OPINION
4
KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 2015
Learning to love pink after supporting my mom through stage 4 breast cancer
did not know it was possible to get 4 FFAs in one day. But I did! it totally made my day.
Kutsko, far right, with her sister, father, mother, nephews and dogs. Kutsko's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer earlier this year but is now cancer-free.
CONTRIBUTED
I don't think I have really processed these last eight months yet.
KATIE KUTSKO
@katiekutsko
READ MORE AT KANSAN.COM
My life was right on pace for a great year until I got a strange phone call from my mom at the end of last February. It was a Thursday, and she and my dad wanted to drive to Lawrence for the weekend. For our family, that was odd. My parents live in Columbus, Ind., which is a nine-hour drive. I was confused and slightly panicked because my parents never just drop in.
From the minute my parents arrived, I knew something was off. There was a weight in the air. And after some small talk as my parents, my best friend and I sat in the living room, my mom explained that after several weeks of pain in her abdomen, she finally went to the doctor. The doctor did some bloodwork but gave her no news. Next, he did an ultrasound but still no news. After that, her doctor performed a CT scan and then asked her to come into his office. He found cancer in her liver, lungs and on her spine.
My mom had cancer. My mom had cancer.
in December 2014, but they didn't find anything. Two months later she was stage 4.
The next week, doctors discovered that the origin of my mom's cancer was breast cancer. The weird part? My mom had a mammogram
People always say, "You never think it will happen to you." How could it happen to me? My mom has always been a healthy woman. She exercised and drank homemade juice every morning. She didn't smoke and rarely drank. There is no way this woman could get breast cancer.
And since I believed my mom couldn't get cancer, I never really had to stop and think about the disease. For the past 21 years, I wrote off all the pink.
Wearing pink and posting pictures on social media? What a flashy way to deal with something so serious. It all seemed frivolous and trite to me.
Wearing pink is about the exact opposite. It's about showing a sign of solidarity. It's a visible sign that our family — especially my mom and dad — endured a lot of pain this year. It's about educating anyone we can about how seriously you should take your health. It's about saying that getting a mammogram, while important, is not always enough. You have to listen to your body, even if you think it's just a stomachache. And it's about hugging your people extra tight.
Cancer is horrible and ruthless and heartbreaking — but it puts your life into
perspective. You care about spending quality time with people rather than prioritizing work or school. You realize that you're really lucky to have an amazing best friend and boyfriend who will let you cry on their shoulders but tell you when enough's enough. Suddenly, you call home more often and send more random text messages. Your life goals start to shift from entirely career-focused to more people-focused.
You realize how much of a superhero your own mother is. Mine owns her own business and managed operations all throughout her treatments. She is an incredibly supportive mother to my sister and me; she's the best Gigi to my two nephews; and she has to keep my dad in check. And that's a full-time job on its own!
By July, my mom had the best news of my entire life; her cancer was inactive. After nine rounds of chemotherapy, my mom kicked stage 4 breast cancer's ass in six months.
In a positive for my mom, she decided to sell her business. She wants to focus on reprioritizing herself. I am so
proud of her.
My family is still processing what happened this year. Finally, over fall break we got to help each other do just that. We gathered for a pink photoshoot. My dad, mom, sister, nephews, me, and even our dogs, wore pink. We all stood around my mom and smiled easily. Giant, goofy smiles. We posted it all on social media.
The world needed to know she won. And you're damn right it was flashy.
Katie Kutsko is the editor-in-chief of the Kansan.
Tinder should be considered more than just a representation of hookup culture in college
VANESSA ASMUSSEN
@VanessaAsmussen
When someone says, "We met on Tinder," many people might be critical, immediately interchanging the word "Tinder" with "hookup." However, this isn't the way we should look at a social app that attracts users for reasons beyond one-night stands.
Many tend to criticize Tinder because they say it just leads to meaningless connections. At the same time, we spend so much of our
lives on social media anyway that an incredible amount of our so-called "meaningful" connections with our friends and family are made through social media. With Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter constantly keeping us connected to each other, it's only natural that there is another app dedicated to meeting new people. Tinder is simply a newer medium in which people can meet others, regardless of what their intentions are.
Contrary to the stigma
against Tinder, random hook-ups are not always the goal in mind for everyone who begins swiping. People frequently download the app simply to see what it's like, chat to a few people and, if there are real connections, even begin relationships.
