NOTE: Recently discovered 'areas of concern' in my Liver and Lung, has once again given me 'pondering time' as I, once again, begin the process of traveling between doctors offices, and sitting in waiting rooms. Inspirational metaphors come at the strangest times and places and this one is no different.
I'm 8 years old, and remember, sitting on the warm concrete of our front step on a fine spring day, when the temperature, breeze and humidity combine - just so - to make a memory moment that creates one of those special pathways in your grey matter. As I sit there, my Dad reaches over my shoulder and hands me a brand new, bright green bottle of 'Bubbles'. Kids these days would scoff and probably be offended by such a simple gift, designed, really to entertain kids so that parents can go off and do what ever it is that parents do (wink-wink, nudge, nudge) on such a fine day and the kids are outside with new bubbles.
Todays kids don't understand how cool it is to crack open that new bottle. The little cardboard circle either sticks to the bottle cap (considered 'unlucky') or sticks to the bottle (considered 'lucky'). Luck determined, the next thing you do is sliiiiiide your finger down into the slippery goop and find that little plastic stick with a loop on each end.
This moment of catch-and-retrieval must be what surgeons feel when they operate on a patient and discover that the tumor they see and feel at that moment, does indeed match the grey-scaled-image they saw on the CAT scan in preparation for the tumor removal process.
Back to to the bubbles. The next key to the enjoyment of bubble making is the caaaaaaarful removal of the bubble-stick - one smaller end designed for holding with the hand, the other larger for holding the bubble goop... (that is always what I called it anyhow!) in such a way that the bigger of the ends came out of the bottle properly 'loaded' with bubble juice!
Now is when things start to get tricky. If the sunlight is right, I look as the shimmering, swirling colors revealed on the thin film of bubble juice wondering how they form, what they are made of, how the colors got there in that clear special liquid.
From a medical perspective, I imagine the same 'kinds' of questions puzzle doctors and lab techs as well. "How did that tumor GET there?", "What is it MADE of.", "What can we do to PREVENT more of them?"
Bubble juice ready. Having loaded the bubble stick it is now time to release the wonder of the bubble on the world. Talk to any young child (and even some college professors) there are a myriad of 'proper' ways to make the 'proper' bubble. For me, I was the patient one, trying to make the biggest, hugest bubble I could... My brothers and sisters how ever were 'twirlers' spinning around or waving with their wands producing hundreds of bubbles to my few. But that was cool, they were happy, I was happy.
While they were off in the sunlight of the front yard, barefeet in the freshly cut grass, spinning like bubble derivshes, I sat there on the porch with bottle of bubble juice in one hand and loaded bubble stick in the other. I took a deep breath.....and blew....
A side note on bubble blowing to those who have never done it... Getting the proper force with which to make a big bubble is abit tricky, by the time you have perfected it you will notice that your convers all star high tops have been doused with soapy water...but if you have mastered it you could blow bubbles that get bigger and bigger with each try.
I think I have made a bubble or two that approached 3 feet in diameter, but here is the catch... Have you ever tried to MEASURE a bubble? I challenge you! Go get a bottle and try! The nature of bubbles is that they are 'wobbly'! As kids we don't understand the physics behind why. As we get older we understand a little bit about gas pressure, and air temperature that affect the bubble world.
Now we are getting to the meat of the post... I suggest you go refill your coffee cup and come back refreshed and ready to continue.
Waiting...waiting...
O.K. You're back. Here we go. I talked a a bit about the relationship between doctors and bubbles, but this blog is about me as a patient, so that is the part of the story we will build upon.
There are several parts of the Bubble world that you should be able to discern at this point. The overall experience is contained in the mysteries of the bubble juice. Me - the patent - am the stick. The fates - genetics, medicines, body systems, treatments, etc. these are the kid blowing the bubbles. Finally, there is the atmosphere - the would in which the bubble lives its life.
If you take time to study bubbles you will discover several truths about them.
AXIOM #1 : Bubbles are fragile. They do not last forever, no matter what we do, or how much we want them too.
AXIOM#2 : No two Bubbles are the same. And trying to figure out how long they will last is a waste of time.
AXIOM#3: In the right situation, bubbles attract other bubbles, they combine and make bigger, more wonderful bubbles.
AXIOM#4: Bubbles will 'pop' fail, disappear, often suddenly, without warning. Laughter usually ensues and you go running back to the supply bottle for more.
For he above axioms and the story below...substitute BREATH IN THE BUBBLE with Cancer Patient.
And friends, family and medical staff are the BUBBLE itself
The fates, pick up the stick and blow... encasing the breath/essence into a bubble of a certain size... While the BUBBLE has no control over its' size or shape or even it's destination, it can rise, rise, rise, until it disappears beyond some horizon - the kid in us hoping that it will last for ever...drifting on a sunny day.
