Wit Page #5

-Neoplasia, cancer cells.

Yes, that's right.

You grow normal cells

in a tissue culture in a lab...

and they replicate enough

to form a confluent monolayer...

and then divide 20 or 50 times,

but eventually they conk out.

You grow cancer cells

and they never stop.

No contact inhibition whatsoever,

they just pile up.

They keep replicating forever.

lt's got a great name.

Know what it's called?

-No, what?

-lmmortality in culture.

That sounds like a symposium.

lt's an error in judgment,

in a molecular way.

But why?

Even on a protistic level

the normal cell-cell interactions...

are so subtle,

they take your breath away.

lt's incredible, it's perfect.

What's up with cancer cells?

Smartest guys in the world...

the best labs, funding....

They don't know what to make of it.

-What about you?

-Me?

l've got some things l'm kicking around.

Wait till l get a lab of my own,

if l can survive this fellowship.

The part with the human beings.

Everybody has to do it,

all the best researchers.

They want us to converse

intelligently with clinicians...

as if researchers were the impediment.

Clinicians are such troglodytes.

Just cut the crap, l say.

Are you going to be sorry when....

Do you ever miss people?

Everybody asks that, especially girls.

What do you tell them?

-l tell them, ''Yes.''

-Are they persuaded?

-Some.

-Some, l see.

And what do you say when a patient is...

apprehensive, frightened?

Of who?

l just....

Never mind.

Who's the President of the United States?

l'm fine. Really, it's all right.

-You sure? l could order a test--

-No.

l'm fine. Just a little tired.

Okay.

l gotta go.

Keep pushing the fluids,

try for 2,000 a day, okay?

Okay.

To use your word:

''Okay.''

So....

The young doctor, like the senior scholar...

prefers research to humanity.

At the same time...

the senior scholar,

in her pathetic state as simpering victim...

wishes the young doctor would take

more interest in personal contact.

Now, l suppose we shall see

how the senior scholar...

ruthlessly denied

her simpering students...

the touch of human kindness

she now seeks.

How, then...

would you characterize...You!

How would you characterize

the animating force of this sonnet?

ln this sonnet, what is the....

What is the principal poetic device?

l'll give you a hint:

lt has nothing to do with football.

What propels this sonnet?

You can come to this class prepared,

or you can be excused from this class...

this department, and this university.

Do not think for a moment

that l will tolerate anything in between.

Did l say:

''You are 19 years old. You are so young.

''You don't know a sonnet

from a steak sandwich.''

By no means.

To scan the line properly...

we must take advantage

of the contemporary flexibility...

in ''i-o-n'' endings, as in ''expansion.''

The quatrain stands:

''Our two souls therefore, which are one

''Though l must go,

endure not yet a breach

''But an expansion

''Like gold to aery thinness beat''

Bear this in mind in your reading.

That's all for today.

Prof. Bearing?

Can l talk to you for a minute?

You may.

l need to ask for an extension

on my paper:

-l'm sorry, l know your policy, but--

-Don't tell me, your grandmother died.

-You knew?

-lt was a guess.

l have to go home.

Do what you will,

but the paper is due when it is due.

l don't know....

l feel so much....

What is the word?

l look back and l see these scenes and l....

Miss Bearing,

is that you beeping at 4:00 a.m.?

Did that wake you?

Sorry, it just gets occluded sometimes.

-l was awake.

-You were?

What's the trouble, sweetheart?

l don't know.

Can't sleep?

No...

l just keep thinking.

lf you do that too much

you can get confused.

l know.

l can't seem to figure things out.

l'm in a quandary. Having...

these doubts.

What you're doing is very hard.

-Hard things are what l like best.

-No, but it's not the same.

-lt's like it's out of control, isn't it?

-Yeah.

l'm scared.

Honey, of course you are.

l'm worked up....

l don't feel so sure of myself anymore.

And you used to feel sure, didn't you?

Yes, yes, and l used to feel sure.

lt's okay. lt's all right.

And it hurts, l know.

lt's all right.

There you go.

lt's all right.

lt's okay, it's all right.

Vivian? You want a popsicle?

-Yes, please.

-Okay.

l'm gonna go get one.

l'll be right back, okay?

The epithelial cells...

in my Gl tract...

have been killed by the chemo.

The cold popsicle feels good.

lt's something l can digest

and it helps keep me hydrated.

For your information.

Here you go.

-Here.

-You sure?

-Thanks.

-Thank you.

When l was a kid we used to

get these from a truck.

A man would come around

and he'd ring his bell...

and we'd all go running over.

And then we'd sit on the curb

and eat our popsicles.

That's pretty profound, huh?

Sounds nice.

There's something we need to talk about.

That you need to think about.

My cancer's not being cured, is it?

No.

They never expected it to be, did they?

They thought the drugs

would make the tumor get smaller.

And it has, it's gotten a lot smaller.

But the problem is,

it's started in other places too.

They've learned a lot for their research

and it was the best they had...

it was the strongest drugs.

lt's just that there....

There really isn't a good cure

for what you have yet.

For advanced ovarian.

l'm sorry,

they should have explained this to you.

l knew.

You did?

l read between the lines.

What you need to think about

is your code status.

What you want them to do...

if your heart stops beating.

Well?

You can be full code

which means that if your heart stops...

we'll call a code blue and the code team

will come in and resuscitate you...

and take you to intensive care

until you stabilize.

Or, you can be:

''Do not resuscitate.''

Which means that if your heart stops...

we'll just let it.

You'll be DNR.

Now, you can think about it. But l just....

l just wanted to present you

with both choices...

before Kelekian and Jason

come in and talk to you.

-They don't agree about this?

-They like to save lives.

So anything's okay as long

as the life continues.

Doesn't matter

if you're hooked up to a million machines.

Kelekian's a great researcher, he is...

and the Fellows like Jason,

they're really smart.

lt's an honor for them

to be working with him.

But they always want to know

more things.

l always want to know more things.

l'm a scholar.

Or l was...

when l had shoes.

When l had eyebrows.

Okay, that's fine. You'll be full code.

No.

Don't complicate the matter.

No, really, it's fine. lt's up to you.

Just let it stop.

Really?

Yes.

So, if your heart stops beating....

Just let it stop.

You sure?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay, l'll get Kelekian to give the order,

and then....

Susie?

You're still going to take care of me,

aren't you?

Of course l am.

Don't you worry, sweetheart.

Okay.

Thank you.

That certainly was a maudlin display.

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