Christmas Ruminations Across Breast Cancer, Alzheimer's, and Science Fiction!

It occurred to me this morning that many bloggers, have somewhere stored, a Christmas blog they trot out each year to look at and revisit. Below is my attempt at this venerable tradition…

Like many people, I have Christmas traditions. I watch Jim Carrey’s HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. I check out a copy of Dicken’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL (the version with Patrick Stewart, Star Trek:TNG’s Jean-Luc Picard playing Ebenezer Scrooge). I snuggle up to the TV to listen to Burl Ives sing in the animatronic/Claymation version of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER.

Of course I read the Christmas story from Luke 1:1 – 2:20, but I dig out my old December 1997 issue of ANALOG and reread “Easter Egg Hunt: A Christmas Story” by Jeffrey Kooistra. I also find time alone to watch the video tape of a Christmas musical I scripted with music and lyrics by an old, old friend of mine, Lynn Swanson. The musical was called “Just In Time For Christmas” and was a children’s time-travel version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with a couple of twists. Performed twice by a huge cast of kids from my church, it included both my son as an Outsider-sort of angel and my daughter as a shepherd who was watching her fields by night.

I conclude then that for me Christmas is about the past. It ranges from ancient times in far-away Israel to present day kerfuffles about what to do Christmas day when my sister is in Virginia with her “other” family and our get-together last Saturday was postponed because of a frigid blizzard and moved to January sometime and will include celebrating my mom’s 75th (As of this update, Mom passed away five years ago this past July) birthday and the fact that I’ll be working most of today at Barnes & Noble and Mom and Dad are coming for Christmas Eve dinner and I won’t be around to help get ready. 

This past includes my daughter’s concern about the commercialization of Christmas that led her to ask us to spend the money we would have used on her to get a sewing machine for an organization that teaches women in northern India to sew for a living. On the other hand, my son loves to seek out just the right gift for each person and disdains gift cards – he loves the giving part of Christmas. He started the small avalanche of gifts under the tree right now when he set out his college-student-meager presents.

My wife was talking to a cashier at a local warehouse grocery story a few hours ago and asked what the day held for her. The woman said that she hated working Christmas Eve because people were so crabby – they yell at cashiers because the store is out of “stuff” and if anyone bumps their cart, they explode into anger. As we walked out into a flurry of gently falling, diamond sparkling “crystal rain” (see Tobias Buckell’s fabulous science fiction book, CRYSTAL RAIN to discover the origin of that phrase  -- as I am also a science fiction writer and have a sister blog to this one!( https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/), we talked about the cashier’s observations.

Under the guidance of Our Father Below (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters), we have taken a simple attempt to remember the birth of the Son of God and have turned it into a tension-filled extravaganza of over-spending, over-eating and secular glitz that eclipses the original pagan ritual from which it sprang.

The original event also included a kerfuffle as well as a brush with governmental bureaucracy, so maybe it was only natural that we perpetuated Mary and Joseph’s search for a place for her to have Jesus by our searches for the perfect gift, food or event.

Take a deep breath, Guy. Perhaps I need to go a bit further back in time; maybe to the announcement the angel made to Mary: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37. Maybe that’s the message I’ll take from this season – that no matter what happens: kerfuffles, angry shoppers, divergent gifting and traditions; nothing is impossible with God. Peace on Earth? He can bring it. Deep security? He can give it. Salvation for everyone? He did it. “For nothing is impossible with God.” Amen. (First published December 25, 2008, updated December 22, 2021)

Image: https://thetylt.com/attachments/5c3590919e588b7110f3debff6f620a34446d685/store/fill/992/661/4de1aab3834876c0e96b75ecf4bd8b71a50d566c67eb401afb5643f64eee/XmasCarol2.jpg

Encouragement (In Suffering, Pain, and Witnessing Both…) #19: Suggestions for Working for Holiday “Cheer”

The older I get, the more suffering and pain I’ve experienced; and the more of both I stand witness to. From my wife’s (and many, many of our friends and coworkers) battle against breast cancer; to my dad’s (and the parents of many of our friends and coworkers) process as he fades away as this complex disease breaks the connections between more and more memories, I have become not only frustrated with suffering, pain, and having to watch both, I have been witness to the suffering and pain among the students I serve as a school counselor. I have become angry and sometimes paralyzed. This is my attempt to lift myself from the occasional stifling grief that darkens my days…

Holidays are scientifically confirmed BAD times of the year for many people. Depression is worse. Alienation is worse. Loneliness is MUCH worse.