If the BUBBLE is lucky it is strong enough to combine with other bubbles in the area. A fascinating process - not understood by the bubble blower, but the resulting bubble get bigger stronger as it grows.
Another question that gets asked if the bubble blowers is, "What is the bubble made of?"
For me as the patient, I see the actual 'film' of the bubble as all the people who bind together to encase the breath of life that was put into the bubble in the first place. The molecule-people who comprise the bubble are all that keep the bubble together at times. THEY know if they fail the BREATH inside, the struggle will be difficult.
Any 8 year old bubble master KNOWS you can catch bubbles on the stick, but you cannot get things to ride ON the outside of the bubble (not even cotton wood tufts, or dandelion seeds!) and it is nearly impossible to get anything INSIDE the bubble to stay without breaking the bubble - certainly not like the kitten in the bubbles in the Dairy Queen commercials - Duhhh! The 8 year old knows that whilde carrying the bubble around on your stick is fun it is much more fun to release the bubble and watch it go.
This now brings us to one of those times when you turn to your Mom or Dad and ask that all important question...."Where does my breath go when the bubble pops?" This is a darn good question - as it pertains to both the physics of the bubble and the mysteries of the universe....
So, not want to get it wrong or to come up with some completely unbelievable bull crap that the kids will see through, the parent sits for a moment, watching the bubbles fly and the kids spin.
He or she answers, "Well, hmm...When the bubble breaks that is the bubbles way of setting your breath free back into the universe, to be used by some other kid, somewhere learning how to blow bubbles."
Knowing that he or she has only answered only half the question, Mom or Dad takes a drink of soda and thinks before continuing.....
"Ah....that's good." the parent says.
"What? The BUBBLE...what happens to the BUBBLE!" the bubble-explorationist demands.
Looking down at the soapy legs of the child, the pool of bubble goop on the porch, the parent continues..."Well, the BUBBLE knows there comes time when the breath needs to out and return to the world, so they 'let-go' the bubble people are really small now and go looking for new bubble friends to catch and help out new breaths that need a ride so they can be happy."
The parent waits for a response to the on-the-spot creation of 'bubble life'. The child scoops up the bottle, jumps up and off the porch... "Thanks! I get it! The bigger the bubble the happier the breath and the further it can fly!!!"
I'm 8 years old, and remember, sitting on the warm concrete of our front step on a fine spring day, when the temperature, breeze and humidity combine - just so - to make a memory moment that creates one of those special pathways in your grey matter. As I sit there, my Dad reaches over my shoulder and hands me a brand new, bright green bottle of 'Bubbles'. Kids these days would scoff and probably be offended by such a simple gift, designed, really to entertain kids so that parents can go off and do what ever it is that parents do (wink-wink, nudge, nudge) on such a fine day and the kids are outside with new bubbles.
Todays kids don't understand how cool it is to crack open that new bottle. The little cardboard circle either sticks to the bottle cap (considered 'unlucky') or sticks to the bottle (considered 'lucky'). Luck determined, the next thing you do is sliiiiiide your finger down into the slippery goop and find that little plastic stick with a loop on each end.
This moment of catch-and-retrieval must be what surgeons feel when they operate on a patient and discover that the tumor they see and feel at that moment, does indeed match the grey-scaled-image they saw on the CAT scan in preparation for the tumor removal process.
Back to to the bubbles. The next key to the enjoyment of bubble making is the caaaaaaarful removal of the bubble-stick - one smaller end designed for holding with the hand, the other larger for holding the bubble goop... (that is always what I called it anyhow!) in such a way that the bigger of the ends came out of the bottle properly 'loaded' with bubble juice!
Now is when things start to get tricky. If the sunlight is right, I look as the shimmering, swirling colors revealed on the thin film of bubble juice wondering how they form, what they are made of, how the colors got there in that clear special liquid.
From a medical perspective, I imagine the same 'kinds' of questions puzzle doctors and lab techs as well. "How did that tumor GET there?", "What is it MADE of.", "What can we do to PREVENT more of them?"
Bubble juice ready. Having loaded the bubble stick it is now time to release the wonder of the bubble on the world. Talk to any young child (and even some college professors) there are a myriad of 'proper' ways to make the 'proper' bubble. For me, I was the patient one, trying to make the biggest, hugest bubble I could... My brothers and sisters how ever were 'twirlers' spinning around or waving with their wands producing hundreds of bubbles to my few. But that was cool, they were happy, I was happy.
