The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

The Student News Site of Sacramento City College

The Express

Life is more than an illness

Sara Rupnow wants to be an average college student.

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She wants to have a boyfriend, have a job and get high
grades in all her classes — average ambitions for any young
adult in this world.
But there’s something that sets apart the 19-year-old art
major from the typical young adult and catches the attention
of everyone she meets: her metal leg.
Three years ago, while Rupnow was in high school,
her left leg needed to be amputated to control a disease. Her
prosthetic titanium and plastic leg has since been used as a
substitute, so she may be able to carry out daily functions,
such as walking. Although initially disliking the idea of having
an artificial limb, she’s grateful now because of the benefits
it provides.
“After the surgery, it took me a while to walk with my
prosthetic because I was channeling all my frustration toward
my leg and the fact that it wasn’t there anymore,” Rupnow
says. “But having my leg gives me so many advantages in
terms of being able to get around at school and other places
where things haven’t been accommodated for people in
wheelchairs.”
But her prosthetic leg is only a small portion of her
problems. There’s still more to the story.
The reason for her leg amputation was because Rupnow
was diagnosed in 2006 with synovial sarcoma, a cancer that
commonly affects the joints in the arms and legs and causes
large swelling. Synovial sarcoma also causes the health complications
she experiences.
“The reason that I had to have the amputation was so that
it wouldn’t metastasize,” she says. “But about six months after
I had the amputation surgery, I discovered that it had metastasized
to my lungs.”
Rupnow’s high school friend Libby Ferris, a Cosumnes
River College nursing major, says she is amazed at how Rupnow
has come to embrace cancer.
“Sara is the kind of person that ignores all the negative
stuff that has happened to her —the cancer, the surgeries, the medication — and focuses on living her life and enjoying
herself through school and friends and helping other people,”
Ferris says.
Still, Rupnow has gone through three lung operations
in the past three years to get rid of the cancer. Despite these
operations, the cancer always returned.
“My last surgery was in May of this year, and six weeks
after I went in for a scan,” Rupnow says, “it showed that there
was new growth of the cancer in my lungs. They are running
out of options to make this go away and make me better.”
Even her professors notice how she perseveres.
“Here’s someone who is going to school, despite the fact
that she is very ill and might not be able to continue—might
not have very long to live even,” says Anna Joy, City College
honors English professor, who has Rupnow as a student this semester
in her honors world literature course. “What she chooses
to do with her life is go to school and to continue improving
herself, and she’s not going to let anything stop her. I don’t know
if I’ve ever met a student like that—she’s superhuman.”
Rupnow says she doesn’t let cancer suppress her joyful,
bubbly nature. Being productive in school and home has helped
her to keep going. She says she missed many high school
activities several other students take for granted, like dances
and dating, because of cancer. But she doesn’t mind and has
no regrets about how her life has been.
“There’s a lot of thing I’ve done and people I have met
and stuff like that, so if I hadn’t been sick,” Rupnow says. “I
wouldn’t have met some of the people I now know or experience
the things I have—I wouldn’t give these things up. No
regrets.”
Ferris says that people shouldn’t treat Rupnow differently
from anyone else.
“People should get to know her because of her personality,
and not only to help her out because of pity,” Ferris says. “She
is living a life just like we all are but only with a few more
complications. She is an amazing person and someone we can
all learn from.”
Terri M. Venesio || venisio@imail.losrios.edu
Sara Rupnow doesn't allow cancer to stop her from persevering in life. || Terri M. Venesio || [email protected]

Sara Rupnow wants to be an average college student. She wants to have a boyfriend, have a job and get high grades in all her classes — average ambitions for any young adult in this world.

But there’s something that sets apart the 19-year-old art major from the typical young adult and catches the attention of everyone she meets: her metal leg.

Three years ago, while Rupnow was in high school, her left leg needed to be amputated to control a disease. Her prosthetic titanium and plastic leg has since been used as a substitute, so she may be able to carry out daily functions, such as walking. Although initially disliking the idea of having  an artificial limb, she’s grateful now because of the benefits it provides.

“After the surgery, it took me a while to walk with my prosthetic because I was channeling all my frustration toward my leg and the fact that it wasn’t there anymore,” Rupnow says. “But having my leg gives me so many advantages in terms of being able to get around at school and other places where things haven’t been accommodated for people in wheelchairs.”

But her prosthetic leg is only a small portion of her problems. There’s still more to the story.

The reason for her leg amputation was because Rupnow was diagnosed in 2006 with synovial sarcoma, a cancer that commonly affects the joints in the arms and legs and causes large swelling. Synovial sarcoma also causes the health complications she experiences.

“The reason that I had to have the amputation was so that it wouldn’t metastasize,” she says. “But about six months after I had the amputation surgery, I discovered that it had metastasized to my lungs.”

Rupnow’s high school friend Libby Ferris, a Cosumnes River College nursing major, says she is amazed at how Rupnow has come to embrace cancer.

“Sara is the kind of person that ignores all the negative stuff that has happened to her —the cancer, the surgeries, the medication — and focuses on living her life and enjoying herself through school and friends and helping other people,” Ferris says.

Still, Rupnow has gone through three lung operations in the past three years to get rid of the cancer. Despite these operations, the cancer always returned.

“My last surgery was in May of this year, and six weeks after I went in for a scan,” Rupnow says, “it showed that there was new growth of the cancer in my lungs. They are running out of options to make this go away and make me better.”

Even her professors notice how she perseveres.

“Here’s someone who is going to school, despite the fact that she is very ill and might not be able to continue—might not have very long to live even,” says Anna Joy, City College honors English professor, who has Rupnow as a student this semester in her honors world literature course. “What she chooses to do with her life is go to school and to continue improving herself, and she’s not going to let anything stop her. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a student like that—she’s superhuman.”

Rupnow says she doesn’t let cancer suppress her joyful, bubbly nature. Being productive in school and home has helped her to keep going. She says she missed many high school activities several other students take for granted, like dances and dating, because of cancer. But she doesn’t mind and has no regrets about how her life has been.

“There’s a lot of thing I’ve done and people I have met and stuff like that, so if I hadn’t been sick,” Rupnow says. “I wouldn’t have met some of the people I now know or experience the things I have—I wouldn’t give these things up. No regrets.”

Ferris says that people shouldn’t treat Rupnow differently from anyone else.

“People should get to know her because of her personality, and not only to help her out because of pity,” Ferris says. “She is living a life just like we all are but only with a few more complications. She is an amazing person and someone we can all learn from.”

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