Presentations, NEED HELP!!

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Jan 5, 2006

Not sure how to help but......you can start by asking around and learn what others would do and start there.

If I was told I only had 6 months to live..........I would be very sad of course, but would also try my best to enjoy my last months to the fullest. I would seek spiritual counseling, enjoy my family and loved ones, forgive and forget............and leave a beautiful and memorable impression behind.

Best wishes to you in your project.

maledi · Jan 5, 2006

Okay, I know this sounds morbid but I once had a journalism class that you had to write your own obituary in. It was actually pretty neat because you got to decide how you lived in your future and then how you died. You may or may nt want to include this but you could also include all the things you've wanted to do but haven't had the time, or money. You could also talk about how much doing those things has changed your lives if you do end up living. maybe each person in the group could do a seperate part. You could even talk about anticipatory grieving and create nursing care plans for the family dynamic. Good Luck!

det01 · Jan 5, 2006

You can talk about groups/camps and stuff for people with cancer and the kind of things they do at them. A google search for cancer camps may help.

Also there is a scene in Patch Adams where he is dealing with kids who have cancer, he goes in dressed like a clown. You can include something like that in your presentation.

You could also hand out a paper a couple of days before the presentation and ask people to answer the ? what would you do if you had 6 months to live? You can then tally them up and report back to the class on how many people would do what, and then discuss it.

If you want to include a joke here is one: http://www.jokeindex.com/joke.asp?Joke=1047 it is kind of funny..in a slightly morbid kind of way.

Mabe if your class members agree you could do a "Who said this is what they would do game". Everyone who wants to participate writes what they would do on a piece of paper. You read each (including your own) aloud and the rest of the class tries to guess who said that. Whoever guesses right first gets a piece of candy or something.

sanddollar · Jan 5, 2006

Think and recall the words of Tim McGraw's song.. " Live like you were Dying" Savor every moment!

RNLisa · Jan 5, 2006

If you want to include a joke here is one: http://www.jokeindex.com/joke.asp?Joke=1047 it is kind of funny..in a slightly morbid kind of way.
Mabe if your class members agree you could do a "Who said this is what they would do game". Everyone who wants to participate writes what they would do on a piece of paper. You read each (including your own) aloud and the rest of the class tries to guess who said that. Whoever guesses right first gets a piece of candy or something.

The joke will be a great "ice breaker", thanks!! And the game idea is great idea! I was looking for ideas like this and you hit the nail on the head. I also thought about going around the room and say the word "Cancer" and have each student say one word they think of first when hearing that word. Then, maybe do the joke and the game, then having a clip from the movie My Life with Michael Keaton. I then need to include Therapeutic Communication examples that we as nurses SHOULD say to a patient that is going through cancer. I am supposed to also explain treatment options and then answer the question: What if I live after all? What will my life be like?

I think I got a pretty good game plan going. Needs some tweaking, but I have until 1st week of Feb.

Thanks for all the ideas!! I appreciate it.

det01 · Jan 5, 2006

Sounds like you are going to have a great presentation!!!

Good luck!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2006

just an idea that popped into my head, but. . .you could make up little baggies, one for each student in the class, with jelly beans of different colors in them. just to make it interesting i'd try to get black bags (maybe at a party store) and as you hand one to everyone, tell them, "you've just found that you have a lump on your ________". no one opens their baggy until you tell them to. as you go through your presentation you reveal what the different colors mean. so, a "cancer" baggy would have, let's say a black bean (cancer), a pink one (surgery), a yellow one (chemotherapy) and/or a blue one (radiation therapy), an orange one (recurrence) and then a red one (prognosis of death in 6 months), or a green one (no further recurrence). this way everyone gets involved and you've managed to give them a little something to eat as well.

i'm sure if you think on it you could come up with variations on this. i just did a post with links for someone doing a presentation on diversity looking for some activities to involve the audience. perhaps if you check those web sites you might find some activity you could adapt to your presentation.

