The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: cancer

  • Remembering Evelyn: A Ray of Sunshine in Humboldt

    Remembering Evelyn: A Ray of Sunshine in Humboldt

    Members of the community rally to celebrate the life of Evelyn Andrews

    When Evelyn Andrews came to Humboldt State University, she had already beaten cancer once. In her senior year of high school, Andrews successfully fought off lymphoma and made the decision to redshirt her freshman year to recover fully. She expected to be back on the field for her sophomore season.

    Things changed in late September when a bad hop at practice hit Andrews in the face, causing continuous bleeding. After spending time at Mad River Hospital, Andrews went to University of California, Davis, where she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia.

    Andrews underwent chemo treatment and beat leukemia. Following the treatment, she went back to the hospital for 10 days due to a blood infection that caused additional blood clots throughout her body. Andrews died after being taken off life support Feb. 17.

    Roommate and teammate Morgan Brant took Andrews to the hospital after the injury at practice and knew her since they were both 12 years old.

    “She would just go into a room and light it up.”

    Morgan Brant

    “It crushed her to redshirt her freshman year,” Brant said. “She was just the type of person to put her head down and work and to get the job done. She was always there. She gave you the brutal truth even if you didn’t want to hear it. But you then found out that it was coming from a place of love and a place of compassion. She wanted the best for everybody.”

    Brant said that this was even more clear knowing Andrews off the field.

    “She would just go into a room and light it up,” Brant said. “She had the best sense of humor. She had the best smile and she was just like everybody has said, like a ray of sunshine. She really held a lot of love for everybody in her heart.”

    One thing Andrews brought to the team that has been embraced by the whole organization has been a ‘Don’t Suck’ mentality. Brant said this is something that originally came from Andrews’ family and spread to the rest of the team.

    “It was kind of like a thing that they said when she was struggling at bat,” Brant said. “She said it to Shelli one time and it just kind of became her thing. It was her thing since she was little kid and it just kind of stuck with the team and it showed that brutal honesty. Don’t suck as a person, don’t suck as a player and then you’re going to be successful.”

    Head Softball Coach Shelli Sarchett said the ‘Don’t Suck’ mentality has really been accepted by the whole team, especially when Andrews began cancer treatment for the second time.

    “Once this happened to her we adopted it as a team,” Sarchett said. “It doesn’t mean don’t suck, don’t be afraid to lose. It just means go out there and give your best. And even if your best isn’t good enough at that time, doesn’t mean that you did wrong.”

    • Members of Evelyn Andrews’ family applaud after a speech at her celebration of life ceremony at Lumberjack Arena on Feb. 23. | Thomas Lal
    • A small picture frame stands in the entry to Lumberjack Arena before the Humboldt State Athletics Department holds a celebration of life on Feb. 23 for Evelyn Andrews. | Thomas Lal
    • Members of the Humboldt State softball team and other programs comfort each other at a celebration of life for Evelyn Andrews on Feb. 23.

    As her coach, Sarchett also observed Andrew’s ability to be caring and honest with people as she interacted with her teammates.

    “She was the first person to hug you when you were down and the first person to kick you in the ass when you needed it,” Sarchett said. “She was a role model pretty much and she’s a superhero in our books. She’s a fighter and I think we could all take a little bit from Evelyn and learn about her spirit and use it to our advantage and to help us be better people.”

    Another thing that stood out to Sarchett was how much Andrews cared for the people around her, whether that was her parents and brother or her teammates.

    “It’s been amazing. The outpouring of support from not only the community but the softball community in general.”

    Shelli Sarchett

    “She loved her family,” Sarchett said. “It was all about family for her. Whether it be her actual family or her softball family. She defines that sense of family, that culture that we want here when it comes to family and she’s the daughter that everybody should want. If my daughters have half the heart she does, I’ve done pretty well.”

    Sarchett also said she had never been through anything like this before, but the support from Humboldt State Athletics and the softball community as a whole has been fantastic as herself and the team work through this hard time.

    “It’s been amazing. The outpouring of support from not only the community but the softball community in general,” Sarchett said. “How many coaching colleagues of mine reached out to me and to my assistants. And former coaches of my players reached out and her story has gone a long way, and we can only hope that it’s a lesson in just how to fight for things.”

