Sunday, December 20, 2009
Danielle Kuschnik
Comp 106
Final Paper
December 8, 2009
Life: A Gift Not A Given Right
Have you ever imagined how fragile life is and how it can be dramatically altered within
moment’s time? I myself never dreamed that my life change in such a short period of time, within days
and come to a complete halt. It all started this past June of 2009, my boyfriend Charbel, of almost five
years had been feeling rather sick and constantly tired. This we thought was just a bad case of
bronchitis (on top of the fact the he was constantly fatigued, he would constantly cough). After several
trips to many different doctors ranging from primary physicians to cardiologists the conclusion was just
low iron and the remedy was an iron supplement. After about a month of taking iron supplements and
still no improvement Charbel decided to go to the hospital, just to be on the safe side. This was a
decision that saved his life. When he arrived to the hospital and described his symptoms to the doctors
which included severe noise bleeds, coughing up blood and always being constantly tired, the doctors at
the hospital decided to draw blood. The results were astounding his platelet count was at 2,000, most
people have a platelet count somewhere between 120,000 to 150,000. (Platelets are the component of
blood that forms clots to form when a cut occurs). After several days of tests, including a bone marrow
biopsy, the final conclusion was that Charbel had severe aplastic anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a form of
anemia in which the capacity of the bone marrow to generate blood cells is defective.
So how has all of this changed my life? When someone you love gets really sick it changes not
only your perspective towards life but also all of your routines. I am the type of person that likes to plan
everything out and does not like an abrupt change of plans. I am also very outgoing and never spend
time at home just sitting around. When Charbel first got sick I found myself abandoning any idea of
having everything planned out and instead spend my days sitting around in a hospital. My lifestyle of
always being on the go has slowed down quite a bit, for right now anyways. I have learned to stop cram
packing every moment of each day with superficial things and to savor each moment. I now “suck the
marrow out of life”, as envisioned by Henry David Thoreau (Although the literal meaning of this famous
quote has an ironic tune to it, as compared to Charbel’s condition.) I also spend more time in deep
thought. When you have time to just sit there and watch someone sleep you begin to develop a whole
new outlook towards life. (This is what I do many nights when I can’t fall asleep at the hospital.) Some
things in life are so much more beautiful when looked at slowly; detail is much more easily noticed. So
what else in my life has changed besides my lifestyle? My perspective of life has totally changed. I now
live life as if today were my last day and truly realize that each day is a gift and not a given right, as
vocalized by Nickleback. I am much more appreciative of the little things in life and have cut back on
the wants. I am the type of person that it super ambitious and this ambitiousness tends to lead to
endless wants. To put it nicely I want too much. This concept of being too ambitious is not always a
good thing. Before Charbel got sick I was the type of person that was truly never happy with what I had,
it always felt as if something were missing. I always took life for granted. Now instead of always
wanting something more, I want what I have and see how truly lucky I am. How can I pull being lucky
out of a situation like this? Well to start with when Charbel first went into the hospital all of the
symptoms he had pointed to leukemia, but it turned out to aplastic anemia. Things could have been so
much worse. Leukemia which is a form of cancer is so much harder to cure then aplastic anemia and the
fatality rate is higher. Another reason why we are very lucky is because he was one of the few people
that was able to not only to find a suitable bone marrow donor but a perfect match. One out of twelve
million people on the bone marrow registry list were a match and we are extremely fortunate that that
person agreed to donate. (Some people have second thought about donating once on the list.) I have
always felt that he receiving the bone marrow transplant was a true miracle. Over seventy percent of
the people who need a bone marrow transplant are not able to receive one because a suitable donor
cannot be found. To think of it that way always shakes me. The fact that one single person’s actions
changed Charbel’s life and saved him always amazes me. This brings me to another aspect of my life
that has been changed by Charbel’s condition, doing things for other people even though even when it
can trouble you. I have always been a person that tries to help others, but usually only when it is
convenient. It always felt as if I barely had enough time in my life for myself, let alone to take the time
to help someone else. This changed when Charbel became sick. One reason why it changed is because
Charbel needed and still sometimes needs constant blood transfusions. I have always loved the idea of
donating blood but never took the time to actually go out and donate, even though it only takes less
than an hour. I still did not make a point to go out and donate until one night when Charbel was in the
hospital and he needed a blood transfusion but the blood supply was low and he has to have blood
shipped from another hospital. This situation made me think. What if there was such as shortage of
blood that he was unable to be transfused. This scenario of seeing how short blood supplies can be
made me does out the next day and donate. According to the Red Cross more than 38,000,000
donations of blood are needed every day and one out of every ten people admitted to the hospital will
need a blood transfusion . Charbel was one of those people.
It’s truly amazing to look back on life and realize all that I have take for granted, but this
experience has forever changed my life. You never tend to notice how quickly life can change and how
fragile life is until your life is altered. For this experience I am not only forever changed but also forever
grateful, I now know how to not only appreciate the little things in life but also try to help others
1.
whenever I can. Just like that one person who donated their bone marrow to save Charbel’s life and the
many others who donated their blood to keep him alive.
