Bad Neighbors

Cancer cells are like bad neighbors who do not abide by the rules. That is one of the things I used to tell new cancer patients when I was an oncology nurse. I'll explain what I mean.

Rule #1 is that cells are supposed to serve a purpose. Lung cells are supposed to contribute to your ability to breathe. Skin cells are supposed to work together to keep you covered. Cancer cells just don't feel obligated to contribute in any way. They are happy enough to sit around and use up your body's resources for their own satisfaction. It's kind of like an unwelcome neighbor coming in and eating all the food in your kitchen but not lifting a finger to clean up. That is just rude.

Rule #2 is that cells should not reproduce to the point of overcrowding. Cancer cells just keep on reproducing. If you lived in an apartment and the neighbors across the hall lived in their own little two bedroom apartment, you might agree they should not have 70 children. Cancer cells just don't really seem to care if it is crowded, even if it is to the point of causing damage to the apartment walls, so to speak. They don't care if they knock down their own walls and spill into your apartment. That is NOT neighborly.

Rule #3 is that cells are supposed to stay in their own yard. That is, breast cells are meant to stay in the breast. They aren't supposed to go lounging around in the lungs as that is not their yard. Colon cells aren't welcome in the liver but sometimes they go to that yard and just set up camp all over the place. Again, rude!

OK, I realize that I am personifying cancer cells. They aren't their own beings; they are actually just our own cells that have become malformed through faulty mutations.  However, some believe imagery is helpful not only to understand this process but also to put a stop to it.

So, how do you put a stop to bad neighbors? Any suggestions where to take this imagery from here? I guess we could call the cops (doctors) to come help with the eviction. That seems reasonable. Any better ideas?

Cancer has been on my mind because we just found out my Mom has some "bad neighbors" and she's got to do some evicting of her own. We have a lot of reasons to expect a good outcome but I'm just upset that she has to deal with cancer at all. She is an incredible woman who has shown her strength in both little and big ways. I know she can handle this. I just didn't want her to have to.

Cancer is a terrible neighbor.

Just Leaf It Up To Us

As I drove home from work yesterday I remembered that today is the day our city will be picking up our bags of leaves.  That was good news because we had a lot of bags tucked in different places around our lot.   It was bad news because I'd had a 9 hour day of running and I was tired to the bone.  Our bags all needed to be hauled to the curb.  It needed to be done before dark.  Sam helped me, thank goodness, as it turned out that we had about 60 bags to haul!  That's a lot of leaves!

Other people on our street had their bags out as well.  A few had five or six bags.  The people across the street had two bags.  Our 60 looked pretty ridiculous.  We don't have more trees than everyone else but we live on the part of the block where the road curves.  It seems leaves come blowing down the street and they don't take that curve; they just settle at our place.  

Oh well.  That's how it goes.  Sometimes other people's problems land at our doorstep and become our's.  We can handle it.  We got the job done.

Drama in the Neighborhood

Last night we had a little excitement in the neighborhood.  Mike was in at the church but Sam and I were home.  First, I thought I heard some hollering outside but saw nothing.  I muted the television but all was quiet.  The next thing Sam and I heard were far-off sirens.  Right then I had a strong feeling that those sirens were headed our way.  I was right!  The sirens stopped right next door.

It turns out that our neighbors had a small fire in their front yard.  They weren't home and we do not yet know why there was a fire.  It was really just a matter of  feet from our cars and our house. A row of dry trees line up between our house and their's.  It is great for privacy but certainly would have made powerful fuel.   Have I mentioned that Wyoming is in a drought?  It has been really, really dry around here.

The fire did not amount to much I guess.  It was out before I saw it.  The reason is this, a passing motorist took the time to care.  He or she saw it and called out for help (explaining the hollering I thought I heard).  The neighbor on the other side helped put out the fire before it became a big deal.  

I'm so very grateful to people who see a problem and do what they can to help.   I know there are people who would have just driven by, expecting someone else to handle the problem.   I don't know the name of the person alerting to the fire, but we are very appreciative.  I'm happy to be reporting just minor drama, nothing more.

I also want to give a shout out to all emergency services folks.  They walk into a lot of unknown situations on our behalf.  I am pretty sure we don't thank them enough.  If any of my readers are among our protectors, know that we are grateful!

What's the Buzz All About?

We have a quirky little neighbor over our back fence.  By little, a mean a child.  He's a funny little guy for sure!

Our yards are divided by a 6 foot fence.  That doesn't make for very good conversation time between neighbors but that little boy manages to make his presence known.  For some reason, he likes to throw his things over the fence.  Last Summer I'd find all sorts of toy and even some things that weren't toys.  One day I went out back and saw a big rake that I did not recognize.

At first, I'd call over the fence to his Mom about the treasures before tossing them back.  Now, I just toss them.  It had all stopped over the Winter and I would've guessed the little boy would be over this by now but I was wrong.  Bode recently showed up at the back door all A-Buzz.  Yes, he had Buzz Lightyear in his mouth!  When I investigated further I found Woody in the lawn.  I set them on the fence for a photo op before throwing them back.

Don't you just love it when neighbors drop by?