    Andrews never got the chance to take the field for the Lumberjacks for a game, but her memory will remain with the people she played with and interacted with during her time among the redwoods. Brant was confident that she would remember Andrews for the rest of her life on and off the field.

    “I think we should remember Evelyn as a ray of sunshine,” Brant said. “We were saying it all last weekend when we played Chico. We were playing home games in February. We don’t do that here with the rain. So we really knew that she brought out that sunshine for us and she’s just this positive light and this big ball of energy. She had this beautiful smile and a beautiful mind and she was just always happy. I want people to remember that.”

    Brant pointed out that Andrews wouldn’t have wanted to be remembered as a patient.

    “She wasn’t a cancer patient,” Brant said. “She was someone who just fought cancer. So separating that from who she was as a person was very important to her. She was a ball of life, a ball of sunshine.”

  • Connecting Cannabis and Cancer

    Connecting Cannabis and Cancer

    New study links smoking cannabis with testicular cancer

    Those attending Humboldt State University who smoke marijuana regularly may want to rethink their habit.

    Marijuana is the most widely used drug in the United States, and a large part of its popularity as a recreational narcotic comes from the perception that it has very few, if any, long-term health effects. There are, in fact, several positives that are associated with the drug, such as help with depression or anxiety, easing of muscle soreness and a reducing of the number of seizures experienced by people with epilepsy.

    “When you combust any plant, you’re creating significantly more carcinogens.”

    Dr. Jeffrey Chen

    However, despite its positive effects, a recent study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association has identified a link between marijuana use in people with male reproductive organs and an increased risk of testicular cancer. The study explained that burning marijuana (which is necessary to smoke it), like burning any plant, triggers the release of carcinogens, which, in this case, may lead to testicular germ cell tumor.

    “When you combust any plant, you’re creating significantly more carcinogens,” Dr. Jeffrey Chen explained to Science Alert.

    The study also analyzed potential connections between recreational marijuana use and lung cancer, oral cancer and head and neck cancer. However, JAMA did not find any connections to any of those cancers.

    The meta-analysis in the data collected by JAMA is specific to white men, leaving out a large part of the global population. Many of their findings also date back as far as 1973.

    There also isn’t a direct causality from marijuana to cancer over a wide range of the population. The American Association for Cancer Research has identified many of the victims of cancer as having used marijuana heavily. However, there is still no evidence of other variables, who else might be at risk or other drugs that might increase or minimize said risk.

    These studies so far are limited in the information they provide, and should not be taken as the final word on any and all links between cannabis and cancer. However, it does contribute to the ongoing discussion of the health effects of the drug, and those who do use it may want to sit up a little straighter and take some notice.

  • Work Out for a Cause

    Work Out for a Cause

    Humboldt State students partner with Campaign One At A Time to raise money for a child’s dream

    Lecsi Prince, Brittney Odion and Cameron Calder will be up and early Saturday morning breaking a sweat and hoping to see the community support their goal of raising funds for a child in need.

    Humboldt State University students Prince, Odion and Calder are organizing a group workout called FUNd the Good that starts at 10 a.m. at HSU’s Student Recreation Center Field House on Dec. 14. The three students are fundraising for a national nonprofit called Campaign One At A Time.

    “Their mission is to provide positive experiences and fulfill the dreams of children fighting life-threatening illnesses, one child and one campaign at a time,” Prince said. “They do this by trying to help create normalcy for the child at a time when life is anything but.”

    “A lot of these kids don’t get to live a normal childhood due to treatments, but this organization helps their dreams come true.”

    Lecsi Prince

    FUNd the Good is working with Campaign OAAT in sending 6-year-old Joshy and his family to Universal Studios for Grinchmas. Joshy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2017, and since then, his normal has become hospital stays and treatments.

    They are hoping to raise $1,500 before the end of December. Kinesiology majors Prince and Odion and finance major Calder worked with Campaign OAAT in the past, and still continue volunteering for the children.

    “The first event I volunteered at, I got to meet some of the kids and it’s cool seeing the direct effect our support has on these children’s lives,” Prince said. “A lot of these kids don’t get to live a normal childhood due to treatments, but this organization helps their dreams come true.”

    Prince said FUNd the Good will consist of a circuit training workout and will be set up for anyone to participate, no matter their athletic skill level.

    The students are asking for a minimum of a $5 cash donation for Saturday, but hope more people will donate and get Joshy and his family to Universal Studios. Both groups are also accepting any donations online.