as for being told you only have 6 months to live, i'd go to a growth and development book at look at the tasks involved in the end stages of life as well as a book on preparing for death. when you know you have only 6 months left to live you are going to start developing a list of things you have to wrap up and conclude before you die. some people start mending fences with relatives, some get religion, etc.

what if you live? i can tell you that from my own experience. i was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 30 years ago while i was a nursing student. my first thought, "i'm going to die." i spent my next 5 years or more doing things with the aim of probably not making it to the age of 30. surprise! i'm 56 and still around. not only that, but had a second tumor found and treated 9 years ago. i wasn't so paranoid about getting things ready for my death because as a nurse of 20+ years at that time i knew so much more. what i haven't been prepared for was the long term effects of the radiation treatments: the long term effects of being euthyroid, the chronic inflammation on the left side of my face from the radiation therapy, and recently the 75 hyperbaric oxygen treatments i had to go through to fend off osteoradionecrosis of my jaw. believe me, i had my head buried in the books and doing internet searches for what is done when the jaw bone just deteriorates away from radiation. i live, not in constant fear anymore, but with the thought that it is very likely that i will develop a third cancer. so, i get all my yearly tests done that my internist recommends, i occasionally check for lumps, particularly in my neck since that has been the place where my two tumors showed up, and i make sure i have medical insurance up the kazoo in case something comes up because treatment is expensive. i used to wonder why it had happened to me for a long time. i never found an answer. i have my suspicions that i have discussed with doctors who just look at me and give me that doctor frown. it is maddening for someone who has to have answers in a tidy, rational bundle.

here is a link to m.d. anderson cancer center http://www.mdanderson.org/ where there is information for the public on cancer, including statistics.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/stt/stt_0.asp - here are the statistics on cancer to link into. they also have statistics by state as well

RNLisa · Jan 6, 2006

What if you live? I can tell you that from my own experience. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 30 years ago while I was a nursing student. My first thought, "I'm going to die." I spent my next 5 years or more doing things with the aim of probably not making it to the age of 30. Surprise! I'm 56 and still around. Not only that, but had a second tumor found and treated 9 years ago. I wasn't so paranoid about getting things ready for my death because as a nurse of 20+ years at that time I knew so much more. What I haven't been prepared for was the long term effects of the radiation treatments: the long term effects of being euthyroid, the chronic inflammation on the left side of my face from the radiation therapy, and recently the 75 hyperbaric oxygen treatments I had to go through to fend off osteoradionecrosis of my jaw. Believe me, I had my head buried in the books and doing Internet searches for what is done when the jaw bone just deteriorates away from radiation. I live, not in constant fear anymore, but with the thought that it is very likely that I will develop a third cancer. So, I get all my yearly tests done that my Internist recommends, I occasionally check for lumps, particularly in my neck since that has been the place where my two tumors showed up, and I make sure I have medical insurance up the kazoo in case something comes up because treatment is EXPENSIVE. I used to wonder why it had happened to me for a long time. I never found an answer. I have my suspicions that I have discussed with doctors who just look at me and give me that doctor frown. It is maddening for someone who has to have answers in a tidy, rational bundle.

WOW, I am so glad to hear that you are a survivor!! Your story inspires.

If you have read my other threads, you may know this, but my Mom was diagnosed with Uterine cancer in 1985, went through chemo and then it metastisized to her lung. She had 2 lobes removed, chemo, experimental chemo, was put on O2, etc. Well, she lost her battle in 1989. She was 45, 4 days away from her 46th birthday. I was 19, just out of high school, graduated from a 10 month Secretarial school, and was jobless. At any rate, this topic makes me sad and yet, reminds me that we have come a long way with cancer research. If it had been today, my Mom may have been treated with different meds and may have lived longer if not forever.

I am always inspired by the survivors of today and it is a heart warming story.

Thank you all for your ideas, stories, and suggestions. I will take them all in and make a great presentation that would have made my Mom proud!

Thanks,