I love living in Spacewood. Bordered by Lake Travis to the north, beautiful Hill Country to the west, more sloping landscape to the south and the thriving metropolis of Austin to the east, in the great state of Texas, I couldn't imagine living in a more excellent place. Our community is one of friendliness shown by the smiling faces and the hand wave when passing another car on the road.
We have an little incredible gas station with convenience store just two miles away. Quick 'n' Save is the name of it, with Exxon gasoline at the pump. It's run by a couple of fellows from India named Nick and Sunny. At 6 am EVERY SINGLE DAY, Sunny is manning the register, greeting customers as they enter and pay, and DAILY, at 3 pm, Nick takes over the register and runs the shop until 11 pm, when it closes.While not a bright, shiny corporate establishment, it is generally clean inside and out and has all the last-minute ingredients such as flour, milk, cheese and eggs, as well as plenty of snacks, beer and wine. I am amazed that Sunny and Nick are the only two employees that I ever see.
Sunny is subdued. He doesn't smile much. I less frequently see Sunny because I don't stop in at that time as often. Once, about a year ago, I went in to buy something and we chatted. I spoke about my darling daughters in some regard, and in the same breath asked if he had children. He looked down and said "No." I paused and he looked back up and then told me, "She died." I was humbled and it was my turn to look down. "I'm sorry," I said, took my purchase and left. That feeling of sadness overcomes me each time I see him since then. I try to be cheerful each time I see him.
Nick is another story. While I don't know whether or not he has children, we have spoken a lot about life and living. I am "Mrs. Kevin," to Nick, and am addressed in that way with a smile every time I walk in. He asks me about Kevin always, maybe because he is out of town a lot and Nick is either vicariously going to the interesting place that Kevin is visiting, or is just checking up on me. Recently when it was slow and I was in a nosy way, I asked him about his store.
Nick told me that he is from India and he still has family living there. He said that he and Sunny own the store and that they are the only employees. What hard workers! When we were talking about places we've been and would like to visit, Nick said that India is the only place he wants to go. He said that he is making his way in America so that someday he can go home with the money he has earned and live a good life there.
I have never been to India but I have heard that many areas are very poor, with squalid living conditions. I also have seen that it is very dry and dusty. This brings me back to the life I have, living in Spacewood. Running water and electricity in every household, wonderful weather conditions - despite the drought, automobiles in every driveway, and an awesome convenience store to pick up that butter I forgot for the cookies just two miles away.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Cancer Clarification
The topic of cancer is a touchy one. I know people who have survived cancer and are thriving, some that have it now and are ill from it and those who have died from it. It must be a tragic moment to be told that you or someone that you love has cancer. I was very strong in my previous post regarding those who get cancer and could have prevented it. I didn't want to appear insensitive to those who DO live a healthy life and still get it, and children are the greatest exception.
A child, when affected by leukemia or other early cancers at an young age, have most likely had no control over their food sources, environment and living habits. This does not mean that the parents are necessarily responsible though. Today when further listening to the book "The Emperor of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer," by Siddhartha Mukherjee, I learned that there are cancer genes that we can inherit that make us more pre-disposed to cancer. Why do some people have these genes and others don't? In addition, Mukherjee gave an excellent example of some of the triggers that we are exposed to in our work or other efforts, including asbestos, smoke, paint, plastics and other factors that can make us more susceptible. While smoking does increase the likelihood that we will get cancer, I don't feel that it causes cancer.
My maternal grandmother smoked for over 50 years, quit when she was in her late sixties, and lived to be 94 years old, cancer-free. Her sisters, also long term smokers that continued longer than her, both died of cancer that had metastasized, when they were in their 70's. Their mother lived to 101, cancer-free, but she lived in the home with the two sisters, inhaling second-hand smoke, for over 40 years. My paternal grandfather smoked for 50 years, owned a car painting shop and died of lung cancer that had metastasized in his mid 80's.
In the same way, we are affected by tumors or other disease, and recover from it. I had a golf-ball sized brain tumor, benign, found when I was 29, and I've made it 21 more years, bearing 2 children along the way. I would conjecture that my relatively healthy lifestyle at that point and an excellent surgeon (Dr. Sam Finn, Baylor Hospital Dallas) are what carried me through the survival.
My point is that cancer appears to have a shot-gun approach, and if you are one of the faster prey that by good choices and good genes can get out of the way, but sometimes the shooter, the cancer itself, will hit you no matter how fast you are. Blessings to those who have suffered and are suffering.
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he shall receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." - James 1:12
A child, when affected by leukemia or other early cancers at an young age, have most likely had no control over their food sources, environment and living habits. This does not mean that the parents are necessarily responsible though. Today when further listening to the book "The Emperor of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer," by Siddhartha Mukherjee, I learned that there are cancer genes that we can inherit that make us more pre-disposed to cancer. Why do some people have these genes and others don't? In addition, Mukherjee gave an excellent example of some of the triggers that we are exposed to in our work or other efforts, including asbestos, smoke, paint, plastics and other factors that can make us more susceptible. While smoking does increase the likelihood that we will get cancer, I don't feel that it causes cancer.
My maternal grandmother smoked for over 50 years, quit when she was in her late sixties, and lived to be 94 years old, cancer-free. Her sisters, also long term smokers that continued longer than her, both died of cancer that had metastasized, when they were in their 70's. Their mother lived to 101, cancer-free, but she lived in the home with the two sisters, inhaling second-hand smoke, for over 40 years. My paternal grandfather smoked for 50 years, owned a car painting shop and died of lung cancer that had metastasized in his mid 80's.
