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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1982)
features Battalion/Page 5B November 4, 1982 Girls hope Soviet trip can save their sight United Press International THE COLONY — Sherry nd Ginger Syc will always wear dky eyeglasses, hut their riends and neighbors have aised $12,000 for a 6,000-mile rip to Moscow Nov. 13 in hopes hey never go completely blind. The girls suffer from retinitis bigmentosa, a progressive de generative disease that is steal ing their sight. At 7, Sherry is legally blind. The condition of Ginger, 9, is stabilized and her sight is somewhat better than Sherry’s. “Moscow’s got the treatment that can stop it,” said Marlene Syc, their 28-year-old mother. Her optimism is not necessarily shared by retina specialists in this country. It’s been five years since the girls were diagnosed to have the hereditary disease, commonly known as RP, in which deposits of pigment in the retina progre ssively block the field of vision and eventually blind the victim. “1 took Sherry in for crosseye (testing),” Syc recalled. “The only way they can discover it (RP) is when the eye is dilated, and they do that in the cross-eye test.That’s when they found it.” Since then Syc and her hus band, Ben, 39 — both Michigan natives who moved to Texas 11 years ago, shortly after their marriage, to escape the cold weather — have had to sell one home in nearby Grapevine to meet medical expenses. Then the Sycs heard about titute. A series of injections is given in Moscow’s “Encad” treatment, twice a day for 10 days on the first but experts here consider it at best an “experiment.” Retina specialists in north It ’s been five years since Texas have done photographic the girls were diagnosed to have the hereditary mem changes. Hartenstine cess rate at stopping future de generation. Dr. Dennis Hartenstine, ex ecutive director of the national Retinitis Pigemtosa Foundation in Maryland, said doctors in this country have not been able to obtain samples of the serum used cover part of the expenses of only the first trip to Moscow. Amer ican Airlines, Syc’s employer) is flying them to London this month, and Japan Air Lines has provided the connecting flight to Moscow. Lions Club, Jaycees, churches and Little League teams, went door to door and organized other activities to raise the money. The $12,GOO that was pre sented to the family Oct. 9 will That leaves them needing funds for the remaining three treatments, and Syc said she doesn’t know' where that money will come from, although she has ambitions of raising it by laun ching a career as a country- western singer. She has been too busy with her daughters’ illness to make any re cordings yet, she said. “I’m kind of waiting till all this blows by.” Syc said her daughters, who attend regular public school clas ses in 1 he Colony half a day and “They’re not die kind for Bar- have special instruction half a bie dolls,” she said. “They’re tom- day, are active tomboys” who boys. On her birthday Sherry don t let then handicap get in said, T don’t want no Barbie their way. dolls. I want Hot Wheels.’” niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniB disease, known as RP, rnmmrknlv w a rne d there is always the possi- V hility of a psychological reaction in which in w hich hope fosters some tem- deposits Of pigment in porary improvement. Thereis, r r n . he emphasized, no cure lor RP. the retina progressively “You’re talking about a gene tic disease,” he said. “To cure a block the field of vision and eventually blind the victim. genetic disease you have to get into the genes,” not just arrest the disease’s progress. The family’s new neighbors in The Colony, a bedroom suburb visit. After nine months, patients with a population of 15,000 to return for another series of 10 the north of Dallas, made the trip days of shots, repeating the treat- to Moscow possible by raising merit a total of four times over $12,000 during September, three years. which was proclaimed Ginger The expensive and lengthy and Sherry Syc month by Mayor procedure does not correct pre- Gene Pollard, vious damage, but Syc said doc- About 20 community groups tors there have a 70 percent sue- and organizations, including the BOB BROWN UNIVERSAL TRAVEL | Air Line Reservations (Free Ticket Delivery) (713) 846-8719 TOURS • CRUISES • TRAVEL COUNSELING HOTEL • MOTEL & RENT CAR RESERVATIONS CHARTER FLIGHTS “If You Have Tried The Rest — Why Not Try The BEST" BOB BROWN JO ANN MUZNY PAM HALL RAMAOA INN LOBBY COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840 yi/E CAB E ... o*u£ Bull! i LAY-A-WAY BIG STATE PAWN\ SHOP OF BRYAN = FREE BALLOONS | FREE DOOR PRIZES E HOT DOG & COLA 10c I GIANT TENT SALE | BARGAINS GALORE! 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We hi interact ter, but ise. 1 thejeffei iiurth gn :1 Julie Ri nt. side, theirli) at the ird, the dsion mod# ■ is the ie library,' pecialista :hool. “f are.” it students inters, becai lat compni 1 itegral part s said, kids need nputer s like, the , the social to takeapi she said, United Press Internalional WASHINGTON — There is to question about emergency esuscitation outside the hospit- but the question of reviving a lospitalized patient can be a :omplex issue that already has nded up in three courts. The controversies center iround “do not resuscitate” irders issued by doctors in cases here the situation for one eason or another appears mpeless. George J. Arinas, associate irofessorof law and medicine at he Boston University School md Medicine, said cardiopul monary resuscitation (GPR) is a more complicated proce- urein the hospital and “death y be both expected and wel- :oraed.” Annas said in-hospital GPR pm involve placing tubes in the roat, electrical shock to start he heart, the use of intravenous lubes to deliver drugs and even the emergency placement of a heart paccemaker in rare cases. “Thus it is not surprising that decisions are made not to per- ormCPR on specific patients in Every hospital in the country,” hewroteinThe Hastings Center . The Hastings Center, in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., is an institute studying ' ethics. Annas said, however, that confusion exists regard- adtjugthe proper circimstances for ice,I issuanceofa“donot resuscitate” nrder. A national conference spon- ’ by the American Heart issoctation and the National Academy of Sciences two years nf agoconcluded that resuscitation not be used in certain mi iituations, “such as in cases of lerminal irreversible illness ere death is not unexpected.” Annas said the Massachusetts Court of Appeals concluded in case that CPR would do no li medical 1 much Apfi sored mhei one 1 thing for a 67-year-old woman who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for six years and who was immobile, speech less, unable to swallow without choking and who was not ex pected to live a year. Annas said the second major reason for issuing a “do not re suscitate” order is the belief that a patient’s quality of life is so poor that preventing death by CPR is not justified. However, when a “do not re suscitate” order was issued for a 41-year-old woman who had been seriously braindamaged five years earlier, a Minnesota court directed that the order be revoked. The woman had the mental age of a 2-year-old, had to be fed artificially and could only communicate slightly. The court ruled the “do not resuscitate” order was proper only if the woman herself would have wanted it, and there was no evidence that was the case. “This seems proper,” Annas commented. “When DNR (do not resuscitate) decisions are based on quality of life, only the patient’s own view should be re levant.” The third judicial case in volved a baby born with serious heart problems and who was abandoned by his mother. A corrective operation failed and doctors said no further help was available and the child’s condi tion was probably not live beyond a year. In addition, doc tors said CPR could cause the child substantial pain and possi ble brain damage. Thus a “do not resuscitate” order was re quested. The Massachusetts Supreme Court denied the request, saying it was not a question of hopeless ness but more of a quality-of-life situation and there was no way to say the child would not want to be resuscitated. . 9 at INDWHUM. HCOGMllHV In the age of information technology, a company -whose sales of $1.7 billion annually and whose products and components extend from data acqui sition and information processing through data communication to voice, video and graphic com munication — is making individual recognition a reality for their new graduates. ON CAMPUS INTERVIEWS November 23rd Electrical, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Accounting, Finance and Computer Science Majors Make arrangements at the Placement Office.