From the first moment
my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from
the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer
seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did
little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known
reason, I started this blog…
One of my fondest
memories as a kid is watching the movie FANTASTIC VOYAGE. In it, a group of
scientists and their ultra-futuristic laser-packing “submarine” are reduced to
cell size and injected into the blood vessels of a world diplomat in order to
destroy a blood clot in his brain.
What would a FANTASTIC
VOYAGE: Breast Cancer look like? I’m going to write a novel here, short chapter
by short chapter and I’m going to include the latest research and I’m going to
imagine the entire story here for your delectation. If you want to start at the
beginning, look left. Scroll down to LABELS. The first one is “A Fantastic
Cancer Voyage”. Click on it. Scroll to the bottom and you will find episode one.
Let me know what you think after you’ve read the whole thing!
The Chief Right Honorable Mister Nnamdi Oko Nwagbara, Prime
Minister of the Commonwealth of West Africa opened his lips, pressed them
together between two fingers, then said, “It is true. I can do nothing to
please God. My hope is in Jesus Christ alone.”
Dr. Olubunmi Nwagbara – Ohloo to her friends, if not her family
– nodded slowly, startled by her father’s unusual candor. Following that lead,
she said, “I have no god anymore, Ediye,” it was an Efik term of intimate
endearment, “So I don’t try to please a metaphysical construct.” She paused,
waiting for an explosion. Waiting for a shout. Waiting for a denial. All her
eyes met were his eyes, studying her, without judgment, though she thought she
saw a bit more water collecting on the lower lid than a moment a go. She
hurried on, “I want to help the world. I want to be a tiny instrument in the
hands of all the world’s people to bring possible peace. I can do that by
treating this woman – whether she believes as you do or not. I think she can
bring peace to Earth.” She closed her eyes and waited for the tirade sure to
follow her declaration of faith-less-ness…
“If that were your only accomplishment, Boomie, I would be
proud to call you daughter. Your accomplishments overshadow most of Creation’s
inhabitants.” He stood slowly, went to the window to look out over the sleeted
city. “Yet in this woman, I think you may have met one who might match you word
for word, deed for deed, resistance for resistance.” His robe of office had
pooled around his feet, some threads catching the recessed lights of the office
and faintly spangling, as if he stood in a bit of moonless night on the Recovered
West Sudanian Savanna.
“What do you mean ‘resistance for resistance’?”
Her father sighed but didn’t turn around. “You plan to
attack the breast cancer cells in her body with pure, unadulterated science.”
Ohloo frowned, pursed her lips, then said, “You’re not asking
a question, so I have no answer.”
A humorless laugh puffed from him. He remained still for
some time then finally said, “For most of us, life is more than chemical
reactions, neuronal interfaces, and protein-mediated responses. There is the
intangible, the ‘spiritual’ if you will.”
She snorted, “I’m still the daughter of your nurture. Of
course I understand that some people have a spiritual component to their world
view. I just don’t see what possible impact metaphysical ideals could have on
breast cancer surgery.” He lifted his chin and opened his mouth. She turned to
her computer, tapping the screen in order to brace herself for the inevitable, “There
are things even the most brilliant doctor cannot explain!” harangue. But all
she heard was soft exhale. She looked up.
Father was looking at her from the window. He nodded, “That’s
all I wanted to know, that you still understand that there is more to the world
than what we can see with our eyes. Your patient has strong beliefs. As to the
impact of such things on such a radically new technique as your team proposes
to use on Kim Lin Ghandi, she seems to have covered all of the bases. Isn’t she
a ‘Catholic-Buddhist-Hindu-Daoist’?”
“That’s what I hear.” Her father nodded. She added, “She’s
an incredible speaker though – easy to listen to, positive in her attitude
without being preachy or insipid. I can see how she’s inspired the people of
both China and India to listen to her. Too bad she can’t get India’s president,
the Rajya Sabha, and the Lok Sabha to meet face-to-face with China’s Congress,
State Council, Premier, and the Central Military Commission.”
“I hear that’s almost what happened.”
Ohloo started, “What?”
Father smiled a bit and said, “I understand that medicine is
your life, Boomie. Politics is mine. But your patient is the embodiment of both
now. The world waits with bated breath as you move forward here.”
“I didn’t ask for the world to watch. I’m not concerned with
the rest of the world. I have before me a woman with a supposedly incurable
breast cancer, who is still young even by the standards of the countries with
the lowest Human Development Indices and who might potentially bring peace on
Earth.”
Her father opened his mouth and lifted a finger then nodded
slowly and lowered his hand, slipping it through an invisible slit in the side
of his robe. Ohloo waited. Waited. She finally sighed and said, “True. Whether
I want it or not this work is going to have a profound effect on the world.”
She gestured to the door weakly, and said, “Would you stay with me, Father? I
imagine I’ll need to tap your perspective during this world event.”
He hung his head, sighed, and said, “I’ll stay if you want
me to, but I’d rather you show me the door if you have another political
advisor you’d rather work with.”
Startled, Ohloo said, “No one has a better grasp of politics
than you, Ediye!” She cleared her throat, feeling her face warm in
embarrassment. She hadn’t meant her response to be quite so...enthusiastic. When
she looked up again, she caught her father pressing the inner corners of his
eyes. He cleared his throat as well. Exactly as she had, she noticed.
He bowed from the waist, deeply as he said, “Then I will be
honored to sit with the others you’ve chosen for your team.”
“What makes you think I have a team?”
His smile was broad and genuine as he spread his arms and
said, “Please remember, my daughter, I am a great politician! It’s my business
to discover who is allying with whom.”
She sniffed but couldn’t help grinning as she said, “As long
as you remember that I am a world-renowned breast cancer researcher and
surgeon.” She bowed as well and when she straightened up, found herself in a
paternal embrace every bit as engulfing as it had been when she was six years
old.
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