In the same way, we are affected by tumors or other disease, and recover from it. I had a golf-ball sized brain tumor, benign, found when I was 29, and I've made it 21 more years, bearing 2 children along the way. I would conjecture that my relatively healthy lifestyle at that point and an excellent surgeon (Dr. Sam Finn, Baylor Hospital Dallas) are what carried me through the survival.
My point is that cancer appears to have a shot-gun approach, and if you are one of the faster prey that by good choices and good genes can get out of the way, but sometimes the shooter, the cancer itself, will hit you no matter how fast you are. Blessings to those who have suffered and are suffering.
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he shall receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." - James 1:12
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Why Cancer?
Why do some of us get cancer, and others don't? Why can some of us live a wild, non-observant life not interested in protecting our health and live to be in the 80s or 90s, while others eat, drink and live healthy and still get cancer?
Like my husband Kevin, I believe there every one of us has some part of cancer in each of us. Also, that there is a trigger point that each of us that when pulled, the cancer will begin to grow. What is each of our triggers? What makes some people recover and others live longer?
The reason for all of my questions is the audio book of 20 hours which I recently listened to :The Emporer of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer," by Siddhartha Mukherjee. This book details the origins of the first recognition of cancer, the treatments and studies of prevention and treatment. It is so overwhelming that it just prompted more questions in me. While I did learn a lot, it also reinforced much of what I believe about disease in general - regarding prevention, detection and treatment - that prevention is the way to avoid disease and cancer, detection is observance of one's own habits and choices, and that treatment usually mandates lethal chemicals pumped into the body or scary levels of radiation.
I am shocked by the huge amount of money spent on finding "cures" for diseases and cancer, when prevention is such a better way to go about solving a huge financial issue for our country. I am also in awe of the way people will listen to their doctors to treat a problem with drugs. With all of the side effects of drugs for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, allergies and all the other random maladies people complain about, why do they still take them? Why do you want a dose of a flu or chicken pox via a vaccine if you are just going to get a case of the flu or shingles? Pflooey to the government on it being a dead dose. Healthy living is the cure.
But back to my issue of questions about the book, although I didn't think that it would inform me more about what causes or cures cancer, it surprised me with all of the failed attempts to pin down either. Mammography and a Pap Smear may detect early cancer, but the media has expanded them both to make all women feel they must have one of each every year. Mammography before the age of 55 is really only said to be effective in 3% of women. Studies have also shown that a person who detects cancer early, is treated for it, and it relapses has the same lifespan as one who finds the cancer much later and then receives treatment. I would actually prefer to find it later, as the "curse of cancer" can be such a dreary way to live life, especially if one goes through awful chemo and radiation.
I also found that what Kevin and I believe about cancer being in all of us and a a trigger being what may cause the cancer is true. We have something called SARK cells in us that are pre-emptive to cancer. Cancer can be viral, genetic and caused by lifestyle. That may be unsettling to some, who don't want to change their ways to eating healthy (ier) and getting exercise and rest, but it gives me a sense of control over my destiny and lifespan.
I will ramble on about cancer and disease further at another time. Consider it pure joy, brothers, when you endure trials of many kinds. - James1:2
Like my husband Kevin, I believe there every one of us has some part of cancer in each of us. Also, that there is a trigger point that each of us that when pulled, the cancer will begin to grow. What is each of our triggers? What makes some people recover and others live longer?
The reason for all of my questions is the audio book of 20 hours which I recently listened to :The Emporer of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer," by Siddhartha Mukherjee. This book details the origins of the first recognition of cancer, the treatments and studies of prevention and treatment. It is so overwhelming that it just prompted more questions in me. While I did learn a lot, it also reinforced much of what I believe about disease in general - regarding prevention, detection and treatment - that prevention is the way to avoid disease and cancer, detection is observance of one's own habits and choices, and that treatment usually mandates lethal chemicals pumped into the body or scary levels of radiation.
I am shocked by the huge amount of money spent on finding "cures" for diseases and cancer, when prevention is such a better way to go about solving a huge financial issue for our country. I am also in awe of the way people will listen to their doctors to treat a problem with drugs. With all of the side effects of drugs for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, allergies and all the other random maladies people complain about, why do they still take them? Why do you want a dose of a flu or chicken pox via a vaccine if you are just going to get a case of the flu or shingles? Pflooey to the government on it being a dead dose. Healthy living is the cure.
But back to my issue of questions about the book, although I didn't think that it would inform me more about what causes or cures cancer, it surprised me with all of the failed attempts to pin down either. Mammography and a Pap Smear may detect early cancer, but the media has expanded them both to make all women feel they must have one of each every year. Mammography before the age of 55 is really only said to be effective in 3% of women. Studies have also shown that a person who detects cancer early, is treated for it, and it relapses has the same lifespan as one who finds the cancer much later and then receives treatment. I would actually prefer to find it later, as the "curse of cancer" can be such a dreary way to live life, especially if one goes through awful chemo and radiation.
I also found that what Kevin and I believe about cancer being in all of us and a a trigger being what may cause the cancer is true. We have something called SARK cells in us that are pre-emptive to cancer. Cancer can be viral, genetic and caused by lifestyle. That may be unsettling to some, who don't want to change their ways to eating healthy (ier) and getting exercise and rest, but it gives me a sense of control over my destiny and lifespan.
I will ramble on about cancer and disease further at another time. Consider it pure joy, brothers, when you endure trials of many kinds. - James1:2
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