How My Grandma Has Affected My Life

It was near the end of winter 2005, when my grand-aunt suddenly fell ill. In a short period of time her illness worsened and the doctors informed my family, my grand-aunt only had a couple of months to live. The news was devastating to my family as we watched a vivacious, independent, and outspoken woman, who enjoyed shopping, reading mystery novels and spending time with family become very weak and confined to her bed. Instead of placing my grand-aunt in a hospice facility, my family and I, with the assistance of a hospice nurse cared for my grand-aunt in her home until her passing.

Growing up I seen my mom, aunts, uncles and grandfather struggle with the death of my grandmother. Everyday there was a new struggle whether it was getting up to go to work or eat. My grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of fifty two, it devastated my family. The question asked “Is why do I want to go into the medical field?” I want to go into the medical field because I want to be able to make a difference in this world. I want to do research to cure chronic diseases, I want to be able to tell a family that everything will be alright, and I want to be able to save a family the devastation that my family felt.

I’ve always had an interest in becoming a Doctor. Even as a young child. Unfortunately, I lost my grandpa January 23, 2016 to a Lung Disease. He and I had a great relationship. He inspired me to be the best that I can be. Through his battle with Lung disease, I saw how the Doctors cared for him in a special way. My father suffered from a stroke that nearly changed his life. Watching him progress and get treated from amazing Doctors opened my eyes. That’s when I realized becoming a Doctor would allow me to care for people the same way my loved ones were cared

My grandma, Alma Jean, was born in 1935 in Silo, Oklahoma, just outside of Durant. Her birth certificate says she was born in Durant because Silo was too small to be considered a real town. She lived there on a farm with her parents, Orval and Maggie Dale.

A couple years ago I lost my grandpa to an illness. It had to do with his diabetes and then it begin to progress to the point where he ended up in the hospital and then needed to be in a nursing home. After seeing the way that nursing home treated him and the other patients/residents made me not only disappointed in the nurses but also encouraged me to one day pursue a career in the medical field. When I graduated high school and went to college I was unsure on what I wanted to do. I was interested in automotive technology and radiology as well. Since I was undecided I begin some basic courses. After 2 years in college I was still unsure and decided to give myself the experience of working in the Eagle Ford Shale. It was heavy labor in all

When I first began my college career in 2011, I was a first generation college student. I entered into college with only a vague goal of becoming a Physician’s Assistant. The most common question I was asked was why? Why a Physicians Assistant? And I my answer was always the simple standard answer of: “I want to help people”. I, undeniably, still want to help others but it was not until the Christmas of my sophomore year, that I truly understood what it meant and took to be a successful Physician’s Assistant. A few days after Christmas my mother was hospitalized for two and a half weeks with a continuous blood clot in her leg and a small blood clot in her lungs. She spent the first 3 days in ICU, required multiple blood and iron transfusions, and eventually surgery. For me, the worst part of the entire experience was being awakened in the middle of the night by nothing more than the faint whisper of my name. Till this day, I don’t know how I heard it. My mom had collapsed on the stairs in excruciating pain. She was extremely weak and unable to move. I thought I was watching my mother die, and the immediate fear and panic that I felt, still haunts me sometimes. I didn’t know what to do or what was

It's May of my senior year and part of our High School and Beyond Plan is to participate in a weeklong job shadow in a job field that suits our interests. Originally agriculture was the path I had chosen. However, I had decided to select a job shadow in the healthcare field. You see, in November of my senior year, my great-grandmother passed away. Tragically, she had fallen outside and was not found until later in the evening. The ambulance was called and I watched my parents, neighbor & teacher rush to the scene and attempt to save her life. As dramatic as this might sound it was the reality

When I was fourteen years old, my great-grandmother had an ischemic stroke and struggled with Broca’s Aphasia until she passed away seven months later. What she left me with, however, was a gift greater than anything of monetary value: passion for the healthcare field. For months prior to her death, I watched her devote her life to redeeming her expressive language. I was inspired tremendously by her gallantry and decided that I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. However, when I was applying to colleges, I chose nursing because it was what my parents suggested I pursue as a career. After coming to college with the anticipation of graduating with a degree in nursing, I was disappointed when, after two years of school, I realized

Who in your life has caused you to become a better person? For some people it's a parent who has shaped you since the day that you were born. For others it's the stranger who always says hi to you when you see them on the street. Maybe it’s the couple down the block who struggles to make ends meet, but always has a positive attitude. It may even be the person who has hurt you the most. These people make us a better person even when we least expect it. I never realized the effect my grandmother had on my life until she stopped recognizing me.

