Teachers over at Los Angeles Unified School District really have good hearts.
When Vanda Tovmasyan developed brain cancer last year, a group of teachers donated 200-plus hours of their paid sick leave to her so she could keep her job and her health insurance.
“When my illness stretched out, I was at risk of losing my health insurance,” Tovmasyan, 45, said. “They would (only) save my position for a year. So, I reached out to my colleagues.”
Her sister helped her get through the necessary paperwork.
“There were forms to fill out,” Tovmasyan said. “From my first school, I got about 114 days of illness pay and I would say about as much from the school I’m working at right now. A person can give as many days as they see fit. It’s voluntary.”
When classes resumed at LAUSD last month, Tovmasyan started back teaching fourth grade at Vintage Math, Science and Technology Magnet School in North Hills.
This time virtually from her Chatsworth home.
But since her brain surgery, her vision is off.
District officials stepped in and provided an aide who helps keep an eye on the students and with paperwork.
“The hard part is getting used to the technology,” the mother of two daughters said. “With my vision issues, it’s really difficult downloading apps, looking for lessons, linking sites to the platform to what the students and school are using. It’s the technological part that is hard; other than that, it’s not as bad.”
But even though she’s getting used to teaching virtually after being away from the classroom for nearly a year, she said getting in the saddle again was like her first day of teaching even though she’s been at it for 20 years.
“It’s like you are starting everything anew,” Tovmasyan said. “I’m familiar with the curriculum, but it’s about modifying it so that you can fit a whole day’s classwork into maybe just three hours of teaching. Modifying and figuring out what is more important and skipping what’s not and teaching the standards, that’s the hard part.”
Tovmasyan, a first-generation Armenian immigrant, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, months after her mother was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.
Even though glioblastoma is the most common primary brain cancer in adults age 55 to 60 years old, it’s still an uncommon tumor affecting approximately three in 100,000 people in the United States.
There are few known risk factors, including a history of radiation exposure or a genetic disease, however, less than 1% of patients with a glioma have a known hereditary disease.
Tovmasyan’s treatment included surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and tumor-treating fields technology which are standard treatments.
Dr. Lauren Lukas, a radiation oncologist with the City of Hope in Mission Hills who has been treating Tovmasyan immediately following her brain surgery, said Tovmasyan’s symptoms included visual difficulty — headaches to the point she couldn’t read — and an episode where she fell unconscious.
“One of the things that stood out about her was her passion for teaching,” Lukas said. “She was very clear that she wanted to get back to work.”
Tovmasyan’s former colleague, Leticia Casillas of San Fernando and a dual language Spanish first grade teacher, donated half of her annual paid sick leave to her friend because she was in a predicament and needed health care.
“Vanda is just a beautiful being,” Casillas said. “That’s why I donated and gave my five days because she is a beautiful person, selfless. She will never hesitate to help you out and knowing that she had brain cancer and not having coverage, I as a friend would not allow that. Five days was just a drop. Vanda Tovmasyan is an amazing person.”
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October 02, 2020 at 05:35AM
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