If you add to that the death of traditions you share with someone being treated for breast cancer or worse, shared with someone who died from it; the holidays can be downright HORRIBLE.

Cute Santas don’t cut it. Sleighbells jingling do nothing to alleviate the grief. No matter how many Christmas cookies you eat or spins of the dreidel you do or candles you light at Kwanza or curses you fling at people around you who are ENJOYING the Winter Solstice…none of those things change the feeling of loss inside of you.

Because, with loss or disruption in your life due to cancer, it IS all about you…

There are web sites that offer specific steps to deal with cancer or Alzheimer’s during the holidays. I’ve made a sort of composite wisdom from these sites. I’m sure there are others, so just visit them or even make up new solutions with your family. You’re surviving so far, you have internal strength!

FIRST: PLANNING can help avoid holiday stress. Individuals who experience the most difficulty with the holiday season are those who have given little thought to the challenges they will encounter. Consider ahead of time what may be expected of you, both socially and emotionally.

Keep it simple: Make a list of what is most meaningful to you and prioritize. Some families even create new traditions at times like this!

Enjoy special moments: Work to focus on traditions that have been established, but make them new to include people as they are TODAY rather than on how cancer or Alzheimer’s has changed a holiday or special occasion.

Give yourself the gift of acceptance: Acceptance, not so much of the loss, but of the grief you are experiencing is one step in the healing process. Thinking about and remembering your loved one at this time or how things USED to be brings pain and sadness. Don’t fight it, but let those around you into your grief and share it. It’s OK to be sad at this time.

Communicate with success in mind: Alzheimer’s can diminish a person’s ability to communicate. Cancer can seem all consuming. Be calm and supportive if the person has trouble communicating. Avoid criticism. For example, “You should be thankful for the holidays you’ve had!” isn’t useful. Stay in the present and if you are dealing with someone with Alzheimer’s, be flexible, and don’t argue with them.

Embrace hope: Do something that gives you a break from worries, and renews your sense of hope and satisfaction with life. Watching a favorite movie together with friends is low stress and can be a peaceful joy. Let go of what you can.

Celebrate strengths: You’ve all grown stronger in spirit during this time. Give thanks for what you can during the holidays.

Remember that it’s not about how much or how little you spend: This season is about making memories and celebrating the blessed and happy times.

Resources: https://www.cancercare.org/publications/55-coping_with_cancer_during_the_holidays?gclid=CjwKCAiAh_GNBhAHEiwAjOh3ZCRFbEsc68RBsQvfi1mNduPtAOYnYRVYL9WxUE02YRM_kAM5-wy2mRoCz-UQAvD_BwE, https://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2019/11/coping-with-the-holidays-when-you-have-cancer/, https://www.oncolink.org/support/coping-with-cancer/oncolink-holiday-survival-guide/coping-tips-for-the-holidays/surviving-and-thriving-during-the-holiday-season-tips-for-patients-caregivers, https://harrisonseniorliving.com/parsons/10-holiday-tips-for-alzheimers
Image: https://www.yournewfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/MAIN-IMAGE_Grieving-at-Christmas_Foundations-Counseling.jpg

ENCORE #173! – Days That Changed Life As We Knew It…

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer in March of 2011, there was a deafening silence from the men I knew. 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…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry first appeared in September 2011.

Ten years ago, we were ten years younger.

Breast cancer was ten years in our future.

My wife was home schooling that day. I was in my science classroom. Melissa Kyle had a social studies room in the science circle and was across the hall and kitty corner to my right.

The sun was shining.

The birds were singing.

It was a stunning September day. More stunning than we expected.

The first hint that anything was wrong was when my wife called to say that Josh had come running up from the basement to say that a jet had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

What a naïve statement. That was all anyone knew. “A jet had crashed into the World Trade Center.” Those were the last innocent words of September 11, 2001. Everything changed after that and not one of us has remained untouched; not even my 14 month old grandson. He was born into a world that cringed every time an airplane went off course. He was born into a world where identities are checked, double-checked then checked again. He was born into a world where the nursery was locked, double-locked and then IDs of mother, child, parents, grandparents and everyone else was checked…because you never know.

