Those who Endure Scholarship

When I was 15 years old, I had a seizure the doctors told my family and I that I would be okay. Well, I kept having seizures and then the strokes came. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with me and they kept sending me home. I went completely blind and paralyzed from the neck down, they thought I was faking and sent me to the psych ward. I was only there for a few days before I was diagnosed with Pseudo Tumor cerebri. They did emergency surgery for an LP Shunt, and said I would never get my vision back or walk again because of all the damage and not treating the condition right away. I was able to get some vision back and I can walk. I am in college for my B.S. in Psychology and my minor in business admiration. I am excited that I have one more year left. I have to say I am blessed that I found Marian University as I was a high school dropout due to my condition. My last year of high school I got sick for the second time and they had to place a VP shunt by the time I got out of the hospital it was to late to go back to school. When I found Marian, they put me in a program to finish my high school diploma. They have a great adviser that helps me with certain things in my classes, as I am legally blind and have a illness that can cause complications. For example, in the second year of college I had to have a stent placed in my brain as I also found out I have intracranial stenosis. Recovery was very rough, but my teachers and adviser understood and helped me through it. They motivated me every day because quitting or taking a break was not the answer. This scholarship would help in many ways, and I would be blessed to have the extra help through my journey in school while dealing with Intracranial Hypertension. Thank you for reading this

In October of my freshman year of college, I was traveling home for a weekend break and my eardrum ruptured due to the drastic elevation change, causing a serious infection that shut my whole ear canal. They were concerned that it had spread to my brain. The doctors ordered a CT that found a tumor. The next step was an MRI to figure out what my future looked like. I was terrified. Luckily, the MRI found the tumor to just be a pineal cyst, but they recommended that I see a neurosurgeon as soon as possible. I consulted with the neurosurgeon to find that I had Chiari malformation type 1. Iit was then that I became aware that I was losing feeling in my neck, triceps, and the lateral parts of my hands and that these symptoms were not normal. With my neurosurgeon understanding that I wanted to go into a hands-on specialty like orthopedics, he recommended that I had brain decompression surgery sooner rather than later.After finals week in May, I underwent brain decompression surgery and spent the whole summer rocking my new accessory- a neck brace. This was the most formative year of my life because I found a strength inside of myself that I didn’t know I had, and I found a new purpose for why I wanted to be a doctor. The pain, the stares that I got from people, the intense amount of physical therapy, and the hard work it took mentally and emotionally to keep propelling forward was the hardest experience I have had with Chiari, but it lit a fire in me that has never burned brighter. I realized I had a purpose that went well beyond myself. The purpose is to be an inspiration and show other students with those dark moments that they can still find joy, cope with laughter, and create an impact for those who come behind them. By the time I graduated college, I had had nine surgeries during undergrad and honestly had to work so hard in my classes and my physical therapy to create a life that felt tangible and accessible. Every experience that I went through as a patient taught me something to be aware of for the future. I want to be a representation for the next student with temporary or permanent disabilities, and to inspire the next kid who doesn’t think there is room for them and their story in healthcare. Everyone’s illness experience is different, but it is important to share because that fuels people to want to get better. I am healthy. I am happy. And I am excited to use the story and my passion for being a patient advocate to become a physician that can shine light into some of the darkest times.I can honestly say that after years of medical adversity, I’ve faced, I’d do it all again if I had to because nothing can take away the purpose of my pain

For most middle school girls, all that is on their mind is wondering which skinny jeans to
wear the next day, how to tell their crush that they like them without going in a mile radius of the
guy, and making sure that whatever they do, they do not get classified as the “weird kid”. As a
seventh-grade girl with IIH and POTS, however, the odds were not in my favor. One of the
toughest times during my illness was not having the strength to get out of bed and having to
finish my seventh-grade year homebound; however, the weakness that I experienced during that
time has made me a stronger individual today.
The loneliness and isolation that I felt in seventh grade created an independence in me
that will follow me into my future studies and careers. Although finishing the last two weeks of
seventh grade at home probably seemed like fun to my classmates, all I felt was depression,
weakness, and alienation from the rest of my peers. At this time in my life, I had both IIH and
POTS; the latter caused severe fatigue to the point where I physically could not get out of bed in
the mornings. My mom was a teacher, and she had to take off two weeks of work to take care of
me. I had relentless suicidal thoughts because I saw no hope in the pitiful life I had. I felt like a
burden to my family because I did not have the energy or happiness to be the girl I was before
IIH and POTS. Few of my friends reached out to me during this time and it seemed like nobody
understood the agony I was enduring. Despite these adversities, however, I learned how to be
strong in the face of depression. I know that as I enter college and then the working world, I will
be able to step out of my comfort zone and accomplish the goals I set for myself.
I am so proud to say that I did not let the suicidal thoughts and depression win. If
someone had told me five years ago that I would later become the varsity soccer co-captain, or
be alive, even, I would have laughed in their face. The lessons of grit and endurance I have
gained from IIH will prove to be extremely valuable as I go to college. I will be able to relate to
those struggling with depression and encourage them to push forward. Because of my health

conditions, I want to have a career in the health field and be an advocate for those who feel
powerless in their illnesses.

