Good morning everyone! I'm Mimi Fotz, and this is Hello from the Van. Today we will be covering a new type of topic that we have never covered before. It's health related, and the topic is cancer. You may have heard this word before. My kids definitely have. You see, I had breast cancer when my kids were really little, and at the time I didn't tell anyone what I was going through because the reactions to the word cancer were so varied. Some people would start to cry, some people would get angry, some people would stop talking to me. It was a lot of different reactions, so I discovered that it was just easier to not tell anyone about it. And from that experience, it seems to me that cancer is the Voldemort of human diseases. It's not something that people like to name or to talk about. So, in that same vein, consider me your Ron Weasley for today's episode. I don't have all the answers like Hermione does, and I'm not as clever or as fast on a broomstick as Harry Potter, but we will make it through just the same. And with that, let's dive into the world of magical mutating cells. Like always, before we get too far into the topic, we need to lay the groundwork. And today that means talking about cells. Our bodies are made up of billions of different bits and bobs called cells. These cells make up everything. Our hair, our organs, even our brains are made of cells. But how do cells know what to become? Well, it's in their DNA. Their dunna. The DNA is basically the programming for the cell. It's how the cell knows that it's a piece of hair instead of a piece of a pinky or a pancreas. So now that we know that we're made of cells, what is cancer and why is it bad for us? Cancer is when cells start growing out of control, and specifically when that overgrowth stops good cells from doing their jobs. Remember how I told you we were made of those billions of cells, and each one has a specific job from pinky to pancreas to hair? Cancer messes up the signals that tell these cells what to do. It messes up their ability to be a pinky or a pancreas. But how does a regular old cell turn out to be cancer? It starts with a tumor. An overgrowth of cells is called a tumor. Not all tumors are cancerous. Most of them are what's called benign. That means non-cancerous, and a wonderful example of this is a mole. I'm sure you've seen a mole probably every single day of your life. It's a brown spot either on your arm or your face, so sometimes they can even be on places like feet. It's just a discoloration and overgrowth of skin cells, a benign tumor that most people in the general population have. Some tumors are harmless, they're benign, but others are very serious. This we call cancerous. They can destroy nearby healthy cells and organs. These destructive tumors, again, cancer, are cells that spread to other parts of the body and form even more tumors. The kind of cancer a person has depends on where those cells start to go rogue. You see, I had breast cancer because my cells started to go rogue in my chest tissue. Cancer is also dependent on what caused it and how fast it grows. What made my case unique was that I was so young. I was only 33 years old and had just had a baby. Two very unique circumstances. And the danger in having cancer cells that young is that cancer cells do not like to stay where they start. They like to travel and to take over new areas. When you have cancer, keeping it contained to where you found it is a big part of the problem solving. It's a big part of treatment. You see, it's easier to treat cancer when it's contained. That's why we like to find cancer early. Imagine it like slime. Have you ever had slime in the car on a hot day? When you have your slime in its plastic container, it's easy to move around, right? And it's easy to remove it. Have you ever left slime in its container in the car on a hot day? And the sun heats up that slime to the point that the top explodes off the slime and then the slime goes everywhere. Yeah, that's kind of like cancer. It likes to expand and grow and get into everything. Just like slime can melt into the floor and the upholstery in your car. Cancer can get into everything. And it takes some pretty drastic measures to get it out of your body, the same way that it takes drastic measures to get slime out of the seats of your van. Don't ask me how I know on either account. Removing a dangerous container of slime from your van before it explodes into the upholstery is a lot like removing cancer from the body. You want to get to it before it explodes. Now, if you're nosy like me and want to feed your drama llama, you might have some questions about my cancer. That's totally normal, and I'm happy to oblige. It also helps us answer some more cancer questions. You see, I have a gene mutation. Remember how I said that humans are made up of a lot of different cells and DNA? And in my DNA, there's a change that happened that's different than the rest of the world. My mutation is part of the BRCA2 sequence. It's called PAL B2, PALB2. Did you know that not all gene mutations are bad? A gene mutation is what gives my cousins red hair or makes my husband think that delicious cilantro taste like soap. But in my case, I got the super awesome type of gene mutation that makes me prone to having cancer. And with that come certain guidelines for how I live my life. I do a lot of things to help me stay as cancer free as possible. I eat healthy, I exercise, and I try my best to stay away from things that I know will trigger a cancer reoccurrence in my body. Each person has their own level of a risk when it comes to cancer. And as science and gene mapping continue to expand, we learn more about different types of gene mutations and different cancer risk factors. But what happens when you're like me and you find cancer? Well, there are basically five levels to cancer. The first is stage zero. This is very early. This is when you find abnormal cells, but they haven't spread anywhere beyond where they started. If you're gonna find cancer, this is the best time to find it. The next is stage one. This is a small, very early type of tumor, and it's contained to one area. Remember how I talked about how slime, much like cancer likes to spread? Stage zero is like, well, we found it, but it's still in its container. Stage one is, hey, we've taken the wrapper off, but we haven't quite opened the package all the way. But when we get to stage two and stage three, oof, that's when the slime starts spreading around the minivan and when the cancer starts spreading throughout the body. Remember how we said those sneaky cancer cells like to spread and go sightseeing throughout your body? They do that in stage two and stage three. In these stages, the tumor is larger and is spread to nearby tissue and things called lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are what help fight infection in our body, and it's one of the places that cancer likes to go. The last stage of cancer is called stage four. This is when it has spread to other parts of your body. And this is the hardest kind to treat because it's not just in one place, it's spread all over. This is like if you open the slime, it exploded, and then you just started rubbing it in the seats. It's just everywhere and it's very hard to get rid of. And now that we know all about what is cancer, where it comes from, and what types there are, you might have some more questions. So let's try to answer those. Is cancer contagious? No, it is not. You cannot get cancer from hugging, being near, or even holding hands with someone who has it. Is cancer embarrassing? No matter where the cancer is found, it should never be embarrassing. I had breast cancer, and I have had family with cancer in their pancreas, reproductive cancers, and more. You don't get to choose where the cancer takes hold, so there's no need to be embarrassed by it. Now other people might be embarrassed hearing about it, but that's on them. How can we be embarrassed about the things we can't control? And that leads us to our last question. Is it your fault if you get cancer? This might be a little self-serving, but the answer is unequivocally no. It's not your fault if you get cancer. It might be hard to understand when you're little, but cancer is not a moral failing. While there are some things in our control, such as what we eat and how we exercise and take care of our bodies, there are a lot of things outside of our control. And cancer is one of those things. If you find you or one of your family members facing that big cancer dragon, just know that you're not alone. Statistically, every single person on the entire earth will be affected by cancer at some point or another. Everyone will know someone who's affected by cancer. And with statistics like that, it's definitely not something to be embarrassed by. And that brings us to the end of our cancer episode. I hope it's given you a little bit more information on this very mysterious topic that people don't like talking about. May your days be cancer free. And in the words of Ron Weasley, you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it. I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been Hello from the Van.