Welcome to AP/101!

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Students and Parents:

I’m very excited to be working with you next year as you take either English 101 or AP English Language and Composition.

About the Course

MNHHS offers three English courses at the junior level: English 3, English 101, and AP English Language and Composition. English 3 is the basic course. College-bound students are recommended to take either English 101 or AP English Language to more fully prepare for college. While they have different names, English 101 (dual-credit) and AP English Language are similar courses. I will be teaching the same concepts and using the same textbooks. Both courses are taught fully onsite at MNHHS. The only major differences are the enrollment requirements and how you can receive college credit from the course. 

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The Side Effects of Chemotherapy

This is the seventh in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

One of the most intimidating things for me initially was receiving the BINDER’S WORTH of disclosures about the medications I would be receiving during chemotherapy. Each drug was its own packet–and they were LONG. The biggest section of the packet would be the potential side effects, and they are all awful side effects.

It’s kind of like when you are watching TV and you see a commercial for some drug (why are they even allowed to advertise drugs?), and you hear the list of side effects and think to yourself, “Surely X condition wouldn’t be nearly as bad as all those things?!?”

…that’s chemotherapy.

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Infusion Time

This is the sixth in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

While “chemotherapy” can mean lots of things (drugs in pill form are still chemicals and still chemotherapy), when most people think of chemotherapy, they think of an IV infusion.

In case you’ve ever wondered what that is like, here’s a snapshot of my day at chemo, both pre- and post-surgery.

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Cancer By the Numbers

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

Although I am a wordsmith at heart, this cancer experience has given me a whole new appreciation for numbers. They’re everywhere around me now, and I’m constantly paying attention to this number or that number. Here are just a few of the “numbers”.

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I Have the Power… Port

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

So, before my chemotherapy could begin, I had to have a “port-a-cath” installed. I’d never heard of a Power Port before that day, and now that I know what they are, well…

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The Many Stages of Diagnosis

This is the third in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

So, I “knew” I had cancer the second I found the lump, but it wasn’t until my June 30 post-biopsy appointment that I KNEW. Today, I want to share with you some of the things I learned that day, both at the doctor’s office and through my own tearful research afterward.

MANY DIFFERENT TYPES

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My Noisy New Purse

This is the second in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

I know I said my next post was going to be about my diagnosis, but this weekend, I got a noisy new purse and I thought I’d tell you about it.

Background

The day after my surgery, we could tell that there was one area that just wasn’t healing quite right. The bruising was spectacular, if I do say so myself–very dark purple. The surgeon was a little concerned that the area was going to become necrotic (in other words, that the skin wasn’t getting good circulation and that the tissue there was going to die).

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It’s My Cancer, and I’ll Cry If I Want To

This is the first in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

The day began normal enough, I suppose. I got started later than normal–after all, in a Covid world, what’s the point of showering at 5:00 AM to sit on the couch, especially on a Saturday?

I will be honest and admit that I am one of those women who never did what she was supposed to. I was pretty healthy, so I conveniently “forgot” about all of the checkups and self-exams. I can’t really explain what made me do a self-exam in the shower that morning, but I did.

The lump was small and hard. It felt like a marble.

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Welcome to APLAC/ENG 101!

At the school board meeting last night, 8/13/2020, the official decision was made to start school virtually. Since we won’t be able to have the “soft opening” as originally planned, I have prepared a short (six minute) video reviewing a few beginning items with you. Please note that JUNIORS will be allowed to pick up textbooks, schedules, login information, and other such items on Friday August 21 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. On that date, if you have a need, you may also check out a Chromebook (photo ID is required, and at this time, we are only checking out one Chromebook per household until we are sure that every family that has a need is served). Please note: if you have not completed registration, you WILL NOT be able to pick up your schedule on that date! If you have questions or concerns, please call the school immediately during regular business hours at 270-825-6017. Someone can assist you.

As always, you may contact me via e-mail at micki.clark@hopkins.kyschools.us. If I cannot answer your question, I will forward it to someone else who can. 🙂 I can’t wait to “meet” all of you and work with you this year. We will make the best of it–don’t worry!

If you have not yet ordered your textbooks for this year, please see this post for details about what you will need.

Juneteenth – Remembering Henrietta Wood

This morning, as I was reading my copy of USA Today, I came across a piece by Nicole Carroll, the Editor-in-Chief, about “The woman who sued enslaver and won”. In the piece, Carroll relates a portion of the story of Henrietta Wood, “a former slave living in Cincinnati when the woman she worked for suggested a carriage ride across the river to Covington, Kentucky. There, she was abducted and forced into slavery–again.” You can read Carroll’s entire opinion piece here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/06/19/juneteenth-freed-slave-who-her-sued-her-captor-and-won/3197952001/

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