Working in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas provides journalists with a plethora of stories ranging from the common place to the extraordinary. Hidalgo and Starr counties are some of the poorest places in the country, so diseases that would be challenging anywhere become insurmountable obstacles here because there is little access to medical care for the poor.
As a community comprised of new Hispanic immigrants, Hispanics and Anglos our stories cater to a wide audience with a diverse set of needs. In our coverage we strive for a balance between health stories that cover diseases, illnesses and circumstances and human interest stories that tell the struggles people face when dealing with chronic illnesses.
The four stories selected show the range of the work that we do and demonstrate our desire to write stories that appeal to broad sections of our community.
Bo-Ring: Ted Schwalm has two addictions – roller coasters and concerts.
This summer he rode 110 coasters in 10 days. During that 10-day period he drove 3,700 miles, including one all-night drive from Hershey Park in Pennsylvania to Toronto, Canada.
Many people like Schwalm find innovative ways to rid themselves of the feeling, but don’t ask people to talk about being bored because most won’t.
Even though people don’t like to talk about being bored, the reality is most people experience boredom at some point every day, de la Peña said. For some people the feeling lasts just a few minutes, for others it’s a constant presence. There are strong correlations between boredom and a host of psychological and physical problems. Problems include alcohol and drug abuse, insomnia, over-eating, anti-social behavior and violence.
Nightmares: Robert Moss believes dreams are a window into another world. Psychologist Joseph McCoy thinks dreams allow people to consolidate memories and process experiences in daily life. It’s a safe place to deal with unresolved issues. Dreams can provide inner wisdom and guidance, but the manifestation of those inner messages may come in alarming or scary ways, which many people associate with nightmares. Nightmares are interrupted dreams, said Moss, author of The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence and Imagination.
For Priscila Ozuna of Pharr those dreams often involve cats.
“Sometimes I try to get out of the dream,” she said. “Sometimes I’m crying. I wake with tears in my eyes.”
Ozuna often leaves her nightmares unfinished, but experts say that can create missed opportunities. When a person wakes from a scary dream he misses the information that the dream might convey, Moss said.
“Dreams are preparing us for all sorts of things,” he said. They may warn of illnesses that might bubble up or prepare people for challenging events.
Fibromyalgics’: Pain radiated down Juanita Gibson’s body.
The simple act of putting a pan away caused more agony than child birth, and, like contractions, the pain began suddenly. For days the pain persisted and increased in intensity and duration. Fatigue accompanied the aches and Gibson found that the act of bringing a fork to her mouth to eat was exhausting.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition which causes pain, stiffness and tenderness in muscles, tendons and joints, according to MedicineNet.com. People with fibromyalgia also frequently have restless sleep, fatigue, anxiety, depression and problems with bowel functions. The cause of the disease is unknown, but researchers have found that people with the condition have elevated levels of the nerve chemical substance P, a nerve growth factor in the spinal fluid, and relatively low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, according to the Web site MedicineNet.com.
Lorenzo’s Toil: Doctors didn’t expect Lorenzo Tamez to live four days.
He has lived four months.
Doctors asked his parents to sign a “do not resuscitate” form.
They refused.
Lorenzo has flat-lined four times.
And four times, he has survived.
His illness has brought challenges, including financial and emotional hardship, but his parents can’t imagine life without him. They struggle every day to keep him alive, while hoping for a miracle. Lorenzo was born July 22 with Trisomy 13, a genetic disorder that changes the molecular structure of every cell in his body. It occurs in about one out of 10,000 newborns, according to the National Library of Medicine
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