My grandmother is a second mother to me as my parents were busy working to support our family. She has raised me to become the person I am today. I just started college when I learned that my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went through a major surgery removing more than half of her right breast. I independently researched and studied medical vocabulary, so as to understand what the surgeons, PAs and nurses were communicating when caring for her. Recovering from surgery was difficult for my grandmother, and during this time, I encountered various medical staff trying their best to help. They often came to me and explained how her condition was to keep me and my family informed. At this moment, I began to grow my passion toward medical profession. I wanted to care for others like they had cared for my family. Thanks to these medical professionals, to this day my grandmother is healthy and cancer-free.

I was filled with pain, devastation, fear, but also curiosity. I have my entire life, been very interested in science and medicine. However, this tragic event in my life influenced me the most to pursue a career in the medical field and become a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. Ever since that day I have gained a strong desire to acquire knowledge about cancer and many other diseases. After she passed away, at first, I was only interested in finding a cure for cancer and had only a very narrow view of the science field. As I entered high school and really began to explore different sciences I found that becoming a doctor will allow me to not only try to find a cure but to help many other people afflicted with many other diseases. With my new-found sense of direction, I started to deeply explore everything to do with the medical field. I entered a program at Holy Cross Hospital called “The Medical Explorers Program” where the participants learned about careers in the Health Field

I grew up in a small village in Mexico where there were no health care professionals. My grandmother was one of the women in the village who would take care of the sick. The knowledge and wisdom she gained over the years was passed on to my mother. One day, I remember my mother asking me to accompany her. It was late at night, all of the dogs would bark at us as we walked by, and I did not know where we were going. We came to the house of a sick child. It was then, I realized that my mother had been asked to come and give the child medicine. The privilege of getting to help the child get well again gave me a sense of accomplishment. What we had done there guided me to strive for something that would give me that same sense of accomplishment. In 1996, my family and I got the opportunity to move to the United States. As a little girl, I did not understand how such a sad and difficult goodbye would bring me to a better future. A place that has brought me closer, than I had ever thought, to accomplishing my dream of becoming a pharmacist. I am grateful for of all of the opportunities that living and studying in the United States has brought.

October 10th, 2013 at 7:30pm. The day of my grandma death. The day that changed my life forever. The day I will never forget. My grandma was my everything, she was the lady who raised me since I was born. I never had a mother or father, the only person who cared for me was my grandma. The day my grandma died I was in my senior year of high school and I had just came home from cheerleading practice. That was an unusual day for me because when I woke up that morning my grandma wasn't up cooking breakfast like she usually does she was in her bed asleep still. I looked outside and the sun was just rising. I went in her room that morning before I left for school and said these exact words, "Good morning grandma if you’re not feeling well, I could stay home with you and take you to the doctor." In a raspy low voice my grandma replied, "Good morning sweetie I'm okay I was just feeling a little sick this morning but I'm better now. You better get to school now before you are late.” Okay, Grandma Love you, call me if you need me", I replied. On my way to school all I thought about was why my grandma sounded like that this morning and how she wasn't up doing her normal routine. I have never seen my grandma get sick before. She was always the one taking care of me making sure I was okay. But I just pushed the feeling over just thinking my grandma was okay and I was just overthinking. I should've stayed home that day. I should've noticed that my grandma really was sick.

My grandmother, Esther Turner, has impacted my life in more ways than just simply being there for me, as a grandmother. She’s much more than that, in my eyes. Being the eldest of three, I’ve always taken on more responsibility as the older sister. It was my job to show my little brother and sister which paths were safe to take in this wild, confusing maze called life. At times, I felt like a mother myself, and at a young age, I found myself slightly intimidated by all the responsibilities that were laid on my shoulders. The main person I could talk to freely and openly, without judgment, was my grandmother. We have always been able to speak to each other about any and everything, nothing was off limits. That’s what I think brought us so close, the fact that she accepted me entirely for the person I presented to her.

“You better not act a fool outside this house” Grandma would tell me as a very young boy. My family dynamics as a child I would say was far from broken, there was plenty of happy moments with no kinds of abuse or neglect. However, it was different, and it was hard. My mother was fifteen years old in December 1994 when I was born, and my father was not there, and just recently have I connected with him on any type of level. There was eight of us living in my grandparents two, bedroom home in West End as my grandparents took in three of my grandma’s sister’s children due to personal problems and addiction. My uncles were essential in helping me find my identity and self-worth in my Birmingham City experience in my early elementary school years. They and my granddad were the only male figures in my life for the first eight years. Everything a normal father would do and teach his son about life, I learned from them. One of the most influential and loving overall person in my life has been my grandma. She checks every box, and more of the functions of the grandparent the textbook discusses “managing, caretaking, coaching, assessing, nurturing, assigning, and patrolling… they tell children what to do, and how to do it “. (Faye Z. Belgrave, Kevin W. Allison, 2014, p. 154) Although her discipline was no joke, she was the most expressive with her parenting towards me, even more so than my mom, who was young and learning how to parent. Momma was and still is an expressive parent, but