In January of 2011, I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension in the midst of my junior year of high school. I had been an honors student, and was involved in school clubs, such as National Honors Society, California Scholarship Federation, Mu Alpha Theta, and Spanish club. I had played on competitive sports teams up until the time I began having headaches due to my IIH. Before becoming unwell, I had aspired to go into the medical profession. I had always admired those who wanted to devote their life to serving others. The summer before my junior year, I attended a Medial Forms at UC Berkley, and knew through this experience that medicine was the right path for me. The second half of my junior year, and all my senior year, had been spent seeing doctors and eventually having five shunt surgeries. A few months before graduating high school, I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation Type 1. Upon graduating high school, with honors, I underwent decompression surgery. Due to continued pain from surgery, I took a gap year before starting college. Within my gap year, I wanted to be of service to others and began volunteering at my local hospital. This severed as a reminder that even though I was not well enough to begin college just yet, it reaffirmed my desire to become a nurse.

In 2014, I moved away from home to start college. During the first two years of college, attending part time, I had to undergo several more shunt revisions and replacements. In late 2014, I underwent a shunt surgery that had major complications. Upon waking from my surgery, the shunt tubing had migrated, and I immediately needed a revision. The migration caused eye damage, resulted in my being temporarily blind for a year. Ten days after this surgery, I developed meningitis from my shunt becoming infected. My surgeon had decided to leave my shunt in place and treat with antibiotics. After several months, my shunt had become re-infected, and I had developed appendicitis due to an abdominal infection caused by my VP shunt. A year after my infected shunt was removed, and new shunt had been placed, I finally started to see improvements in my vision. I decided to go back to school, part-time, in the fall of2015, beginning my first courses to my pre-nursing major. My new shunt had failed again in late spring of 2016 and I struggled to back to school due to continued issues with managing my IIH. In spring of 2017, I had acquired an extensive syringomyelia due to ongoing complications with Chiari and I began having grand-mal seizures. I underwent another shunt removal and replacement to try and resolve the Cerebral Spinal Fluid that had become trapped in my spinal cord, causing weakness and severe pain. During the past ten years of undergoing 30 shunt revisions and replacements, and attending school part-time, I have grown to appreciate my strength to endure, to overcome, and to advocate for myself. Through being my own self-advocate, I hope to advocate for others and provide them with resources to best advocate for themselves. Though the many scary moments I have faced as a patient, the blessings of knowing firsthand how challenging, physically, and mentally, it can be to endure through hardships has made it easy to stick with my dreams of becoming a nurse. The inspiration of my two elder siblings who have also faced health challenges has also contributed to helping me preserve. My elder sister, who passed away several years ago, has never left my thoughts and I hope to live out my dreams even though she could not. She brings me strength through moments when I feel I cannot push on, or when I think my struggles are too overwhelming. I lean on my remembrance of her and how she would want to see me succeed with my endeavors. She taught me that kindness and hardships help shape us, and that we can use our experiences to fuel our compassion for others, and towards who we want to be in the world.  

I am currently enrolled, this semester, as a full-time student. My goal is to finish up my general education requirements to transfer to a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program in the Spring of 2023. I am set to graduate next spring, Spring of 2022, with my associates in both general science and in psychology. The funding I would receive from this scholarship will help me to pay for my textbooks, and towards my tuition fees next semester. My goal after graduating from nursing school is to become a neuro nurse. While my education is vital to ensuring patient safety, much of what I have learned from personal experience cannot be simply taught. It brings a new level of empathy and compassion and when you have had experience being on the other side of a situation (being the patient rather than only as a nurse).

My name is Teresa Murphy. I go by Smurf. I am a current NC paramedic for Alamace County EMS and a full time student. I have a degree in web technologies that I earned in 2015, but I quickly learned it wasn’t my career choice. I was diagnosed in 2016 with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. I have been a high GPA student ever since I started college in 2010. Up until my diagnosis I suffered daily from migraines. Doctor after doctor didn’t listen to me and told me it was growing pains. Well finally after a 43 day migraine that doctors or myself couldn’t break, I was finally referred to WFBH neurology. I walked in for my appointment and was diagnosed on the spot. Of course I was sent for a spinal tap, but I was diagnosed even before I walked out of the office. I thought there was finally hope. I was put on the meds for this condition and quickly learned I was allergic to them. I was back to square one as my neurologist didn’t do surgery and hardly sent people to that step.

In the mean time, while suffering with migraines, I continued to go back to school. I pursued my NC EMT, then my NC Paramedic. I graduated with my NC Paramedic Oct 16th, 2018 and had my first brain surgery 2 days later. I had stents placed. All the while, I was still enrolled working towards my associates degree in EMS. May 9th, 2019 I had my VP shunt placed. May 17th, 2019 I walked at graduation and received my Associates in applied science in EMS. I am still in school working towards my associates in Emergency and disaster management and fire protection technology. I pay for school out of pocket thanks to the limit to how much financial aid you can get.

My motivation comes from within. I could have let idiopathic intracranial hypertension take me out of the game, but I didn’t. There are days that all I do is sleep after my shift in EMS. There are days that I don’t have the motivation to work on school work, but I do what I can. I do have accommodations in the classroom because of this condition and I have some great teachers where I go to school. I am currently enrolled at Rowan Cabarrus community college. Last semester I had a set back as I had medical issues pop up outside of IIH. But I am pushing towards graduating in December. I was supposed to graduate in may, but with all the stuff going on in the world, that’s not going to happen.

Up until last year when I found the support groups on facebook, I was all alone when it came to this disease. Through these groups I have found some great people. I don’t have family support. It’s all on me to get myself up and push myself to achieve what I have achieved. I am currently a 3.5gpa student.