Head's Up: Personal Plot
I've been trying to stick with and actually play out this plot for probably the last five years (and something always comes up and eats my plot before I can get into it). So, we'll start at the beginning. If cancer is a trigger for you, you won't be interested in this post--just putting this out there because I know that it can be really rough on people. The following will be under a cut just in case. Update: This plot will start late October (which is breast cancer awareness month) and continue across the new year anywhere from late November to even January. Gonna give it some space, here. Also, all cancer related posts will be under LJ cuts and warnings will be clearly marked when I post. I will definitely attempt to be as sensitive to others--and it's fine if you're not kosher with this plot. I'll do what I can to minimize its exposure. Just wanted to get an OOC warning out there before I go anywhere with this.
I would like to say that cancer has been a part of my family since before I was born and that I have lost a grandmother (whom I never got to meet) to breast cancer and an aunt to ovarian cancer. I've also had an entire line of great-grandaunts who died from breast cancer. I've been researching cancer as a topic for the better part of a decade, looking at the psychological, physical, and relationship effects of this disease (from personal relationships within families, to organizational relationships, and societal views on cancer). In the Terminator canon, Sarah Connor is diagnosed and later died from what seems to be adult onset of myeloid leukemia. She is approximately at the age and time frame in which she is set to begin her bout of cancer. I intend, with the help of Dr. Martha Jones, Leonard McCoy, John Connor, and pretty much anyone out there who feels like joining in, to play this all the way out and give it the attention it deserves.
I'm also requesting that no magic or technology (Sarah's paranoid enough about machines...and magic) be used for a quick cure because that just defeats the entire plot.
There's a ton of things that Sarah absolutely must face in order to grow as a character. She's paranoid, doesn't trust anyone, thinks that trust only goes as far as her son son and the few friends she has left. She refuses to believe that she'll die, mostly because she has too much shit to do and she still has her son to teach. Coming to terms with her humanity, her terms in meeting her cancer head on, and her sheer will to survive, is one of the things that gives her son the courage to fight the battle that will one day face him as the future leader of the Resistance. Because if Mom can fight a losing battle with cancer to the bitter end, he can fight a war against the machines with at least that much courage. It's that sort of relationship, and that sort of strength that I want to explore--for Sarah and for John (who's been through this once).
I'm also excited to see what sort of things the medical team can come up with on the Barge. For example, in August of last year, the Herpes virus was genetically/biochemically re-engineered to successfully fight cancer. Two years down the road from the study where 17 UK patients with head/neck cancer were treated with the Herpes cancer virus (at 92% cure rate, two relapsed after high doses of the virus were given), the cancer free rate is at 82%. Bite that, cancer. Mind you, these were small tumors at Stage 0-I, but still, this is awesome and incredible news that mirrors my own theoretical cancer cure thoughts. (Except mine were about the HIV/AIDS viruses being modified so that they interfaced with cells and basically did what the Herpes virus did. I misspoke when I was talking to Kota over IM. It was Herpes, not HIV/AIDS that was being used. I think studies are being conducted in Canada that have shown that an enzyme will effectively shut down the reproductive mechanism that allows cancer to spread. That might be the study that's using HIV/AIDS to inject the enzyme, tbh.)
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, I'm totally happy to answer/discuss them as respectfully as I can.
I would like to say that cancer has been a part of my family since before I was born and that I have lost a grandmother (whom I never got to meet) to breast cancer and an aunt to ovarian cancer. I've also had an entire line of great-grandaunts who died from breast cancer. I've been researching cancer as a topic for the better part of a decade, looking at the psychological, physical, and relationship effects of this disease (from personal relationships within families, to organizational relationships, and societal views on cancer). In the Terminator canon, Sarah Connor is diagnosed and later died from what seems to be adult onset of myeloid leukemia. She is approximately at the age and time frame in which she is set to begin her bout of cancer. I intend, with the help of Dr. Martha Jones, Leonard McCoy, John Connor, and pretty much anyone out there who feels like joining in, to play this all the way out and give it the attention it deserves.
I'm also requesting that no magic or technology (Sarah's paranoid enough about machines...and magic) be used for a quick cure because that just defeats the entire plot.
There's a ton of things that Sarah absolutely must face in order to grow as a character. She's paranoid, doesn't trust anyone, thinks that trust only goes as far as her son son and the few friends she has left. She refuses to believe that she'll die, mostly because she has too much shit to do and she still has her son to teach. Coming to terms with her humanity, her terms in meeting her cancer head on, and her sheer will to survive, is one of the things that gives her son the courage to fight the battle that will one day face him as the future leader of the Resistance. Because if Mom can fight a losing battle with cancer to the bitter end, he can fight a war against the machines with at least that much courage. It's that sort of relationship, and that sort of strength that I want to explore--for Sarah and for John (who's been through this once).
I'm also excited to see what sort of things the medical team can come up with on the Barge. For example, in August of last year, the Herpes virus was genetically/biochemically re-engineered to successfully fight cancer. Two years down the road from the study where 17 UK patients with head/neck cancer were treated with the Herpes cancer virus (at 92% cure rate, two relapsed after high doses of the virus were given), the cancer free rate is at 82%. Bite that, cancer. Mind you, these were small tumors at Stage 0-I, but still, this is awesome and incredible news that mirrors my own theoretical cancer cure thoughts. (Except mine were about the HIV/AIDS viruses being modified so that they interfaced with cells and basically did what the Herpes virus did. I misspoke when I was talking to Kota over IM. It was Herpes, not HIV/AIDS that was being used. I think studies are being conducted in Canada that have shown that an enzyme will effectively shut down the reproductive mechanism that allows cancer to spread. That might be the study that's using HIV/AIDS to inject the enzyme, tbh.)
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, I'm totally happy to answer/discuss them as respectfully as I can.