I KNOW the world has changed again and again and again. “The day that will live in infamy…” changed everything. The assassination of JFK changed everything. The explosion of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima changed everything. The first heart transplant changed everything. The harnessing of fire changed everything.

We live in a world where something is changing everything all the time.

One hundred and seventy days ago – March 26, 2011 – was the day that changed the life of my wife and the rest of our family. The confirmation of breast cancer forced us to confront something we had heard all about but rarely mattered to us in a deeply personal way.

Nine years and three-hundred and sixty-four days ago, was the day that changed the life of every American (and the families and friends of 372 foreign nationals from 56 different countries). Terrorism was part of the life of every Israeli, every inhabitant of India, every Spaniard, every Iraqui. We knew that, but it rarely mattered to us in a deeply personal way.

On this Patriot Day, I think about the things I know about that don’t matter to me and I will try to care; and I will definitely pray for those whose lives have collided with breast cancer and family loss – and Lupus, skin cancer, CP and autism. Those are the things I can think of.

What can you think of?

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #80: Breast Cancer Cells Use ‘Tiny Tentacles’ To Suppress The Immune System!!!!

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…

Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: HOW do breast cancer cells overpower your usually fantastic immune system?

So, what would happen if someone took the battery out of your car?

Could you start it? Check the time? Turn on the air conditioner? Turn on the heat? Signal a turn? Auto-open the doors or roll down the windows?

Of COURSE not. The car battery is the foundation on which all other functions of your car rest. Without the battery, you can’t turn over the starter. Once the car starts, you can run it off the motor of course, but as any good Minnesotan knows, a battery’s CCA (aka Cold Cranking Amps) is essential to starting your car in the winter!

So, what does that have to do with breast cancer, you ask?

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MIT have discovered that “cancer [cells] can disarm its would-be cellular attackers by extending out nanoscale tentacles that can reach into an immune cell and pull out its power pack. Slurping out the immune cell's mitochondria powers up the cancer cell and depletes the immune cell.”

And what exactly does that mean?

After reading the book above to my grandson (his dad HATES the book and his mom isn’t real excited about it…I found it utterly charming! The cranky grandma reminds me of me!), I realized it was an excellent metaphor to use to communicate this new theory of how cancer cells defeat our usually robust immune system.

Imagine a cancer cell as a particularly nasty octopus (only with way more than 8 arms!). It invades the body (and we’re not even sure how THAT happens yet – they say it’s mutations, but WHAT CAUSES THE MUTATIONS THAT CAUSE CANCER? [Subject for another post!] and when the cancerous cell runs smack into a white blood cell (which is designed to EAT cells that don’t belong in your body), it extends these nanofibers (that is, “tentacles”)) into the white blood cell (or WBC).

Then it turns on the vacuum cleaners. But it doesn’t just pull a Dracula and drink all the blood from those WBC protectors. Each tentacle targets a very special organ (technically, its one of the numerous “organelles” in an individual cell) in a WBC called a mitochondria.

(I first ran across these organelles when I read Madeleine L’Engle’s children’s novel, A WIND IN THE DOOR…). The simplest explanation is that they are the “batteries” that power a cell – they create the energy that runs a cell. How? They suck up the sugar you eat.

Plain and simple. From the sugars, they break them into pieces and the build the battery whose brand name is ATP (the company’s full name is Adenosine Tri Phosphate). Any cell in the body can use this ATP to power the cell.

The Cancer Octopus, or, to introduce a phrase, “Canctopus” uses its tentacles to vacuum up the WBCs mitochondria…

No mitochondria, no power, and the WBC stops running. The cancer cell wins and starts to grow, adding the stolen mitochondria to its own engine so that it can crank up to NASCAR racer speed.

So the problem is now for scientists to figure out how to either tie the Canctopus’ tentacles in knots, or to get a new breed of WBCs to do a reverse flow on the cancer cell and suck THEIR mitochondria out! Wouldn’t THAT surprise the cancer cell!

Alas, any such construction is a long, long way into the future. I’ll keep you posted…

Resources: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211118203652.htm
Image: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FwQe4KpBL._SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.jpg