MinorityNurse.com

 

My rights regarding nursing school

I was hoping to find out if a college can legally deny re-entry to nursing school. I was going into Nursing 3 at Niagara County Community college in NY. Right at the end of Nursing 2, I was diagnosed with a malignant bone tumor in my right femur. I had severe, sometimes excruciating pain in my leg and every doctor I saw told me it was sciatica. Finally I went to my husbands back doctor, he immediately referred me to an Orthopedic Oncologist. After doing a simple x-ray of my leg I was told I had a tumor in my femur and it had actually broken through the back of the femur. He couldn't believe I was walking on it. After a biopsy I learned it was malignant and the name of it was Adamantinoma. I have had three surgeries within the past four and a half years. They removed 5" of my femur and put a cadaver bone in it's place. He added a plate and screws which I lovingly refer to as my erector set. That was first surgery, second had to be done because my leg was almost a full inch shorter than my other one. So, once again I was cut open hip to knee. The third surgery was needed because the titanium plate that ran along my femur snapped in two on Thanksgiving Day 2009. No one had ever heard of a titanium plate snapping like that unless there was a major trauma like getting hit by a car. Something tells me the titanium was from China (haha). Anyway, I went to speak with the head of the Nursing department at NCCC and was told that I wouldn't be able to finish because of clinicals. My "disabilIty" would hinder my abilities to perform my tasks. I am 45 years old now, I have racked up huge debt from my student loans and now I find out I went for nothing. If someone could tell me if I am being discriminated against, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Mimi Robel