Leslie writes, “Within weeks of infection, many people will develop the varied symptoms of primary or acute infection, which typi...
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...ed to write this diary so that her words could be shared with everyone and in hope to get her message across about HIV. She also hoped that people will understand that rape is a serious matter and should be reported immediately. Lastly she mentions that she hopes someday HIV will have a cure. Nancy taught me to be open-minded and always treat people with respect because whether or not you have HIV you still have feelings, and everyone’s feelings can be hurt by actions that are foolish and hurtful.
Works Cited
Anonymous, Teenager, and Beatrice Sparks. (1994) It Happened to Nancy. New York, NY: Avon. Print.
Schoenfield, Leslie J. (2011). Human immunodeficiency virus symptoms, causes, treatment - What is in the future for preventing HIV transmission on MedicineNet. We Bring Doctors' Knowlege To You. MedicineNet, Inc., Available from Http://Medicinenet.com
The deaths of Nancy refers to the near fatal car accident, which left her unable to respond to anyone; the family's realization that she would never be the person she was; and the actual physical release that Colby and the Cruzans fought to achieve. Attorney Colby tells of a family suffering the loss of a daughter, but unable to gain closure due to interfering medical care.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system transmitted between people by the mixing of bodily fluids. It is an extremely deadly disease that has killed over thirty-six mi...
HIV is a virus that can be sexually transmitted, obtained through hypodermic needles or contaminated blood transfusions, or passed on from mother to child through pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. It starts off with flu-like symptoms, then it interferes with the immune system, making people prone to illnesses. Their immune system becomes very vulnerable. Sadly, there is no cure for HIV. Research shows that HIV originated in Africa; however, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was not recognized until 1981. HIV is a source of heavy castigation and it causes economic problems as well, especially count...
Infection with HIV does not necessarily mean that a person has AIDS, although people who are HIV-positive are often mistakenly said to have AIDS. In fact, a person can remain HIV-positive for more than ten years without developing any of the clinical illnesses that define and constitute a diagnosis of AIDS. In 1997 an estimated 30.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV or AIDS—29.5 million adults and 1.1 million children. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 1981, when the first AIDS cases were reported, and the end of 1997...
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada HIV – the Human Immunodeficiency Virus - is a virus that attacks the immune system, resulting in a chronic, progressive illness that leaves people vulnerable to opportunistic infections and cancers. (Canada 2008) Essentially over time, when your body can no longer battle the virus it progresses into a disease know as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS. The transmition of HIV occurs when a person’s contaminated body fluids enter another individual. Unprotected sexual intercourse (vaginal, anal or oral), sharing needles, using unsterilized equipment for body modification, mother to infant transmition, as well as occupational exposure in health care are all ways HIV can be spread. HIV/AIDS as an illness is relatively new. The first reported case of AIDS in the world was in 1981, and a year later in Canada. Scientists all around the world are busy searching for a cure or vaccine to treat the millions of people internationally dying of HIV/AIDS.
HIV, also known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells in the body, which makes a person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. HIV can also lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), if it is not being treated (aids.gov). There is no effective cure for HIV, however with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. In
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets the immune system and weakens people 's defense systems against infections and some types of cancer. As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, infected individuals gradually become immunodeficient. Immune function is typically measured by CD4 cell count. Immunodeficiency results in increased susceptibility to a wide range of infections and diseases that people with healthy immune systems can fight off. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which can take from 2 to 15 years to develop depending on the individual. AIDS is defined by the development of certain cancers, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations.
According to amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, “more than 35 million people live with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 3.3 million of them are under the age of 15. In 2012 an estimated 2.3 million people were newly infected with HIV, 260,000 were under the age of 15. Every day nearly 6,300 people contract HIV - nearly 262 every hour. In 2012, 1.6 million people died from AIDS, 210,000 of them were under the age of 15. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 75 million people have contracted HIV and nearly 36 million have died of HIV-related causes”. This disease is transferred from one person to another by blood, semen & pre-seminal fluid, vaginal secretions, breast milk, hypodermic needles and from mother to unborn child through the placenta.
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.
