Source: Melanie 1xbet online games login ,godisalv@k-1xbet online games login edu
Hometown 1xbet online games login : Leavenworth
News release prepared by: Stephanie Jacques, 785-532-0101, sjacques@ksu.edu
Friday, Dec. 23, 2011
Conquering adversity: Battle with life-threatening illness helps student 1xbet online games login Leavenworth find career path
MANHATTAN -- Like most college students, Melanie 1xbet online games login , a Kansas State University senior in pre-nursing from Leavenworth, went into 1xbet online games login college career with one major, but will graduate with a different one. However, unlike other students, 1xbet online games login decision to change majors was due to a life-altering event.
At the age of 19, Lee suffered a hemorrhagic stroke due to a variety of congenital birth defects in 1xbet online games login brain. She lost 1xbet online games login ability to walk, recall certain words and part of 1xbet online games login eyesight. As she lay in a hospital bed listening to 1xbet online games login doctor's prognosis, she experienced one of those moments that changes one's life.
"I was crying, my parents were crying and my nurse just came in. She didn't say anything. She just knelt down next to my bed and held my hand for a while," 1xbet online games login said. "She didn't have to say anything; she was just there."
Lee hasn't had just one amazing nurse throughout 1xbet online games login ordeal; she has had several who have helped 1xbet online games login both physically and mentally overcome the challenges that accompany a stroke, like learning how to walk again.
The nurses with whom Lee interacted with during that difficult time in 1xbet online games login life made 1xbet online games login realize that she wanted to do what they were doing -- to be that person for other people.
"I had some really great nurses who just made some of the most difficult times so much better with their encouragement," 1xbet online games login said. "I want to be that for people. I want to provide a different type of nursing -- not just have a great knowledge of the medical field, but be that person who is going to be there for patients."
The stroke gave Lee not only the desire to help others but a natural curiosity about the human body, particularly the brain. Now in 1xbet online games login senior year at Kansas State University and holding a 3.9 GPA, she is enrolled in Structure and Function of the Human Body, an anatomy and physiology course in the university's Division of Biology. Although Lee describes the class as one of the most challenging of 1xbet online games login college career, it is 1xbet online games login favorite class.
"I love human body class," 1xbet online games login said. "Every day I come home from class and my roommates always laugh because I have a bit of trivia to share; or they'll say something about their body, and I'll be able to immediately chime in and say, ‘Oh that's not actually correct. The human body doesn't function that way. That's just a myth.'"
At eight credit hours, the course is challenging and time-consuming. Students are required to be in 1xbet online games login 15 hours a week, and to keep up with the rigorous demands of the course, they are encouraged to study an additional 25-30 hours a week.
Part of the Division of Biology curriculum, the course has an average enrollment of 160 each semester. Even though it is not required for many majors, enrollment is very competitive because students have heard that they will learn a lot, 1xbet online games login Dana Townsend, course instructor.
Students, like 1xbet online games login , who have been chosen to participate in the optional cadaver dissection team, have an average of five to eight hours a week of addition workload; however, 1xbet online games login knows that the benefits outweigh the costs.
"I know when I go to nursing school that I've spent hours looking at bodies rather than just pictures," 1xbet online games login said. "Going into it I knew it was going to be really hard and that it might affect my GPA, but the knowledge that I would gain would be well worth it."
Students on the dissection teams are required to learn about systems in the human body two weeks earlier and more in depth than the regular lab so that they can help teach the other students in the class. Despite the added challenge, being part of the dissection team has really appealed to 1xbet online games login .
"One of my favorite parts is when we do clinicals," 1xbet online games login said "We are given all the symptoms of a patient, and based on what we know from looking at the cadavers we have to figure out what is going on. One of the clinicals had to do with a blood clot. Even though I didn't have a blood clot stroke, I have learned a lot about it, so I was really excited because I knew what was going on."
Lee has to get a MRI every six months, so she has several MRI scans of 1xbet online games login brain on 1xbet online games login computer. She keeps them because she finds them interesting. But the human body class has helped 1xbet online games login develop an interest in the heart. As both brain and heart ailments are commonly dealt with in hospital intensive care units, that's where Lee wants to spend 1xbet online games login time as a nurse.
"I want to be an ICU nurse because you get to really make a connection with the patients, 1xbet online games login said. "I really want that time to build a relationship with them, even if it is only a relationship that needs to last for 12 hours."
In the two years since 1xbet online games login stroke, Lee has regained 1xbet online games login ability to walk, recall words and the full use of 1xbet online games login eyes. She still has frequent severe headaches, and there is the possibility that she could have another stroke; however 1xbet online games login determination is stronger now than ever. Lee has continued with 1xbet online games login schoolwork and has never received less than a B in any of 1xbet online games login classes.
"I don't think there is much that could come my way that I couldn't get through," 1xbet online games login said. "While sick, I spent each day focusing on how I could benefit from the lessons learned that day. Now I realize how much I accomplished and how much further I can go."
Lee gives credit to 1xbet online games login faith, family and friends for supporting 1xbet online games login though the most difficult times. Shed hopes to attend the University of Kansas School of Medicine next fall.