    “People should come because they will get a great workout and affect real children’s lives,” Prince said. “Everything helps. We have a fundraising page up where people can donate however much money to the cause.”

  • HSU graduate making a name for himself

    HSU graduate making a name for himself

    By Morgan Brizee

    At just 2 years old Eddie Medrano and his four siblings were forced into the foster care system. Medrano is now a 22-year-old Humboldt State graduate, and soon to be USC masters graduate, who created and owns his own business. Medrano was in and out of eight foster homes between the ages of 2 to 5, and diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis tumors. He is now graduating from the University of Southern California with a master’s in business.

    “My mother had a drug addiction and was an alcoholic,” Medrano said. “My father was nowhere to be found.”

    They were taken into the foster care system after their mother left them home alone for three days. When Medrano was 6 years old, he and his oldest brother Jorge were adopted by the Medrano family. He finally felt like a normal kid after being adopted.

    “They gave me my first holidays, birthdays but best of all they gave me the feeling of unconditional love,” Medrano said. “They helped me with my PTSD, depression, ADHD and so many other things that I was finally living my dream childhood.”

    Medrano lost contact with his oldest sister Bonnie. His second oldest sister Lupita committed suicide at 23. Angel, his second oldest brother, was adopted to a separate family.

    Then, when Medrano was 9 years old, he was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis tumors.

    Photo by Eddie Medrano

    According to the National Cancer Institute’s website, “Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a type of cancer that can damage tissue or cause lesions to form in one or more places in the body. Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare cancer that begins in LCH cells [a type of dendritic cell which fights infection].”

    Medrano’s basketball coach was the one who helped catch the signs of cancer by noticing that Medrano was limping during a game. The doctors found tumors in Medrano’s hips and skull after performing x-rays and Magnetic Resonance Images.

    “I went through countless radiation treatments, surgeries and chemotherapy treatments,” Medrano said.  “I felt cheated and because I was brought up with Catholicism, the only person I could ask why me, was God.”

    Medrano didn’t understand why get got cancer. He was afraid of everything being taken away from him after finally getting the life he wanted.

    “I had no control of what was going on but luckily I started improving slowly through countless treatments and surgeries, I was on my way to remission,” Medrano said. “When I was young I was blinded by the pain and anger to see the amount of support I had throughout my battle.”

    After graduating high school Medrano went on to Cuyamaca Community College in San Diego. He was on their track team and received an AA degree in communication. He then transferred to Humboldt State and joined the track team, but his major changed.

    “After one semester, my passion for business directed me to work more in class in hopes of attending USC Marshall’s MSEI [Master of Science In Entrepreneurship & Innovation] Program,” Medrano said.  “Whether it was selling things on craigslist, working as a marketing employee or starting my own company, business was something that has always been in my life.”

    Medrano had a love for skateboarding and figured that he could find a way to make a business out of it. Hunter Fine, Humboldt State communication instructor, was not only an instructor to Medrano but also a friend. Fine also loved skateboarding like Medrano.

    “He gifted me a poster of Eazy-E that featured him with a local venice brand deck,” Medrano said. “I knew right then and there that I had to continue my dream of starting a skate brand company.”

    Medrano saw skateboarding not just as a hobby but a business venture. It wasn’t until after he graduated HSU and started at USC Marshall’s MSEI program that he learned how hard it was going to be to turn his dream into a reality.

    “It wasn’t that easy, yeah I had all these great ideas and designs, but as my professor for the feasibility class at USC, Albert Napoli would say, what problem are you solving?” Medrano said. “I took a step back, visited some local skate parks in Long Beach, where I currently live and just watched the skaters until something enlightened me.”

    Medrano learned after watching the skaters for hours that the skaters boards were snapping or getting damaged. The skaters would have to stop skating until they found a shop to get their skate boards fixed. His business would be a mobile truck to help the skaters fix their boards and get back to skating. The mobile truck is available in Los Angeles and San Diego at skate parks.

    “This is where OOPSY DAZY Co. comes in,” Medrano said. “We provide on-site products through our mobile store but overall we fill that huge gap and problem of distribution that typical skate-shops create.”

    Medrano saw skaters needing a place to fix their boards on the spot immediately at the skate parks so they don’t have to wait to get back on their boards. He noticed that boards can break down easily after hours of skating and that wax for the boards were hard to find also.