Lucky 13

The main thing I would like to know from my instructor conference is how to better incorporate the instructor feedback. I know we talked about it a little, but I think it can go a little farther. I will admit it was hard to keep politics out of my topic being that there is government money tied up in hospitals and what with Illinois run of, um, world-class governors continuously losing money, the facts were clearer than I thought.

Open Prompt?

The prompt for this week says it is an open topic, so I'm not sure as to exactly what we need to write about. The more I work on this webzine, the more it seems like I'm alone in my efforts. Kelly has been trying to help me as much as she can, and I'm not sure as to how many more people can work on it before there are issues between those working on it. Hopefully I can finish it sometime over Thanksgiving Break as I'm sure I'll have a sheet of restrictions after my knee scope. But only time will tell.

Drawing a blank.

Some of the terms that I have used are not household terms that you’re likely to hear from your doctor. I believe with the examples of what histoplasmosis is and can do to a person is quite helpful as someone who had a family member with a suppressed immune system and could be exhibiting the symptoms listed.

Histoplasmosis- After seeing how this illness mimicked my friend Doug’s cancer so well, I would hate to see someone else’s loved one as well as their family go through the same hardship as my friend and his family.

Follicular Thyroid Cancer- I thought that there was only one type of thyroid cancer, not 4. But it helps to be able to give the reader a link to a good explanation of what this type of thyroid cancer is.

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma- A few years ago, Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which ended his season early. I think that after that was plastered all over ESPN as well as all local sports coverage, people kind of took a different stance on how they looked at cancer and prevention.

I don’t know that there are many other sources I can use. I think the only thing that can help me more is quality pictures that help someone understand exactly what histoplasmosis can do if undiagnosed or where your thyroid is, and I think a picture of Jon Lester wouldn’t hurt. Always helps to put a face with a name.

I have most of these pictures, but it won’t be hard to find a picture of Jon Lester. I could get his picture from google.com or pull up his player profile on MLB.com.

Analyze the picture.

• What do you see? Two small red shaped on someone
• What is the image about? Photograph showing cutaneous melanoma
• There is part of a person present in the image.
• Can the image be looked at different ways? Possibly, but I do no believe so.
• How effective is the image as a visual message? I think once I tell the person exactly what the image is showing it will be very effective.

Visual analysis 

• How is the image composed? What is in the background, and what is in the foreground? Not Applicable
• What are the most important visual elements in the image? How can you tell? The spots on the arm. There is only a body part otherwise in the image.
• How is color used? Not Applicable
• Can the image be looked at different ways? No
• What meanings are conveyed by design choices? Not Applicable

Contextual information 

• What information accompanies the image? Not Applicable
• Does the text change how you see the image? How? No. I knew what I was looking for.
• Is the textual information intended to be factual and inform, or is it intended to influence what and how you see? When I create my slideshow, I intend to use the textual information to be factual and inform.
• What kind of context does the information provide? Does it answer the questions Where, How, Why, and For whom was the image made? Not Applicable

Image source 

• Where did you find the image? I found the image in Picasa.
• What information does the source provide about the origins of the image? The person who took the picture
• Is the source reliable and trustworthy? I believe so but there is not much information about the person distributing the picture
• Was the image found in an image database, or was it being used in another context to convey meaning? It wasn’t found in an image database, and it was not being used in another context

Technical quality 

• Is the image large enough to suit your purposes? Yes, the image is large enough to suit the purpose of the picture.
• Are the color, light, and balance true? I believe so. Hard to tell without concrete evidence as to what body part is being looked at
• Is the image a quality digital image, without pixelation or distortion? Yes, it is a quality image
• Is the image in a file format you can use? Yes, this image is in a format that I can use.

I see a hair. You see too much.

The Blame Game.

With this slide show, I want to show people what really can happen if you do wait too long to go to the doctor.  I covered both going to the doctor early with my mom’s account of her battle with thyroid cancer and the same with my friend being sent somewhere that could better assist him with his battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in my Webtext. In my podcast I talked about what the Centers for Disease Control and the Mayo clinic have said regarding early detection and prevention of cancer. I think I would open with the whole story of my friend, from his diagnosis to the last day I saw him alive, although he was clinically brain-dead. My first image would probably be one of the very few pictures that have me and him in it. Although it’s from Senior Night, it’s still probably one of, if not the best picture of us as I’m actually smiling in that picture. I think the point that has yet to be hammered home is the real consequences of waiting. I think some people hear these fancy terms like histoplasmosis and brush it off just like getting a flu shot. So many people go out and wander down paths in the woods and just think the “fresh air” made them sick. I can personally say I’ve gotten sick from playing football in my friend’s front yard and ending up having to run through the trees that were a boundary so I didn’t get pancaked by some of the bigger kids that were playing with us. After taking a closer look at the number of hospitals in Cook County, IL versus Lake County, IN, as well as looking at the difference in income, it doesn’t make sense but it does at the same time. Chicago is a metropolis with millions of people, thus the reason they have so many hospitals and teaching hospitals. Gary and Hammond are almost like an arm that is extending from Chicago to Indiana. Also, Cook County, IL is more densely populated that Lake County, IN. Thus, the more I looked into the differences between the 2 counties the more it made sense as to why the quality of care is higher in Cook County, IL, than in Lake County, IN. My conclusion is that as long as Lake County, IN is in essence second fiddle to Chicago, we will not have near the quality of care from a doctor or hospital in Lake County, IN than you can get from Cook County, IL.

A picture is worth a thousand barf bags.

My working title for my slideshow is “How late is too late?”  Some people think they can just wait and their symptoms will go away as suddenly as they came. And sometimes that is a very dangerous mindset to have as you may be playing with your life every day you wait to go to the doctor. The topic relates well as in my podcast talks about getting checked early as most illnesses can be treated if caught early and it can be better treated while it is in the earlier stages. It also compliments my Webtext very well as I reference thyroid cancer, as well as histoplasmosis within the text. I think that a picture of a brain from a person who has histoplasmosis would be quite effective just to show how bad something can get if you ignore it. Also a picture showing where thyroid is can be helpful as some people may have heard of thyroid cancer but are not sure exactly where the thyroid is located. A satellite view may be helpful with tagging all the hospitals in Cook County as well as Lake County to help in showing how few hospitals there are in Lake County.