There is no why. Only what is.

Cancer has yet again hurt people I care for and taken another kind soul. I used to ask why. Now it just angers me. For him and others I have known who have suffered from, or because of, the big c today I raise both of my middle fingers to the sky at sunrise to heartily tell it how I feel. These people are working for change to raise awareness...for earlier diagnosis...give people a better chance to survive it. They feel the same way. Every little bit helps.

All I know is this sort of thing makes me come out swinging. Makes me work harder at what I do...

So Say We All

I ran across a blog a while ago that I read and after a recent video post...I feel like I need to post a link to their blog.

"Wash" and "Tashi " are amazing people...they remind me of me and J...quirky happy sci-fi fans in love...only she's 25 and he's dying of a rare terminal brain cancer.
Yeah. I know. WTF?
After brain surgery and chemo he slowly is fading...and the blog is her venting and talking about it all, and occasionally Wash posts too. They seem like amazing people...I can't imagine dealing with all of that at 25. I just can't.

The really screwed up part is they are living in the state of Arizona where the fact that he has a rare tumour at such a young age makes it really hard to get enough money to care for him. MRI? Compared to Canada wehre I live, their state insurance and coverage is embarrassing...to hear things like Why fork out insurance for someone who is dying anyways? And why pay for his meds- He's not going to get better is he? Man...I can't honestly believe they have to argue against that kind of thinking...they literally don't get enough to live on every month with food stamps and social security, not even taking into account medical costs or her health issues because Tashi had to give up her job to stay home and look after Wash. For some demented reason they actually get more income that way...and he needs that care. And she gets what time she has left to spend with him WITH him.

I'm posting this because she has gotten to the point where she has put up a place on her blog where you can donate to them by Paypal...to help them pay bills. They even have a few things selected from Amazon and Think Geek...little things they'd buy if they had any extra $$ just to make them smile...things you or I would just go pick up without really thinking about it - to take off some stress, so they can spend the few good hours Wash has a day together and just enjoy that time without all the other crap of life weighing it down.

She posted a video blog last week that made me cry with it's honesty and how she spoke of treasuring the good things and how life was too short for little things. If you want a taste of how amazing this woman is, go and watch it. It's how I feel about life after losing Mum and I really can't imagine how she feels...and I want to help somehow.
And so, for what it's worth I'm asking you - if you can, go there and donate. Anything would help them.

It is funny, I was going to run for a breast cancer cure in October like I usually do, but I think I will run 10K on my own for Wash and Tashi instead. To try and raise some funds for them. If you'd like to donate to them instead...if you were going to donate to me PLEASE, I would ask you consider them.
I can't think of ANYONE more deserving right now.

Some days

Last night was a comedy of errors. Cleaning up catsick. Discovering my laptop battery (with all my data on it) has a wonky battery. After a decent supper and an evening dealing with the above things, instead of working on my MSc as I had planned I ended up curling up in a ball for a few hours with some of the worst abdominal craps I've had in ages...hooray for being a girl.
Yes. Woo.
Now I have a little hint of what Tasha has to deal with from her IBS. All the time. Man.
I feel OK today-rather drained as I didn't sleep well, but not as bad as it could have been. J was concerned when he got home, but just having him around helped.

Today is a new day. I felt OK enough to get up and work out this morning so we'll see how today goes. Hopefully today I can do more on my MSc after work. I've hammered out a new timeline for the fall with my supervisor and it looks like the end of November is panic time, where I will work my ass off to present it all to my committee in the hope to receive permission to write (with a periodic table of cookies as bribery). Now comes the tedious task of cleaning up data and coming up with a coherent and clear way to present it all in a few papers, while working with the national quality program to start implementing the method next year...You know, nothing huge...just that and Mt. Thesis. :)

Well my good peeps. I must go do some cool stuff today. Some days, working where I do in research makes me feel like I'm able to help people...just a little. I get to extract DNA from some tumours today so I can sequence some of the genetic bits of it, looking for a mutation to set up a screening test for the lab here. Although I'm glad to know my work will help people here and there in many ways, it's strange to look at a tissue block and remember it came from some one...a real person dealing with cancer and chemo and scary life shit. I won't meet them...Don't know how or who they are...but I hope that their gift to us can help us help others. I know developing better screening tests isn't a cure, but it will help our doctors help people better and faster. After knowing so many people who've faced up to cancer this matters to me. Some won Some lost. All deserve a chance to be with their loved ones as long as they can be.
Maybe we can help them do that...
It's nice to have a job that helps people.
Yes. I like my job some days.