Jessica Popolow

I am attending Texas A&M Commerce University currently. I am on my last semester for my Biology Masters. I attended Bloomsburg University of PA as an undergraduate and received my BS in Biology with a concentration in pre-medicine.

During my time in as an undergraduate I struggled with school and had to use accommodation services for students with disabilities due to a severe rollover car accident I was in October 2014. My car accident made it so that I suffer from chronic migraine, PTSD, photosensitivity, PCS, have issues regulating and controlling my emotions, and have a traumatic brain injury. After the accident I had to withdrawal from undergraduate school and take some time off for recovery as it was recommended by my neuropsychiatrist and neurologists. I had to undergo speech and occupational therapy for a year and go three times a week because I forgot how to talk correctly and write and what words were and definitions. The road to recovery was arduous. I did not want to give up on my life long dream of becoming a veterinarian but my brain was affected to dramatically that no matter what I tried it was very difficult for me to retain new information and my short term memory was not great. I decided I would not longer be able to become a vet and I figured I could still achieve other dreams and goals in my life and help people and animals and the environment in some way. I decided no matter what it took, I would continue furthering my education so that I could make new renovations to help society.

I went back to Bloomsburg University of PA to finish my undergraduate degree and completed the classes I had not finished due to my accident, although the grades I received were not the best I was still proud that I completed the classes. I conducted undergraduate research in the summer of 2017 for Dr. Toni Trumbo-Bell and earned a grant from the American Chemical Society to join the conference with my professor and colleagues to present my research. The research I conducted was on enzyme kinetics of amylase in the presence of sucralose. I used the starch-iodine method to quantify a times for the color change reaction that occurred so I could make a standard curve. I also mentored another undergraduate student (Pinkay Oscar) to take over my research. I graduated with my Biology BS in 2018.

I was starting my 2018 Fall semester for graduate school at Bloomsburg, as I had planned on continuing my education there for my Masters but father was not doing well. I had been living on my own for a few years since my car accident and decided to move back home recently when my siblings told me that my father was not remembering things or getting around well and losing weight. I tried taking him to the hospital but he had passwords in place to protect anyone from making appointments or looking into his medical records. I had to have my mother get power of attorney of him so we could schedule him appointments. We had a blood test done because initially I thought my dad was not remembering thinks because maybe he was getting dementia, and I thought he was losing weight because he was not eating enough. The blood results found abnormally high white blood cell counts and we prepared for the worse as they told us he probably had some sort of cancer. Every other day I was driving my dad to hospital appointments at GMC. He underwent several cat scans and that is when we found out where and what kind of cancer it probably was. He had cancer in his chest and it was located in his lungs. I had to make the choice of getting my dad radiation and chemotherapy or putting him on hospice, I wanted him to live so I chose the medical techniques to try to save his life. I researched new innovative therapies to try to help save my fathers life by the doctors were against trying anything until he gained weight and against prescribing him any kind of medical marijuana to help stimulate his appetite. I wanted him to try immunotherapies or targeted therapy because I knew removing his lung was too risky as he was 69 years old, and he had already went through radiation and chemo before and I did not want him to experience it again. I knew the chances of him surviving were thin and I did not want to face the truth. My father had stage 4 NSCLC which the diagnosis was made after he had a biopsy performed. The cancer seemed to spread even quicker after we started the chemo and radiation to regress it. I felt like I let my father down and killed him faster. Eventually I saw how weak he was getting and I chose to put him on hospice and took care of him in his house without the help of nurses. I til this day still think its wrong that hospice does not allow you to give your loved ones IVs if they need fluids and are dehydrated. The doctors would only give him weak pain killers until I put him on the hospice then they finally gave him liquid morphine which he would refuse to take saying it made him tired. It was a struggle getting him to eat and every day he looked more and more like a skeleton. I tried to go through my schooling too but I could not keep up with my studies and help my dad, so I made the decision to withdrawal from the university so I could finish taking care of him. He passed away three months after I found out about his cancer. I miss him every single day and I never wish for anyone to go through what I have. I would love to be able to pursue my PhD studying treatments for cancer or go to professional school to become a physicians assistant so I can help patients. Since I have underwent these traumas in my life, I understand how some doctors lack bedside manner and understanding. I only hope to bring comfort, hope, understanding and the best treatment to people who become my patients one day. I would really like to be employed in the oncology department or mental health areas.

I enjoy riding my horses (ottbs) in my free time and volunteering and assisting in therapy groups. I have three off the track thoroughbreds that I rescued off the racetrack and rehabilitated. I also enjoy hiking, watching TV, playing games, swimming and traveling. I enjoy conducting research when I have the opportunity to do so in labs and I work training young quarter horses and assist in cleaning out stalls currently as a student. I have been working with horses since I was 6 years old and I started working with abused horses in 2019. One day, I hope to own a horse stable where I can train and rehabilitate horses and find them perfect homes. I currently live in a small apartment with two other roommates and my cats. I have rescued and found homes for several kittens in the area and kept three as personal companions. I am a triplet and have a brother and sister, and an older half brother.