It's not to say that Tinder isn't used as a quicker, easier way to hook up. It is on some occasions. But whatever a person's reasons are for creating a Tinder profile, they can make their intentions clear early on, avoiding any confusion
or waste of time. This makes it easy for someone to talk to the people who are there for reasons matching their own.
The ingenious part about Tinder, however, is that it appeals directly to younger
People argue Tinder is "shallow" because first impressions and selections are based on appearances. Is there really a difference in how flirty interactions begin in person? You see someone you find attractive, start to make conversation and base your opinions from there.
people who communicate through technology. Connecting with people from behind a screen, in the palms of our hands, is familiar to us.
Tinder isn't a representation of "hookup culture." It's a representation of the fast-paced, technological culture we live in today. We find ease and comfort in browsing singles the way one might browse for shoes on Amazon.
Vanessa Asmussen is a junior from Neodesha studying journalism and sociology.
More than pills in a bottle: What pharmacists do
ABBY PETRULIS
@apetrulis
Healthcare isn't the same as fast food — but a lot of people expect their medications out of a pharmacy drive-thru window in a total of five minutes. For most, the question is why it takes so long to get a prescription at the pharmacy. Doesn't the pharmacist just read what the doctor orders, take the pills from the big bottle and put it in a little bottle, screw the cap on and sell it to you?
I think most people have no idea what really goes into the job of a pharmacist, which means they could really be missing out. It's much more than billing your insurance and counting pills into a bottle.
To get a degree in pharmacy you must attend a minimum of six years of schooling past high school. That's two years of prerequisites and then a four-year professional program. Another thing
many people don't know: pharmacists are doctors, too. That's right; the Doctor of Pharmacy, or PharmD, is the national standard in pharmacy education.
When the pharmacist reviews a prescription, it's not as simple as making sure everything matches up properly. Pharmacists check every medication for potential interactions with other medications you might be taking or any conditions you might have. Every single time. Not
to get a prescription?
First, the doctor has to actually send the order over either by phone, fax or electronic prescription, or they can write you a paper copy to bring into the pharmacy yourself. Then, it has to be put correctly into the pharmacy system, usually by a student or a technician, so it can be counted (again, usually by a technician or student) and checked by the pharmacist.
So why does it take so long to get a prescription?
to mention it's personalized. A minor interaction might be major for babies or the elderly, but the majority of the population is going to be OK.
The last step, once it's filled and verified, is to give it to you. The pharmacist can then answer any questions you might have about the medication, as well as let you know about relevant side effects. The keyword here is relevant. There's no need to scare you when you're already not feeling yourself — we aren't those awful direct-to-consumer ads.
Many people run into some blips at the pharmacy that may delay their prescription longer than the 15-minute standard. Many of these happen with insurance problems or incorrect prescriptions. It's important to carry your prescription insurance card with you.It's also important to remember that your medications are not the same as fast food don't expect your
blood-pressure medication to be ready as quickly as your burger and fries.
Pharmacists, in addition to providing counseling right when you are given a new medication, can also perform services called medication therapy management, or MTM. Insurance companies will often ask the pharmacist to reach out to the patient and offer to discuss their medications with them. Often this happens with patients who have stopped taking medications for some reason. Sometimes people become afraid of side effects they aren't even experiencing because of media hype and then don't receive the therapeutic benefit they desperately need.
Individuals usually go into pharmacy because they enjoy people and healthcare — don't be afraid of talking to your pharmacist about concerns you may have about any medication.
Additionally, over-the-counter medications and
supplements can be really overwhelming, and pharmacists are here to help. Don't be afraid to ask about some embarrassing, common ailments. Pharmacists are here to help you through whatever minor illness you may be experiencing and answer any questions to the best of our ability.
Your pharmacist does more than you know. No matter what the question on medication, they do their best. They are an essential part of the healthcare team and want to work with your doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other healthcare professionals to take care of you. Ask questions, listen to the counseling and don't treat your medications like fast food. You'll learn more about medication, yourself and taking care of your body the right way.
Abby Petrulis is a senior and second-year pharmacy student.
@KANSANNEWS
/THEKANSAN
@UNIVERSITY
DAILYKANSAN
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER GUIDELINES: Send letters to editor@akansan.com.
Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line.
Length 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, year, major and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
CONTACT US
Katie Kutsko
Editor-in-chief
kkutsko@kansan.com
Emily Stewart Advertising director estewart@kansan.com
THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Katie Kutsko, Emma LeGault, Emily Stewart and Anissa Fritz.
+