Works Cited
2. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/medicine/bonemarrow/bmtinfo.html
3. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/aplastic%20anemia
4. http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-david-thoreau
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
6. http://artists.letssingit.com/nickelback-lyrics-if-today-was-your-last-day-k8sf51k
7. http://www.givelife2.org/sponsor/quickfacts.asp
Comp 106
Final Paper
December 8, 2009
Life: A Gift Not A Given Right
Have you ever imagined how fragile life is and how it can be dramatically altered within
moment’s time? I myself never dreamed that my life change in such a short period of time, within days
and come to a complete halt. It all started this past June of 2009, my boyfriend Charbel, of almost five
years had been feeling rather sick and constantly tired. This we thought was just a bad case of
bronchitis (on top of the fact the he was constantly fatigued, he would constantly cough). After several
trips to many different doctors ranging from primary physicians to cardiologists the conclusion was just
low iron and the remedy was an iron supplement. After about a month of taking iron supplements and
still no improvement Charbel decided to go to the hospital, just to be on the safe side. This was a
decision that saved his life. When he arrived to the hospital and described his symptoms to the doctors
which included severe noise bleeds, coughing up blood and always being constantly tired, the doctors at
the hospital decided to draw blood. The results were astounding his platelet count was at 2,000, most
people have a platelet count somewhere between 120,000 to 150,000. (Platelets are the component of
blood that forms clots to form when a cut occurs). After several days of tests, including a bone marrow
biopsy, the final conclusion was that Charbel had severe aplastic anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a form of
anemia in which the capacity of the bone marrow to generate blood cells is defective.
So how has all of this changed my life? When someone you love gets really sick it changes not
only your perspective towards life but also all of your routines. I am the type of person that likes to plan
everything out and does not like an abrupt change of plans. I am also very outgoing and never spend
time at home just sitting around. When Charbel first got sick I found myself abandoning any idea of
having everything planned out and instead spend my days sitting around in a hospital. My lifestyle of
always being on the go has slowed down quite a bit, for right now anyways. I have learned to stop cram
packing every moment of each day with superficial things and to savor each moment. I now “suck the
marrow out of life”, as envisioned by Henry David Thoreau (Although the literal meaning of this famous
quote has an ironic tune to it, as compared to Charbel’s condition.) I also spend more time in deep
thought. When you have time to just sit there and watch someone sleep you begin to develop a whole
new outlook towards life. (This is what I do many nights when I can’t fall asleep at the hospital.) Some
things in life are so much more beautiful when looked at slowly; detail is much more easily noticed. So
what else in my life has changed besides my lifestyle? My perspective of life has totally changed. I now
live life as if today were my last day and truly realize that each day is a gift and not a given right, as
vocalized by Nickleback. I am much more appreciative of the little things in life and have cut back on
the wants. I am the type of person that it super ambitious and this ambitiousness tends to lead to
endless wants. To put it nicely I want too much. This concept of being too ambitious is not always a
good thing. Before Charbel got sick I was the type of person that was truly never happy with what I had,
it always felt as if something were missing. I always took life for granted. Now instead of always
wanting something more, I want what I have and see how truly lucky I am. How can I pull being lucky
out of a situation like this? Well to start with when Charbel first went into the hospital all of the
symptoms he had pointed to leukemia, but it turned out to aplastic anemia. Things could have been so
much worse. Leukemia which is a form of cancer is so much harder to cure then aplastic anemia and the
fatality rate is higher. Another reason why we are very lucky is because he was one of the few people
that was able to not only to find a suitable bone marrow donor but a perfect match. One out of twelve
million people on the bone marrow registry list were a match and we are extremely fortunate that that
person agreed to donate. (Some people have second thought about donating once on the list.) I have
always felt that he receiving the bone marrow transplant was a true miracle. Over seventy percent of
the people who need a bone marrow transplant are not able to receive one because a suitable donor
cannot be found. To think of it that way always shakes me. The fact that one single person’s actions
changed Charbel’s life and saved him always amazes me. This brings me to another aspect of my life
that has been changed by Charbel’s condition, doing things for other people even though even when it
can trouble you. I have always been a person that tries to help others, but usually only when it is
convenient. It always felt as if I barely had enough time in my life for myself, let alone to take the time
to help someone else. This changed when Charbel became sick. One reason why it changed is because
Charbel needed and still sometimes needs constant blood transfusions. I have always loved the idea of
donating blood but never took the time to actually go out and donate, even though it only takes less
than an hour. I still did not make a point to go out and donate until one night when Charbel was in the
hospital and he needed a blood transfusion but the blood supply was low and he has to have blood
shipped from another hospital. This situation made me think. What if there was such as shortage of
blood that he was unable to be transfused. This scenario of seeing how short blood supplies can be
made me does out the next day and donate. According to the Red Cross more than 38,000,000
donations of blood are needed every day and one out of every ten people admitted to the hospital will
need a blood transfusion . Charbel was one of those people.
It’s truly amazing to look back on life and realize all that I have take for granted, but this
experience has forever changed my life. You never tend to notice how quickly life can change and how
fragile life is until your life is altered. For this experience I am not only forever changed but also forever
grateful, I now know how to not only appreciate the little things in life but also try to help others
1.
whenever I can. Just like that one person who donated their bone marrow to save Charbel’s life and the
many others who donated their blood to keep him alive.