HIV is transmitted from person to person during specific activities when an infected person’s bodily fluids, for example, semen, vaginal fluids, anal secretions or blood enters another person’s body (UNICEF, 2008). For transmission to occur these fluids have to come into contact with damaged, broken skin or the mucous membranes found inside the rectum, vagina, mouth or penis; through certain sexual behaviors or by using an infected needle/drug equipment (NHS, 2014). Once infected this virus gradually attacks and destroys certain cells of the body’s immune system. The very system that protects and defend the body from illness or infections (The Well Project, 2015). HIV specifically targets the CD4 cells or T ‘helper’ cells and reduces them in number causing the immune system to weaken, making the body vulnerable and less able to fight off infections (AVERTing HIV, 2015). If left untreated, HIV destroys so many of these cells that the immune system becomes too badly damaged, making the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections and HIV related cancers. These infections would cause no reaction in a person with a normal immune system but for an HIV infected person, they can cause devastating illnesses (Aids.gov, 2010). This is the final stage of the HIV virus and is known as Acquired immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Unlike other viruses, the body cannot get rid of HIV, once caught the person has
HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a progressive disease that attacks and weakens the immune system causing the HIV-positive person to become more susceptible to any ailments and infections. Human Immunodeficiency Virus is caused by the transfer of bodily functions including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. Sex, including oral, vaginal, and anal, is the most common way of obtaining HIV. It can also be acquired by injecting a needle into your body that was used by someone who has HIV. The virus cannot be spread through the air or though food and water. You also cannot contract the virus from shaking a HIV-posit...
In 1981, was the beginning of what is commonly known now today as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is one of the biggest epidemics of history (1). As of today, there is over 1.1 million people in the United States living with HIV/AIDS (1). Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is a complex immune virus that is capable of destroying ones immune system, leaving there body defenseless. As a result of a deficient immune system there is a whole plethora of comorbidities that accompany the HIV virus. It has been reported the HIV-1 and HIV-2 are the more virulent. With no cure, there are only current medications that help depresses the progression of the virus, and with very little signs and symptoms it is easily transmitted. Even though there are no direct physical therapy interventions for people with HIV, certain physical therapy protocols can help depress the progressive destruction of the virus along with keeping the comorbidities at bay.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a slow moving retrovirus that eventually causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome commonly called AIDS. This combo disease known as HIV/AIDS is labeled as a pandemic and has caused controversy throughout the whole world. The disease begins when a person infected passes on the HIV virus through sexual secretions, blood transfusions, and using dirty needles. The virus enters through vaginal or anal openings and through open cuts, once the virus enters a person’s blood stream they are infected with HIV however they may not necessarily have AIDS (WEBMD). Symptoms of HIV include lethargy or sleepiness, weight loss, and flu like symptoms after a while AIDS eventually develops and is the finally or most advanced stage of the disease the symptoms are the same as HIV and also includes vision loss, weight loss, memory loss, and eventually organ failure (AIDS.gov) The first reports of AIDS came from young gay men in New York and San Francisco.
Since the first cases of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 1981, over 36 million people have died from the disease’s progression from HIV to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, scientists generally accept that the HIV virus started in a specific type of chimpanzee in Western Africa. HIV weakens the patient’s immune system by “destroying important cells that fight disease and infection.” After HIV is acquired, progresses, and grows it turns into a much more lethal stage, AIDS. Because their immune system is heavily damaged and virtually incompetent, AIDS patients is increasingly susceptible to other infections. If medical attention is not provided for an AIDS victim, they will almost certainly die (“What Is HIV/AIDS?”). In this recent and ongoing AIDS epidemic, about 75 million people have been infected with the virus, causing 36 million deaths; but there is hope because organizations like the Samaritan’s Purse are doing their best to combat the disease.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was a very distressing yet amazingly written book. Who would have thought that such a little person could have such a huge effect on the world? Anne?s father lived for many years after the war and made sure that Anne?s diary was published. Her diary was published in 1947 and was then made into a film. This diary helps people remember what Jews had to go through and hopefully reminds them of how lucky they are. By remembering, it is hoped that something like this will never happen again. This book was intriguing while incorporating many life lessons. Discrimination, unfair judgment, and racism are only a few of the many lessons that this book has to offer. With that, after reading this book, we have learned to not take the things we have for granted because in a matter of seconds, days, months, or even years, it could all be gone. As Anne said in her diary, ?In spite of everything, I still believe, people are truly good at heart?.