Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cult Classics: Phantom of the Opera

Posted by caffeinedreams3 on

The Phantom of the Opera has been a favorite film of mine since I was in second grade and I watched it on television. I instantly fell in love with it when the first song started.

You may recognize The Phantom as non other than Gerard Butler. I bet you never knew that he could sing so well.
Anywho, The Phantom of the Opera begins when the opera house gets new ownership. They start receiving letters from a strange ghost like person who lives somewhere in the opera house. He signs all of his letters as “Opera Ghost” leading them to believe that he is a ghost. Not much is known about him to anyone who works there except for Madame Giry who rescued him.


Video from http://www.youtube.com The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber 30 December 2011

This is my favorite song from the entire musical.


Video from http://www.youtube.com The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber 16 December 2011

This is the first song  where we are introduced to Christine. She is the angel of music to The Phantom. He has known of her since she was little and he taught her how to sing the way that she does. Now that she is finally able to be the center of attention during an opera, The Phantom thinks that it’a finally time that she meets him.


Video from http://www.youtube.com The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber 26 January 2012


Video from http://www.youtube.com The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber 1 March 2012

 

 

65_redroses: Life With CF

Posted by caffeinedreams3 on

This is Eva Markvoort and she had to struggle with the fetal genetic disease of Cystic Fibrosis. 1 in 2,500 Caucasian babies in the U.S. are diagnosed with CF every year. Unfortunately, Eva was one of those babies, and so was my sister.

Like many with her disease Eva would become a regular at her local hospital, where she would stay for weeks at a time. CF is a disease that you will die from. It affects the mucus secretions in your body and it will collect in the lungs making it very hard to breathe. This mucus also makes the lungs susceptible to multiple infections.

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/2856.html Eva Markvoort 2006

photo from:
http://65redroses.livejournal.com/2856.html
Eva Markvoort 2006

People with CF aren’t able to gain weight, all the food they eat just goes straight through them. Like my sister, Eva had to get a tube that went in her stomach to directly get food into her. Even then it’s still really difficult for patients to gain enough weight to be “healthy”.

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/36644.html Annie Markvoort 2007

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/36644.html
Annie Markvoort 2007

The only way to help extend the life’s of people with CF is to get a lung transplant. It can take months even years to be able to get lung(s) with your blood type. A lot of people die while still waiting for their pager to go off saying that there are lungs for them. However, Eva was one of the lucky ones. Her call came on October 23, 2007, she finally got her lungs. Unfortunately, she was in the hospital an extra 12 days due to complications she had with her surgery. They were able to get her fixed up and she got better.

This is just a small glimpse into how many pills Eva, and others with CF have to take. After Eva got her double lung transplant, she had to take up to 65 pills A DAY, just so that her body wouldn’t reject her new lungs.

Eva started her journey on livejounal.com (you can find her journal here: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/). She chose the username 65redroses because young children with CF can’t say “Cystic Fibrosis” so they say “65 roses” and her favorite color was red. She wanted to share her story and stay in touch with the world even though she was stuck in a hospital. Eva was even able to make friends who had CF like she did. It’s almost impossible for patients to be around each other because they could pass super bugs around, but that didn’t stop Eva from making friends.

I wish I could have known her. She had such a positive outlook on life despite her fatal disease.She died 2 years after her double lung transplant because she want into chronic rejection. Even though she did everything right in terms of taking her pills this happened and she had to go back to the hospital. Unfortunately it was her last visit. Her story is so inspirational, it reminds me that even on my worse days that at least I can breathe and that I am healthy. I would highly recommend that you read her blog, or watch her documentary, 65_redroses, it will definitely make you rethink your life. She touched everyone’s heart and it really is too bad that she had to die so young, but that’s just how life with Cystic Fibrosis works.

Remember how lucky you are to be alive and think about becoming an organ donor, maybe you can help give someone a second chance at life.