Living With Breast Cancer

  Living with breast cancer isn't the most enjoyable experience for my step mother. She is now extremely sore, and driving is difficult for her as any bump shoots pain through her body. She found the amount of people who approached her laughable. On entering her church, a woman hugged her and said "You are such a brave person, God is with you". After recieving multiple similar greetings, she wondered how the world would be if we treated each other as if everyone had cancer.

Lightening the Mood & Update

  All the researching cancer is messing with my head, making me realize how easily we could lose my step mom. The doctors have also decided that instead of 8 weeks of chemo and then surgery, it will be 20 weeks of chemo, 3 week break, surgery, then radiation. The next year will be a struggle.

  To lighten the mood of this now gloomy blog, I have a story about how patient my father has been these past few weeks.

  My dad and step mother were headed towards the hospital to get a chemo port inserted. Unfortunatly for them, google maps is the worst map in history. Within 3 miles of the hospital, google maps tells my father that the destination was directly next to him... in a forest. Upon entering, they find a religious university with a two mile long roundabout, which they get lost in twice. They finally found a way out and found their way to the hospital, where they spend 20 minutes stuck behind the slowest driver in existence. The driver takes the spot they wanted, requiring my dad to drop off my step mom and spend another 20 minutes behind the second slowest driver. They finally got inside, only to find that the appointment was not that day. Needless to say, my father was angry at himself.

Chemo Symptoms to watch for

Bloating and diarrhea are symptoms of chemo, but are also symptoms of typhlitis, a life threatening infection. Check for abdominal pain or tenderness if bloating and diarrhea are spotted. If it is believed to be typhlitis, go to the hospital immediatly, as the infection requires immediate care. Keeping away from others who are sick will not protect the patient, as typhlitis comes from bacteria in the body.

Another symptom to watch closely is weakness, as it can also be tumor lysis syndrome. If the patient is suffering from weakness, watch for seizures or parkinson-like movement. Tumor lysis syndrome comes from the rapid breakdown of the tumor, and is fatal.

Hypothermia Cap

The hypothermia cap is a tool that can suppress the hair loss caused by chemotherapy. The cap works by cooling the scalp, decreasing the size of the veins in the head. The smaller veins can prevent the hair loss causing toxins to ever even reach the hair follicles. The cap has a 73% chance to prevent hair loss.

Project Shift

The rest of the school-year, this blog will not be used for Technical Drawings. I am shifting the project to work hand-in-hand with the "family requirements" in class

My step-mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a while back, and my family is stressed about this. My father has no clue what to look for or how to help her through this, especially during her chemo. One symptom he is worried about is hair loss, which I found a solution for and spoke to them about it (I will post the solution in the next post).

The doctors say "cure", so hopefully she will be alright.

From now to the end of the school-year, I will be researching common cancer and chemo symptoms that can be prevented, and symptoms that need to be watched for.

Entry # 22

I have finally learned how to make a cone, using the "follow me' tool (same technique as the sphere).  Making this was even more glitchy than the sphere, driving me into a fit of rage before solving the many problems.

Entry # 21 3D Messages

Ted Talk Reaction

The ted talk spoke about today's education and how it doesn't fit with today's generation. The gifted classroom system could be the new form of education, if adjusted to the scenario. I don't see it working for every student, which indicates that it should be adjusted. I personally like the flipped classroom method more than the gifted classroom.

Entry # 20 Stacking

I took a shape that I see constantly in math class, so I took the shape and stacked it. I expected the program to have a limit to how small the shapes can be, but I found that zooming in on the shape allows for smaller shapes. Also, I moved out of the "engineering" format for sketchup, which does nothing but affect the background.

Entry # 19

I made a water polo design during a family phase. Since no one in my family stopped talking about it, I couldn't think of anything else.

Entry #18: Breaking Physics

In an attempt to make another stage, sketchup decided to make a portal. I do not know how, or if this can be replicated, but i couldn't get rid of it. I had to stop making the image.

Entry # 17

Over the break I made some sketch up images, so I will post them all now.

Entry # 16

Lindsey wanted a castle. Here you go.

Entry # 15

Entry # 14

My job for the fashion show is to control the technology, and I have finally learned how to use the technology. I owe Mr. Gross my thanks for opening the auditorium for me and teaching me how to control the technology. I will share my new knowledge with everyone here:

1. Startup
  The systems must be turned on and off in a specific order. The soundboard is turned on first, followed by the foam container directly to the right of the soundboard. The box contains technology to clean the sound and protect the technology from damage. The cart in the projector room directly to the left of the door must be turned on last and turned off first. Once the sound is on, the light board can be turned on.

2. Sound
  The soundboard is color coded with the microphones, making it much easier to use. The sliders on the left control microphones, and the right slider controls the general audio. The second and third from the right control music from a computer or iPod.

3. Lights
  The lights are simple, only controlled by one board. The left mode allows you to control individual lights, and create a pattern to be recorded for the right mode. The right mode will use recorded light patterns. Never record a new pattern on code 399, as it is designated for shutting down lights. Colored lights are used to make the people on stage look healthy, as using only standard lights makes people look sickly.

Fashion group Update

On valentines day, the group went to see the school fashion show. From witnessing the show, I now know :

1. The shows are loud, bright, and annoying (atleast to me). Note to self - Bring sunglasses and soundproof headphones.

2. Do not put decor in the path of the models. Only put decor in the background, unless it's glitter.

3. Glitter is in style, use lots of glitter.

Entry # 13 Circle Created!

After attempting to improvise the circle, shown in post "rotation tool ruins everything", I used google to find the way to create a circle. This was extremely glitchy, taking around ten minutes just to get the circle.

Entry # 12 Group Project Update

Madison, the student studying fashion in our group, demanded that we have a raised runway. It was my job to rent runways or risers for the fashion show. After searching through many sites to rent, most of which would require you to call for prices, I found something desireable. I personally did  not want the riser, seeing that risers on a stage would look rediculous. I spoke to one of the teachers about renting, and he told me that we are not allowed to bring items into the school. My new job is to find a carpet to use as a runway, but this seems to be a acheiveable task,  unlike the runways.