Gotta live like we’re dying

August 16th, 2014

“We only got, 86,400 seconds in the day,
To turn it all around or throw it all away, We gotta tell ‘em that we love 'em,
While we got the chance to say, Gotta live like we’re dying.”-The Script

As pop music and cultural phrases such as “YOLO” (you only live once) suggest, our time on this earth is limited and heck, we’d better be living it up! Yet at the same time there is the subtle spirit of irresponsibility which values this new found freedom over the health of the community.

Instead, I’m going to suggest a new paradigm “YOLOFTWD” (You only live once for things worth doing). But what does this all have to do with me? Well as I enter into these last few months of treatment, I’m reminded of the frailty of my body. After a recent chemotherapy infusion which left me feeling rather awful, I was equally reminded of the internal strength I can draw upon and that my power is made perfect in weakness. It is an incredible reminder that while these drugs being infused into my body are working to destroy the harmful cancer cells, a large amount of damage is being done to the rest of my body. From destroying the single cell layer surrounding the alveoli of my lungs (making it harder to breath), to the cells lining my stomach (resulting in the never-fun-nausea), to loosening hair cells (and thus the continual slow loss of hair) it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the positives of these medicines.

For the past few months I’ve been looking for a job, and had pretty much given up hope. My main key word searches in Craigslist went from “biology” to “science” to “barista.” But as fate (or the appropriate meandering path of life would have it) I ended up with an interview at The Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.

“This will hopefully be the anchor of a new biomedical corridor in the region, where the nation’s most cutting-edge research is conducted by some of the brightest minds in science.” — Eli Broad

I’m now officially a Research Lab Technician in the Crump Lab click here for a short video about our research which studies how genetic information is decoded to generate the precise three-dimensional shapes of organs. As a model, we study the facial cartilages and bones of the larval zebrafish, which can be continuously imaged over time in living transgenic embryos. This is incredibly useful as zebrafish and humans are similar at the genetic level and the organ level, which makes the fish a very relevant system for understanding human health and disease.

After going through checklist of “you only live once for things worth doing” and realizing that I while was still in the market for a used car, the solution was pretty much a no-brainer.

Paul’s “Cancer Car.” A 2006 Mazda Miata Grand Touring.

It’s been reassuring to have some aspects of future life secured, while still remembering the boat may be tossed by a storm at any point! I’m looking forward to growing with the community I currently find myself in, contributing and learning at my job, fighting the dark side, and of course Sunday adventures!

All in all I’ve been settling into the new job, the new car, and the new season of life not simply because you only live once, but you only live once for things worth doing…

with the right people of course!

Much Love,
Paul