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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Blogs Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Classic Forums Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Multimedia Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Road Cams Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Women in Business Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Customer Service Advertise With Us Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map Email Story to a Friend April 18, 2007 Painting herself whole North Medford senior portrays her struggle with rare diseases on a plaster torso By Bill kettler Mail Tribune For as long as she can remember, Colleen McCoy has used art to express her deepest feelings. So it's no surprise that the North Medford High School senior turned to sculpture and paint to make sense of the two grave illnesses that have shaped her life. McCoy has decorated a life-sized plaster torso with medical hardware and images that portray her relationship with a rare autoimmune disease that nearly killed her at the age of 9 and an unusual lymphoma that took her to death's door again just last fall at 18. "Sometimes when you're really sick the feelings you get are hard to describe," she said, as she painted details onto the torso. "A lot of people want to understand, and if you can show them something it's a little easier. "I decided to do a human body because of all the feelings I have about my body," she said. Advertisement She placed a gauze bandage near the navel, a memory of the dialysis treatments she needed when her kidneys failed after she fell ill with Goodpasture's syndrome. A kidney painted on the torso's right hip reflects the transplanted organ she received from her mother. A catheter in the torso's chest invokes the two rounds of chemotherapy she's endured — one to treat the autoimmune disorder, the other to stem the lymphoma. Blocks of color on the torso recall aspects of her treatment and her feelings: a purple neck for the time when she stopped breathing; patches of green for the chemo drugs coursing through her body; pinks and reds to show soreness. "I was so bruised I looked like I walked out of a car wreck," she said. Small fragments of notebook paper collaged onto the torso are covered with equations, symbols of her devotion to math and to school. "For me math is really hard because I'm dyslexic," she said, "but math is what keeps me going here at school." Doctors traced McCoy's recent lymphoma to her years of taking anti-rejection drugs after the kidney transplant. The powerful chemicals weaken the body's natural ability to ward off illness and disease, making transplant recipients more vulnerable to a number of well-known diseases and some extremely rare ones, such as the "post transplant lymphoprolific disorder" that struck McCoy. Some organ transplant organizations, such as the National Kidney Foundation, have started advising transplant patients that their anti-rejection drugs may eventually put them at higher risk for diseases such as skin cancer. The sculpture is part of McCoy's senior project at North Medford. She also wrote a lengthy paper on the role of art as therapy for people recovering from serious illnesses and came to an eye-opening conclusion as she worked. "I realized I'm the proof I'm trying to show," she said. McCoy plans to attend Southern Oregon University next fall and eventually become a teacher. Her piece will be on display May 12-13 at Medford's Art in Bloom, which provided the art supplies to put the project together. Louise Nance, McCoy's art teacher, said the sculpture reflects her student's fierce determination to live. "I think the piece is about her taking her body back," Nance said. "I believe she's painting herself whole." Bill Kettler: 776-4492; [email protected] . Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Trunks, Footlocker Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Casinos Canada Cord Blood Banking Discount Hotel Reservations Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Online Casino Windermere Van Vleet Men's Clothing Debt Help New Hampshire Primary