Refection blog

My topic was on the sickle cell treatments and what they are, how they affect the person, expense and new options in getting treatments. It was directed more so to parents whose children had the disease and wanted to know their options or to person with the disease who wanted to know their options. I used bright colors for the design of my webtext. Nothing with significant meaning, just to give people alertness when they enter my page. I organized based of the example given on the mabrito website, which after some consideration seemed a bit confusing but I guess that’s we were supposed to do it. I do think that my presentation is well-suited because I give the reader something to think about when it comes to options of treatments available and what they actually entail. I do give references but not all my links work which is a problem that I have to fix as soon as I get into class. That’s one of my problems, is getting all my links to work, which I thought they did when I left but as soon as I came home I realized that some didn’t. Basically all my resources gave me most of the same information, nothing to different from those used in my first webtext so I used those along with a few new ones that gave a bit more detail. I am pleased with my podcast slideshow. I got a lot of positive response towards it and I think that is my greatest accomplishment throughout this work load of this multimodal webtext. Overall I think that I did a better job than the first webtext. A lot of hard work and a lot of reading and trying not repeat information already stated in the first webtext was done. I would however like to tweek the links just one more time and I would be completely satisfied with the outcome.

Webtext podcast slideshow

It's FINISHED!!!!!!!!!Thank goodness cause I worked so hard on it. I stayed up all night and all morning and got it done that I feel a sense of relief. I only got 2 hours of sleep that moring it was due and honeslty I was really cranky and thought that I wasn't going to be able to come to class. Now that it's posted, I've gotten positive feedback that has driven me to get this webtext done and to make sure it's on point. For my webtext I planned on giving a broader overview of the my topic sickle cell and its treatments but I realized that it would be very similar to the first webtext. So I am planning on really focusing in depth on the treatments and any and all information on them such as bone marrow transplants and gene therapy etc. I just that it'll all meet the word requirement since some of the topic I plan on using links as references.

Webtext draft

Adrianna Soverall
Multimodal Webtext
October 27, 2008

Sickle Cell Treatments
I was diagnosed with the sickle cell trait after birth. My mom had no idea what is was when the doctors told her that I had it and even though they explained it to her what it was, she really didn’t know what to expect out of it. I was a normal child nonetheless until she noticed that every time I got sick, that is with the flu or cold, that I would complain that my body hurt and I couldn’t walk and I was really skinny.
There after she did more research and realized that it was the trait that contributed to my immune system being especially weak at that time that caused me to be in such pain for such long periods of time. I never had a cold of flu for a couple days but it was more like a couple weeks. Then she knew she had to take the necessary procedures to maintain my health at all times and I had to then learn to take care of myself.
This is more directed to parents whose children are diagnosed with sickle cell disease and or like me, that have the trait, the necessary precautions and treatments that are needed to keep their children healthy.

Treatments
Currently there is no cure for the sickle cell disease. However there are treatments one can take who have the disease to keep it under control. Those being:
Ø Medicines and Fluids
Ø Hydroxyurea
Ø Bone Marrow Transplant
Ø Gene Therapy
Ø New Medicines; Butyric acid, Nitric oxide, Decitadine
Medicines and Fluids

Hydroxyurea
Hydroxyurea is used to treat different types of cancers and blood disorders such as Sickle cell anemia. While taking this medicine a lot of fluid intake is required.

Bone Marrow Transplant
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a relatively new medical procedure being used to treat diseases once thought incurable (Bone Marrow Transplant, 2008). This procedure has had a break through with Pamela’s Newton’s life, by her being considered the first adult cured from Sickle cell disease by means of this procedure. Bone marrow is a spongy like tissue found inside bones (Bone Marrow Transplant, 2008). The bone marrow in the breast bone, skull, hips, ribs and spine contains stem cells that produce the body's blood cells (Bone Marrow Transplant, 2008). These blood cells include white blood cells (leukocytes), which fight infection; red blood cells (erythrocytes), which carry oxygen to and remove waste products from organs and tissues; and platelets, which enable the blood to dot (Bone Marrow Transplant, 2008).

Gene Therapy
Genes, which are carried on chromosomes, are the basic physical and functional units of heredity. Genes are specific sequences of bases that encode instructions on how to make proteins. Although genes get a lot of attention, it’s the proteins that perform most life functions and even make up the majority of cellular structures. When genes are altered so that the encoded proteins are unable to carry out their normal functions, genetic disorders can result.


New Medicines; Butyric acid, Nitric oxide, Decitadine


Recommended Readings
1)Nursing Care Plans by Meg Gulanick, Susan Galanes, Audrey Klopp, Deidra Gradisher.
This is a nursing book which talks about general care of many types of medicines and fluids and what they are used for.


References

Bennett, J. (2008). Sickle Cell Success: promising rays of hope amid the continuing crusade for a cure. Ebony Magazine , 154-157.

