A.3.1.1StudentResourceSheet



Activity 3.1.1 Student Resource Sheet Stories of CancerAmy JohnsonAmy was born in 1938 in Wilmington, Delaware, to Caucasian parents. Amy worked for 35 years as a kindergarten teacher at the local elementary school. Amy and her husband, John, did not have children until they were in their late thirties. Amy had two sons, two granddaughters, and one grandson. Amy was a smoker until she was 45 and drinks alcohol socially. Amy’s mother and sister both had breast cancer, so Amy decided to have a genetic screening done at the age of 25 and found out she had inherited a mutated BRCA1 gene, which meant that she had an increased chance of developing breast cancer. Amy therefore started having annual mammograms starting at the age of 30. During a routine mammogram, when Amy was 68, a lump was found in her left breast. Further tests revealed that the tumor was malignant, and Amy had stage III cancer in her breast that had already spread to her axillary lymph nodes. Despite aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the cancer spread to her liver and Amy died at the age of 72.Rosemary GarciaRosemary was born in 1994 in San Diego, California, to Mexican parents. She was an average young girl who loved riding her bike and playing outdoors with her older brother, Juan. At the age of 8, Rosemary’s parents started noticing that she had been getting sick frequently, losing weight, and developing swollen lymph nodes around her neck and in her underarms. Within one month, Rosemary was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. There was no history of cancer in Rosemary’s family, but Rosemary’s mother expressed concerns that she had been exposed to radiation during the beginning months of her pregnancy. Rosemary was put on a variety of chemotherapy treatments for the next two years and has been in remission ever since.Andrew GreeneAndrew was born in 1933 in Sioux City, Iowa, to Caucasian parents. Andrew ran a family dairy farm for 30 years which he inherited from his father, who died of colon cancer at a young age. He lived with his wife of 46 years and continued to help on the farm until his late sixties. Andrew was a smoker when he was younger, but quit at the age of 50 when his first grandchild was born. At the age of 73, Andrew started developing frequent bladder infections and was soon after diagnosed with late stage bladder cancer. His bladder was surgically removed and he was given chemotherapy, but the cancer had already spread to his bones. Andrew died a year and a half after his diagnosis.Chloe ManningChloe was born in 2002 in Dallas, Texas, to African-American parents. Chloe had been a normal, healthy child who until the age of four did not have any health problems. Soon after Chloe’s fourth birthday, Chloe’s parents started noticing that she was having trouble walking, losing her balance a lot, vomiting frequently, and sleeping all of the time. An MRI indicated that Chloe had a tumor growing in her cerebellum. There was a history of high blood pressure in Chloe’s family, but not of cancer. Chloe had to undergo brain surgery to remove the tumor. It was determined that Chloe had Childhood Medulloblastoma, a disease where cancer cells form between the brain stem and cerebellum. The surgeon was not able to remove the entire tumor, and Chloe was put on intense chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the cancer quickly spread to her spine, and Chloe died at the age of six.Kyle LiKyle was born in 1987 in Tallahassee, Florida, to Chinese parents. Kyle was a very active teenager who loved music. At the age of 14, Kyle began to feel pain in his knee joint and started developing a limp. Soon after the onset of this pain, Kyle began feeling fatigued and started to lose weight. Kyle was soon diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, the most common bone cancer in children and teenagers. Kyle was treated with chemotherapy and surgery. There was no history of cancer in Kyle’s family. Kyle was lucky because his cancer had not spread to other parts of the body, and the surgery removed all of the cancerous cells. Kyle is now 21 and is in his junior year at Florida State University.Ryan AdamsRyan was born in 1982 in Springfield, Illinois, to Caucasian parents. Ryan was 21 and in his sophomore year at the University of Illinois in Chicago studying to be an electrical engineer when he found a lump in his testicle that was causing him pain. Concerned because his father had testicular cancer when he was younger, he saw his doctor. Ryan was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had surgery to remove the testicle and was given radiation therapy. Ryan recovered, graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering and is now married and working in Chicago.Clarence MajorClarence was born in 1938 in Atlanta, Georgia, to African-American parents. Clarence was a small business owner and was always very active in his community. Clarence was a smoker when he was younger and also used to be a heavy drinker. When Clarence turned 53, he was diagnosed with diabetes and then at the age of 65 he began experiencing persistent abdominal discomfort and found blood in his stool. A colonoscopy and biopsy found that Clarence had colon cancer. Clarence’s brother had a history of colon polyps. Clarence underwent surgery to remove the cancer cells and was treated with radiation. Clarence died two years later from a heart attack.Erin HarrisErin was born in 1971 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Caucasian parents. Growing up, despite having pale skin, Erin spent a lot of time sun bathing with her friends. When Erin was 26, her older sister Emily had to have a section of skin removed on her right shoulder because she had basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. When Erin was 32, she noticed an abnormally shaped, discolored mole on her neck. A biopsy revealed Erin had melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer. Because Erin found the suspicious mole early on, the melanoma was in early stages and had not spread, and a surgeon was able to remove the area in question, no other treatment was necessary. Erin is now 37 and is very careful to always wear sunscreen and avoid excessive UV exposure.Christina MartinezChristina was born in 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, to Puerto Rican parents. As an aspiring musician, Christina graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 1990. She has been teaching guitar lessons and yoga classes at a local community center for the last 15 years. Christina prides herself on following a strict Vegan diet, but has been trying to quit smoking for the last five years. Christina’s gynecologist found precancerous cells caused by the Human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted infection in her during a routine pap smear when she was 36.Cryosurgery was used to remove the precancerous cells. Christina now has follow-up pap smears in addition to her regularly yearly pap smears. Henry ChoHenry was born in 1991 in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Korean parents. He was the pitcher on his local Little League baseball team and enjoyed playing video games. The summer that Henry turned 11, he started having night sweats, coughing a lot and having trouble breathing. Soon after the start of these symptoms, he began to feel itchy all of the time. Henry’s mother took him to the doctor because his breathing troubles had gotten so bad that he wasn’t able to play baseball anymore. Henry was soon diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphocytes, and was immediately put on chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Other than Henry’s grandfather, who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 71, there was no other history of cancer in Henry’s family. The chemotherapy and radiation treatments put Henry in remission, but he relapsed four years later. The second time in treatment, Henry was given very high doses of chemotherapy and radiation and then received an autologous transplant, where he received his own stem cells to replenish those that were damaged. He has been in remission ever since, but is closely monitored in case he relapses again.Daniel RobinsonDaniel was born in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, to African-American parents. Daniel worked as a carpenter for 34 years. Five years ago Daniel was put on high blood pressure medicine and his doctor told him he needed to lose weight. When Daniel was 52, he started noticing urinary problems such as trouble urinating and decreased force in the stream of urine. When he noticed blood in his urine, he knew he had to go see his doctor. Daniel was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated with hormone and radiation therapy. Daniel’s brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer one year later. It has been two years since Daniel was first diagnosed, and he is still struggling with cancer.Jasmine ThomasJasmine was born in 1961 in Detroit, Michigan, to African-American parents. Jasmine worked for the last 25 years at the local automobile manufacturer installing brake shoes and clutch pads, where she was exposed to asbestos. Jasmine lived with her two teenage daughters and a husband who was a smoker. Jasmine had dealt with breathing problems for many years, but at the age of 47 she began to cough up blood and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Jasmine’s father died from lung cancer when she was a young girl. Even though Jasmine was given chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she died less than a year after being diagnosed. ................
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