Elizabeth Edwards

Cancer...it is something that is happening all the time in our bodies, yet most of the time our bodies fight it off with ease. Cancer is nothing more than a cell, part of ourselves, that starts growing uncontrollably. That’s all. And yet it can kill.

With Elizabeth Edwards relapsing after recovering from cancer, I thought it a good idea to give a brief lesson on cancer. This is a topic I am very familiar with. A big chunk of my professional career has involved studying subjects that are related to cancer. I have also seen someone die of cancer. I know what happens in cancer on the level of molecules, cells…and to a whole person and that person’s family.

Cancer is what happens when a cell escapes from the normal controls that limit its ability to divide. Cell division is how we develop from a single cell—a fertilized egg—into a human being. Cell division is how our hair grows, and how our intestinal lining and blood cells constantly replenish themselves. It is also how injuries heal. Cell division is a very tightly regulated process. It isn’t easy for a cell to divide. Our cells are constantly exchanging messages about what’s going on in our bodies, and most of those messages prevent cell division.

Cells require survival signals from other cells. Without these, a cell will simply commit suicide. They don’t just die. They actually chew up their own DNA, package up their insides into parcels that immune cells can dispose of, and kill themselves. Every cell in our body has to receive these survival signals or they kill themselves. That is one level of control.

Today is one of those days when we can all be proud to be Democrats. Hillary, I salute you.

Liveblogging NBC News:

She may have a fracture on the left side and may have something suspicious on her right side. Wednesday they went to the hospital. The cancer has returned and it is malignant.

She has had a battery of results. Her cancer is bad. It is confined in bone --he is saying it is a good thing.

When it goes into the bone it is no longer curable, it is only treatable. The tumor is small and that is why they are optimistic. John is saying that many patients go on to live for a long time. It is similar to what diabetes patients have to live with.

Elizabeth says the needed to talk to their family and the kids, The kids thought that it was cool for her to loose her hair the first time and are disappointed she may not go bald again.

She is saying that every cancer survivor goes through this. They know the ache on a side, that any symptom might be putting you into alarm mode. This is something that every survivor has to live with for the rest for their life. She doesn't forsee changing anything.

She is asymptomatic. Cracking the rib was a 'fluke'. Had she not cracked the rib, she would not have had the opportunity to catch the cancer.

The campaign goes on. "We are not choosing not to cower in a corner".

They are going forward. They are coming tonight to New York City to the DL21C event.

"I am immensly proud of this campaign ... Is this a hardship for us? ... There is nobody offering a more positive and delineated vision of where we can go on as a county. "

Via Politico, and privately confirmed: due to his wife's recurring bout with cancer, Presidential candiate John Edwards will suspend active campaigning. He is still, however, running for President, and supposedly, this will be only a short interruption depending on Elizabeth Edwards' status.

Warm thoughts and prayers for Elizabeth Edwards, I'm sure, would be warmly appreciated.

(Via The Daily Gotham)

[Update]: Live press conference. Nope, the campaign goes on, he's still running, and nothing will change.

All the members and associates of the Feminist Bloggers Network should pat themselves on the back for the work we were able to accomplish yesterday.

We did it. We won

We were able to pool our networks and resources to avert the disaster that would have been the firing of Amanda and Melissa from the John Edwards campaign.

Take a bow and pat yourselves on the back. All two million of you.

When Jill posted Two Million Strong, quoting me as estimating our combined constituency, it created shockwaves through the backrooms of power. I had not only sent this missive to my fellow feminists through our mailing list, but in my attempt to get straight answers from the campaign, I flexed my networking muscles yesterday and reached out to people in my networks in a manner I had not done before.

I didn't do this just for Amanda and Melissa, I did it for all of us. Honestly, this incident was bigger than their jobs. This was about nipping from the bud an increasingly virulent trend in the United States of using the internet and every technology running through it as a means to suspend our constitutionally protected civil rights.