Bone Marrow Transplant. (2008). Retrieved October 29, 2008, from Columbia University Medical Center: http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/medicine/bonemarrow/bmtinfo.html

Gene therapy. (2008, September 19). Retrieved October 29, 2008, from Human Genome Project information: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml

Multimodal Webtext

I've been doing a bit of research on how I'm going to get all my information together on the treatments of the Sickle Cell Disease. I now want to focus on person with the disease and parents with children that have the disease since it is mostly diagnosed at a young age or even after birth. I was diagnosed at after birth with the sickle cell trait, and my mom tells me all the time that she didn't know what to expect being that she nevers heard of it before. Then after i got sick a few times with a really bad flu, she knew what to expect. I don't have the disease but it does take an effect on me when I get sick. So treatments I had to endure woould be part of my exlpanation and going in depth by investigating what person with the full disease does is my next step in putting together this webtext. Since this is more of a scientific aspect of going into details of cetain medicines and what not, I will be using some scholarly sources from online and the library. Nowing that this is the final piece to bringing the entire project together on my half, by linking all the projects together is really important to me to get it right this time around. So anyone with any ideas or input on what think I could use is WELCOMED!!! at anytime!

Reflection Blog on Podcast

My overall podcast experience was very different from my past experiences I had with creating podcasts. I really don’t why, but maybe it was the atmosphere in which I had to work in. My podcast was on the sickle cell disease stories. These stories depicted lives of different people who lived with the disease and some of the difficulties and positive that came out of it. My attempt at this was to not so much to portrait a sympathizing context but more so a learning environment for all the listeners to understand that those that have the disease live pretty much normal lives even if the disease impacted them in the worst case scenario like, “Valencia” did, who is one the person’s I talk about in the my podcast. She lost her leg and hand to the disease because of poor circulation. I choose for my presentation the colors green and pink because I thought they were peaceful, again nothing too significant other than that. I decided to have music playing through-out my podcast mainly for the purpose, so the listener wouldn’t get bored but the constant tone of my voice. The music I did LOVE! I specially picked that song from a movie that told the story of a young boy who succumbed to the AIDS virus and basically, I held a connection with him and those I were I telling their stories about. I worked endlessly on that ending… you know with a podcast, there are endless takes in getting just the way you want it and I kept changing my tone, and then my computer stopped working, then I saved my first draft as the wrong format, so it didn’t open in class.. I was like, “Oh this project!”…I really wanted to give in but I did follow through and I am proud of my finished project. I don’t think it would have make a difference if I had time or not, it’s the patience that is needed to keep constant to make sure that the final piece is finished is what I had to struggle to do. I owe EVERYTHING to my recommended source of reading by Jacqueline L. Harris. By reading the stories out of her book inspired me to do this particular topic and I choose what I thought would be good for the class.

Podcast Script

Hey guys! I'm spoke about doing my podcast on personal stories of persons living with the Sickle Cell disease and the challenges they face but I'm not sure about some things, if someone can give me some input? I havea few stories lined up, but they the stories talk about the person and then have in some direct speech from the person who its talking about, So I'm wondering if I should follow that format or not and if you all will understand and like it? I know I missed class today, but if someone can give feedback by tonight or tomorrow...THANKSS!!!

Sickle Cell Reflection Blog

My webtext was on the topic of Sickle Cell Awareness. I chose this topic because I have the Sickle Cell trait which is not the full disease but if I were to have children with some one who either had the disease or the trait, my children would be at higher risk to obtain the full disease. My purpose was to inform people about what the disease is,(an inherited blood disorder that prevents oxygen from being circulated throughout the body). This disease is almost always tested as soon as babies are born so its detected early but in situations that person are not, it is important for one to know their status as either negative, they have the disease or they're like me, and have the trait. For my proposal I used shades of black and green because they went well with my pictures that incorporated red to showcase the blood cells and diagrams for better visuals. I basically started everything with giving them knowledge on what the disease is, then went in who it affects, the problems involved and treatment that is sought after.
For example, I know in the future when I plan to have children, even know with person that I date, my status some how always comes up because I sometimes get sick and I really really get sick and I just give them a heads up on why that happens to me so badly. So they wanna know well how I got it, and if they have children with me would their kids get it and so on. I'm just very proud that I can share this information with more people and so that would understand its affects on those who have it and what it can do to those who have the trait when their immune system goes to work when they have something as small as a cold can hospitalize them as it did me numerous of times before.
I think I would have liked to expand on the treatment section of my webtext more. Because the disease affects the blood which has to be circulated throughout the body, this disease can affect the entire body and your functions. So I did mention it but I was so caught up in talking about what it is and how to prevent it in your children, I had limited information on that aspect. I did enjoy googling the information though. It was interesting to actually see some websites that showed like a picture in motion demonstrating what the sickle cells actually does when it blocks the vessels from their circulating. A lot of websites were geared towards parents and how to deal with their children that had the disease. My recommended readings and the stories of the many different people who lived with the disease was another better example of how some may deal with it. I loved the story about the little girl that had to get her leg amputated because of the disease but overcame and studied and practiced dance. That alone can show that the disease is not crippling but it motivates so to speak.