DATA GROUP A: My Science Story
As a high-school student, science was the furthest thing from my mind. In fact, I had been programmed to not like it. After all, I was going to be an author when I grew up! Everyone groaned about "having to take bio" so of course I was going to be cool and groan too. Until I loved it so much that I cried on the last day of class because it was over. It sounds hokey, but I cried on the last day of my first college bio class too.

During graduate school, my favorite class was "Neuropharmacology" - I'm not going to lie just for the purposes of this story. But my second favorite class was "Introduction to Oncology." I can imagine my mom's shock when I called her up to exclaim, "Cancer is COOL!"

Of course, I didn't mean that people getting cancer was cool.

During that course, and later during the time that I spent as a researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, I learned a lot of fascinating things. The various types of cancer - how they begin, how they thrive, and how they might be squelched - it is all amazingly complex. Of course, as thrilling as a puzzle is in the abstract, it is devastating in reality. After all, unexpected plot twists are fun in movies, but not when trying to get rid of a process that is killing a person.

DATA GROUP B: My Boys' Science Story
I quit science in order to be a mom. But it isn't quite as clear-cut as just that. There are stories of my PI's fudged data and the whole "inside politics" of how grants are written and all that jazz. I have stories about how my PI ("principal investigator") claimed to not have kids (to look more serious, perhaps?) but she actually had a stepdaughter, and how she wanted to sign me up to present at our lab meeting on Jan 20th because since I was due with my first child on Jan 15th, I'd probably be done giving birth, right? Science is not a great place for a woman, especially not a mother.

Although some may argue that I did my kids (and future scientist-mothers) a disservice by stepping down instead of fighting, my scientific knowledge has come in handy as a parent. For example, when I went through having a "quirky" preschooler, I could take the various medical professionals' opinions and advice with a grain of salt. And, because I enjoy science, I've encouraged my sons in their interest as well.

This summer they'll attend several science classes. Last year and the year before the Cat did a Science Fair project. This year Splig did.

This year I co-Chaired the Science Fair. During that Fair, one particular woman expressed displeasure at how I didn't make the Fair super-perfect. She'd be totally aghast at my improper use of scientific method headings for this blog post. Her son did a perfectly-perfect project on engineering as created by LEGOs.

So... here we are on Spring Break. My boys are at... LEGO Engineering Camp. (And Susan is having surgery. That is not my idea of a fun Spring Break project.)

The boys have loved LEGOs even before they started their class. Yesterday they learned how to make houses. Today I believe they did airplanes. They've made some pretty snazzy things. At the end of the course they will get a small set to take home. And of course they already have a large collection at home. Completed and half-completed structures exist in nearly every room of our house.

Meanwhile, we're having our own little engineering project in the backyard. A vegetable garden morphed into a mud pit, and it is now going to become a storage shed and/or possibly my office and/or possibly an exercise room.

RESULTS GROUP A:
I may no longer be a scientist in the money-making sense, but one never leaves that role in the personality sense. I can look at life in different ways - through the camera, through words, and through more scientific thought.

Although Susan and I have different areas of expertise, there are definitely things that we share as women scientists. And given my particular educational background, I understand a bit more about different types of cancer than a lay-person, but Susan is definitely the expert on IBC between the two of us.

RESULTS GROUP B:
My kids will hopefully continue to enjoy science - if not for careers, at least for understanding the world around them. Meanwhile, the shed we're building in the backyard will hopefully mean positive things for us, as we're able to store items, decorations, and other things. (We don't have a garage because previous owners turned it into a much-needed family room. Alas, a garage is also a must-needed thing, so this shed will be a lifesaver!)

Our home, and the various things it has gone through - removal of a garage, but addition of a family room; removal of a garden, but addition of a storage space - is a work in progress. It always will be. We removed the mold, and got a new water heater. At some point something else will happen and we'll need to make repairs, changes, additions, subtractions.

Now Susan isn't quite like a house - and I don't think any woman would want to be compared to one as such. (Yes, I was horrified when I realized what the song She's a Brick House meant.) But, Susan has definitely had some parts removed in an effort to keep her structure standing. Her surgery today will remove more. Her body has gone through many changes in the last several years, both on its own and through medical intervention. Some changes have been brutal and life-saving. Other changes have been both unexpected and planned. The future is unknown, but I certainly hope that this latest batch of surgery will improve Susan's body in that it will remain cancer-free.

I know it is a really clumsy analogy to go from LEGO engineering to shed building to cancer treatment, but it is all in an effort to emphasize how loved Susan is and how we're pulling for her contractor-doctor to do a spectacular job. Besides, it is my Team WhyMommy Virtual Science Fair project and I can do what I want! I'm no longer trying to get published in Nature, but I definitely want Susan healthy.

CONCLUSION:

We're thinking of you, Susan.

Everyone please read other tributes to Susan today via Stimey's wonderful Team WhyMommy Virtual Science Fair.

Update: Please see Susan's Moon, written on 2/6/2012, the final day Susan graced this earth.