Works Cited
2. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/medicine/bonemarrow/bmtinfo.html
3. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/aplastic%20anemia
4. http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-david-thoreau
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
6. http://artists.letssingit.com/nickelback-lyrics-if-today-was-your-last-day-k8sf51k
7. http://www.givelife2.org/sponsor/quickfacts.asp
Survey Results
This was my first experiance in actually having to survey a group of people, I found it a lot of fun. The aspect that I found most interesting was how different groups of people respond to surveys, I decided to actually survey two groups of people. The first group was from my Latin 101 class. The class consisted of men and women of varying ages, ethnic groups and majors. This is the goup in which I recieved the best results from. Because of the fact that this group is a bit more mature then my second group (my second group consisted of mostly yound college kids with a major in Biology. I decided to survey my Bio class as well) Also the responses from my Latin class where for my carefully though out. Another aspect of the survey that I really liked was the survey monkey website, that made making the surveys a snap.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Reading Response 3
The article that I choose to write about for my third reading response was Dorthy Allison What Did You Expect? I choose to read this because of the fact the she is the arthor of Bastard out of South Carolina, a movie that i remember seeing years ago. After reading the few pages I realized that Dorthy Allison is much like myself and other women in the world today. She does not want to fit into the traditional female role of the typical woman or house wife, and neither do I. You ould think that living in 21st century America that this is an idea of the past, however it's not the case at all. I have several of my female friends that whe I ask what the want to do in life the answer get married and stay home with children. However that is definately not the case for me, I don't ven k ow if I want children at all. The one thing that I do want in life is my own identity and being able to be involved in activities that I am passionate about. For xample ten years from now I see myself running Wall St. or a finance company, or even being a CFO but definately not a house wife. Not that there is anything wrong with being a housewife it's a wonderful thing to do for some women (like my mother) just not me. Another thing that I realized maybe by aciident that I am not very domestic, my entire life I actually thought I was. I figured this out my living in an apartment and never really cooking or baking, doing girly type things like that. Don't get me wrong I love to cook and am a very clean picky person, but I definately wouldnt want my life to revolve around it. When it comes down to it I woul much rather spend my evenings watching football or drag races then baking cookies, it's just not my thing. It's funny because when people see me much like the author I am in heals and a girly shirt but in reality I can't wait to get into my sweats and fav jersey. I guess you could say I have many sides, but definately being a housewife or even typical girl is not one of them. Overall I loved the reading, it reminded me of the preasures that women face even today!!!
Monday, November 2, 2009
REading response 2 revised
Danielle Kuschnik
10/30/09
Composition 106
Reading Response 2
10/30/09
Composition 106
Reading Response 2
It’s that time of year again, when the movie screens are filled with horror films. I myself have never truly thought of many horror films as having a real moral to the story, except for maybe Saw series; where the moral is clearly stated throughout the entire films. I have always viewed scary movies as an object of pure entertainment, because of the simple fact that most of the films are so out of the realm of reality that it is hard to pull a moral out of them. This however is not the case with the urban legend of The Hook by David Emery. This is the classic story of two lovers that park in the middle of nowhere, looking to be pernicious. Suddenly a news flash comes on the radio that an escaped convict is on the loose, with a hook as a right hand. The boy tries to advance on the girl even though she is frightened and eventually the boy gives in and drives her home; but not without finding a bloody hook on the passenger side door. When I first read this age old story again, I noticed the fact that I truly never would have understood the true moral of the story, unless it was pointed out as I was reading. The moral or the story is that when young, curious teenagers try to experiment with premarital sexual activities bad things happen. (This urban legend has been around since the nineteen fifties, a time when any premarital sexual activities where highly discouraged.) One subtle factor of the legend that I would have definitely missed unless it was mentioned was the meaning of the story, and why a hook was used as a means of slaughter verses something like a knife. The reason why a hook was used as a weapon of choice is because the boy is trying to relentlessly “hook” his teeth in the girl and really does not want to let go of his owns elfish “needs”(well more like lustfulness desires). Another factor of the story that I completely would have also missed was the symbolism that the news brad cast plays in the story. The voice of the news alert is really in reality a voice of reason that is trying to trigger a stopping mechanism for the premarital sexual activities. In closing I really liked reading this age old urban legend, especially around Halloween time and it nice for a change, to see more clearly the meanings of urban legends verses as just viewing them as a source of entertainment.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Interview Images
Charbel and myself in 2006 at a Pistons game; before he became sick with aplastic anemia.
The Following three images are Charbel in Octobe 2009 at Karmanos Cancer Center recieving treatment and a bone marrow transplant, to treat his aplastic anemia. Just a side note taking pictures out side of him room is limited due to pacient privacy.
The Following three images are Charbel in Octobe 2009 at Karmanos Cancer Center recieving treatment and a bone marrow transplant, to treat his aplastic anemia. Just a side note taking pictures out side of him room is limited due to pacient privacy. 
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