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Getting Busy with Life
By Cyrus on Mar 22, 2011
Last week my mom and I went to a special gathering hosted by an organization called “Candlelighter’s,” another foundation that aims to help kids with cancer and their families. The gathering was about something called art therapy. It was comforting to know that there were other people there who could understand our situation, but less so because that would mean that they also had cancer. We were treated to some pizza and juice and after a short welcoming speech we were all given my very favorite brand of clay, Model Magic, to make an animal of our choosing and the real fun began! At first I was stumped about what kind of animal to make, so on a whim I made a fictitious creature called a “creeper’ from my favorite computer game, “Minecraft,” which I mentioned in one of my older posts. Once the creeper was done, we still had time left and I wanted to make something light blue, so I decided to whip together a jellyfish! With little time left I drew from my dwindling reserves of grey and also whipped together some pink for a mouse. Unfortunately, the woman had already started talking so I had to rush to finish. The result was the cutest thing I ever made, with tiny gray Mickey-Mouse style ears, a round pink nose, and an equally pink tail attached to a plump tiny body only a centimeter in length. Everyone was completely gaga over my adorable creation. When I was finished, I was able to concentrate on listening again, and by that time they had started asking people what their creation was; but the interesting thing is that they had a sheet with psychological traits of almost every animal that people were working on or finished! When she got to me she said that my mouse symbolizes shyness, cleverness, or reclusiveness. She asked me how I might be shy or clever like my mouse. While I thought about it, I realized that I am kind of shy, and I believe that I am also kind of clever, so it looked like me and my little mouse had more in common that I thought! We left shortly after the psychological animal comparisons were done, and we then carried all of our creations back home. The whole gathering was pretty fun because we had great pizza, grape juice, and a large amount of my very favorite clay!
The Creeper and The Mouse
The next day my entire family and I went on a trip to my old school in Salem to attend the annual choir cabaret. We were invited to by my choir instructor, Mrs. Kercher, who remembered me after I was diagnosed and when I was stuck in the hospital; she even came up and saw me once! Last year, before I was diagnosed, I participated in the cabaret too, because then I was in the 6th grade choir! Back then, the cabaret was very different than the other choir performances I had been in; however, it revealed itself to be very fun and entertaining for both the audience and us! When we arrived, we found that we had a special place at the very front reserved for us! It was amazing, sitting there in the audience instead of performing on the stage. Mrs. Kercher soon came up and welcomed us to the cabaret as honored guests with hugs and smiles, but she had to get back to the choir quickly. A couple of my friends came over to see me again too. My friend Jack stood out because he was the one who continued contact with me via email after I was diagnosed, which I appreciated. The lights darkened and the first person arrived onstage. In the beginning there were a few solos, and a duet or two before the choirs came on. There was the Jazz Choir, and Jack was in it! After a few more performances the new 6th grade choir came on but unfortunately, no one I knew was there because they all were just imported from grade school. After all that was an intermission where we all relaxed for a moment. We ate some of the cake and drank some of the punch provided and people bid on some auction items for a fundraiser for the choir so they can go and sing in New York. Once the intermission was finished, we were given another gratuitous helping of solos; one kid sang with their father who played guitar! Here comes one of the best parts - the concert choir, the choir that I would’ve been in, came up onstage and sung a special song dedicated to me! It really touched my heart and made my year to see them do such a nice thing for me! It really blew my mind to see and hear the choir that I would’ve been in if not for this stupid cancer. Maybe I can be in a different choir someday. When the Concert Choir was finished, I was almost in tears, but was cheered up by one girl's Hawaiian dance before a really big surprise. As a grand finale, they had every choir come together and sing as a whole! I was amazed and kind of envious that I couldn’t be there in the choir for it, but on our side, it was a beautiful performance. When the wonderful finale was done, Mrs. Kercher and many other kids that I knew came to say hi. It seemed like I was some famous author or something and they were scrambling to get my autograph, though they weren’t really doing that - that would have been kind of creepy. Fortunately, I made it out without a massive crowd following and was able to go back to Portland where I went to bed after a fun, amazing day.
My Brother Noah and Me at the Choir Cabaret
The next day my mom and I went to the lab where my mom works sometimes. Normally, this would make me annoyed to just hang around an awesome science lab doing nothing, but what awaited me was much more than a long boring wait. When I entered the lab I was greeted enthusiastically by its director, Zahra Kashi, who also happens to be one of me and my mom’s very best friends! My mom and Zahra had to go do some work, and I was left behind in the lab with one of the employees, named Jillian. Jillian offered to show me some of the work she does and how some of the technology there works! What followed was roughly equivalent to a chemistry set x 10 with a load of genetics and biology to spruce it up. First, I got to make my very own cast; I learned that the casts are used in a complex process in which different genes are identified by their movement through the gel. What they do is they manage to chemically separate the genes and make it so that one specific string of DNA is replicated a TON, so they can get absurd amounts of one gene to put in the gel. There are also “ladder” genes that have already been identified and are used as a reference point for all the other genes. I poured the mold gel and it hardened; then she took a fancy 8-tube pipette and squirted some red dyed DNA into the small divots in the mold. Once all the DNA was in the mold and it was subject to the magnetic field, I got to see it under some special UV radiation that made it glow. I had to wear a special visor that looks like a welding mask to keep the radiation from burning my skin off. Once the mold with the DNA was under the UV camera, I got to process the photos on the computer and finalize them by, among other things, altering the gamma so they are easy to see, straighten the picture, and annotate the image. When I was finished, I saved the files to a special folder. It made me very happy to actually be doing a job, I even had a water cooler break while the next mold was hardening. The best part was that I had fun with it! Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, and I had to go off to dinner, but I still had a lot of fun!
Me Practicing to be a Scientist
After I left the lab, we went off to a Japanese restaurant to eat. Upon entering, I made some jokes about its name; saying, “My name is Koji Osakaya (the restaurant name) you killed my father, prepare to die!” parodying the line from “The Princess Bride” which I watched a couple times in the hospital. After we were seated, I told my mom I was considering vegetable fried rice which was Chinese cuisine, not Japanese; I had a real facepalm moment there. At the table, I also tried again to use chopsticks, and I am pleased to say that I have finally grasped the technique of using them! Not long after I figured out the chopsticks I decided on what to order, I just had some miso soup, some teriyaki chicken, and some rice and noodles. The meal itself was wonderful; it was the first substantially satisfying meal I have had in a good long time. Sadly, upon having some of my meal, I accidentally got a load of grease on my brand-new coat; I got a big speech from my mom about using my napkin from that. Fortunately, my dish came with an ice cream dessert after the meal that cheered us up a whole lot. After finishing, we were ready to head back home.
I've also recently had a tour of my new school, West Sylvan, where I will be going after spring break. The school has two levels like my old school. It also has the best school library I have ever seen, beautifully stocked and organized; the architecture was pretty impressive too. Sadly, West Sylvan does not have a choir for me to be in; however, they do have many other classes that I do like, such as science and math. I had to take a math exam at the end of the tour. It has been a long time since I’ve been to school, almost a year. It’s really amazing that I'm finally going back, even though I will only have two classes. I'm hoping to start making some new friends.