While they were off in the sunlight of the front yard, barefeet in the freshly cut grass, spinning like bubble derivshes, I sat there on the porch with bottle of bubble juice in one hand and loaded bubble stick in the other. I took a deep breath.....and blew....
A side note on bubble blowing to those who have never done it... Getting the proper force with which to make a big bubble is abit tricky, by the time you have perfected it you will notice that your convers all star high tops have been doused with soapy water...but if you have mastered it you could blow bubbles that get bigger and bigger with each try.
I think I have made a bubble or two that approached 3 feet in diameter, but here is the catch... Have you ever tried to MEASURE a bubble? I challenge you! Go get a bottle and try! The nature of bubbles is that they are 'wobbly'! As kids we don't understand the physics behind why. As we get older we understand a little bit about gas pressure, and air temperature that affect the bubble world.
Now we are getting to the meat of the post... I suggest you go refill your coffee cup and come back refreshed and ready to continue.
Waiting...waiting...
O.K. You're back. Here we go. I talked a a bit about the relationship between doctors and bubbles, but this blog is about me as a patient, so that is the part of the story we will build upon.
There are several parts of the Bubble world that you should be able to discern at this point. The overall experience is contained in the mysteries of the bubble juice. Me - the patent - am the stick. The fates - genetics, medicines, body systems, treatments, etc. these are the kid blowing the bubbles. Finally, there is the atmosphere - the would in which the bubble lives its life.
If you take time to study bubbles you will discover several truths about them.
AXIOM #1 : Bubbles are fragile. They do not last forever, no matter what we do, or how much we want them too.
AXIOM#2 : No two Bubbles are the same. And trying to figure out how long they will last is a waste of time.
AXIOM#3: In the right situation, bubbles attract other bubbles, they combine and make bigger, more wonderful bubbles.
AXIOM#4: Bubbles will 'pop' fail, disappear, often suddenly, without warning. Laughter usually ensues and you go running back to the supply bottle for more.
For he above axioms and the story below...substitute BREATH IN THE BUBBLE with Cancer Patient.
And friends, family and medical staff are the BUBBLE itself
The fates, pick up the stick and blow... encasing the breath/essence into a bubble of a certain size... While the BUBBLE has no control over its' size or shape or even it's destination, it can rise, rise, rise, until it disappears beyond some horizon - the kid in us hoping that it will last for ever...drifting on a sunny day.
If the BUBBLE is lucky it is strong enough to combine with other bubbles in the area. A fascinating process - not understood by the bubble blower, but the resulting bubble get bigger stronger as it grows.
Another question that gets asked if the bubble blowers is, "What is the bubble made of?"
For me as the patient, I see the actual 'film' of the bubble as all the people who bind together to encase the breath of life that was put into the bubble in the first place. The molecule-people who comprise the bubble are all that keep the bubble together at times. THEY know if they fail the BREATH inside, the struggle will be difficult.
Any 8 year old bubble master KNOWS you can catch bubbles on the stick, but you cannot get things to ride ON the outside of the bubble (not even cotton wood tufts, or dandelion seeds!) and it is nearly impossible to get anything INSIDE the bubble to stay without breaking the bubble - certainly not like the kitten in the bubbles in the Dairy Queen commercials - Duhhh! The 8 year old knows that whilde carrying the bubble around on your stick is fun it is much more fun to release the bubble and watch it go.
This now brings us to one of those times when you turn to your Mom or Dad and ask that all important question...."Where does my breath go when the bubble pops?" This is a darn good question - as it pertains to both the physics of the bubble and the mysteries of the universe....
So, not want to get it wrong or to come up with some completely unbelievable bull crap that the kids will see through, the parent sits for a moment, watching the bubbles fly and the kids spin.
He or she answers, "Well, hmm...When the bubble breaks that is the bubbles way of setting your breath free back into the universe, to be used by some other kid, somewhere learning how to blow bubbles."
Knowing that he or she has only answered only half the question, Mom or Dad takes a drink of soda and thinks before continuing.....
"Ah....that's good." the parent says.
"What? The BUBBLE...what happens to the BUBBLE!" the bubble-explorationist demands.
Looking down at the soapy legs of the child, the pool of bubble goop on the porch, the parent continues..."Well, the BUBBLE knows there comes time when the breath needs to out and return to the world, so they 'let-go' the bubble people are really small now and go looking for new bubble friends to catch and help out new breaths that need a ride so they can be happy."
The parent waits for a response to the on-the-spot creation of 'bubble life'. The child scoops up the bottle, jumps up and off the porch... "Thanks! I get it! The bigger the bubble the happier the breath and the further it can fly!!!"
your words are just as beautiful as your colors on paper! You are an all around artisit!
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