Month: August 2023

AN INCREDIBLE STORY OF RECOVERY AND HOPE

nancyvalko brain injury, courage, disability, faith, futility, inspiration, medical, medical ethics, mental health, pro-life, vegetative state

I was watching ESPN’s Sports Center show with my husband when I commented on the smart female sportscaster Victoria Arlen who held her own with the male sportscasters. Then my husband told me she had an amazing story and I had to check it out for myself.

A LIFE-CHANGING ILLNESS

When she was 11 in 2006, Victoria Arlen developed two rare conditions: Transverse Myelitis (“a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord”) and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (” a neurological, immune-mediated disorder in which widespread inflammation of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) damages tissue known as white matter”) . 

According to her website, she quickly lost the ability to speak, eat, walk and move and slipped into a “vegetative state”. The doctors thought she was a lost cause. “Victoria spent nearly four years “locked” inside her own body completely aware of what was going on just unable to move or communicate.”

But she didn’t give up.

Amazingly, she was able to improve and according to the May 10, 2023 issue of People magazine:

“After winning gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games and getting a job as one of the youngest reporters at ESPN, she spent year in physical therapy relearning to walk (something doctors thought she’d never be able to do)— and then dance, placing fifth on Dancing with the Stars in 2017.

By all accounts, Arlen had seemed to triumph over her tragedy.

THE RELAPSE

But on March 17, 2022, Victoria had a relapse-her worst fear.

But because her relapse of just the transverse myelitis was recognized early, doctors were able to treat her and prevent lasting paralysis. But her recovery was “grueling”, learning to sit up and take steps again with daily rehab.

She said ” I needed to prove to myself that I was going to be okay” and “”I keep believing in miracles I choose to have faith that I’m going to be okay, and I choose to have hope that things are going to continue to get better,

She continued to have nerve pain but is now back at ESPN’s Sports Center and says, ” “I’ve been given another second chance, and I make a conscious effort now more than ever to appreciate every single moment,” she says. “Because in the blink of an eye, it can be taken away.”

Her webpage reveals that:

“Victoria is also the Founder and Co- Chair of Victoria’s Victory Foundation, a nonprofit that assists those with mobility related disabilities. Since 2017, VVF over provided half a million dollars in scholarship funds to those who need it most.

Victoria’s book titled Locked In hit stores worldwide in August of 2018 as well as her 30 for 30 titled Locked In, that Victoria narrated and produced. Victoria continues to share her story on various speaking tours throughout the world.”

CONCLUSION

Ms. Arlen ends her story with an inspirational message that should touch all of us-especially healthcare providers:

“Heroes in real life don’t wear masks and capes. Sometimes they don’t stand out at all. But real heroes can save a life or many lives just by answering the call in their heart. In the darkest period of my life, when I couldn’t help myself, my heroes were there. … Sometimes we just need someone to lean over and whisper, ‘You can do it!‘ (Emphasis added)

The National Association of Pro-life Nurses Opposes “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” Amendment to the Ohio Constitution

nancyvalko abortion, adoption, AMA, conscience rights, culture, education, law, medical ethics, nursing, pro-life

The National Association of Pro-Life Nurses supports Ohio Right to Life in opposing “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” amendment to the Ohio Constitution. Here are some of our objections:

  1. The amendment states that: “Every individual  has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” the amendment says. If approved, the state couldn’t unduly “burden” this right.   According to FindLaw . : “Minors in Ohio generally cannot provide consent to most medical procedures and must seek the consent of a parent or legal guardian instead. But the state also allows so-called “mature minors” to consent   to such procedures without the consent of a parent or guardian. “Mature minors” must be at least 15 years of age or older, and they must be able to show a doctor that they have enough understanding to make such decisions on their own.” (All emphasis added) It is vitally important that parents be informed about such abortions procedures before they occur, especially with teenagers who may be pressured to get rid of the baby before their parents find out. Not only can parents help their teens make a life-saving decision like adoption but also be there to help if any physical or emotional complications result from the abortion.
  2. The amendment states: “Abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability,” except if a physician  believes it’s necessary “to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.” (Emphasis added)  We agree with AAPLOG (American Association of Pro-life Obstetrician and Gynecologists) that: “The amendment would legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy by allowing post-viability abortion for broadly defined ‘health reasons, which have been long been understood legally to include any and all factors supposedly affecting health, including socioeconomic reasons. Its broad language forbidding ‘direct or indirect’ restriction on abortion places at risk such basic safeguards as protections against coerced abortion parental consent, conscience rights for pro-life clinicians, current health and safety regulations for abortion clinics, and counseling to support a woman through her pregnancy-all of which have been demonstrated to help women” and” this proposed amendment also opens the door for the legal targeting of pregnancy resource centers, which serve thousands of Ohio women with material, medical and emotional support every year.” (Emphasis added) This makes an abortion right more extreme than what prevailed under Roe v. Wade.
  3. Conscience rights for healthcare providers are at risk. In a July 31, 2023 USA Today article “‘Conscience’ bills let medical providers opt out of providing a wide range of care” states cites a March 2020 article in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics that said, “Clinicians who object to providing care on the basis of ‘conscience’ have never been more robustly protected than today. Legal remedies for patients who receive inadequate care as a result have shrunk significantly”. Many of the most sweeping bills are backed by organizations that have promote the “conscience” agenda nationwide, such as the Christian Medical Association, Catholic Medical Association, and National Association of Pro-Life Nurses. Other groups launched a joint effort in 2020 with the explicit purpose of advancing state legislation that makes it easier for health care providers to refuse to perform a wide range of procedures, including abortion and types of gender-affirming care.” And that “Opponents such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Human Rights Campaign have been vocal opponents of this trend, criticizing it as a backdoor way to restrict the rights of women, LGBTQ+ community members, and other individuals. (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

We urge all people of good will to join us in working to protect and help vulnerable people as well as ethical healthcare providers.