It might not be possible at this time to eradicate cancer altogether. But we may be able to stop cancer cells in their tracks through a process called senescence.

In senescence, cells don't divide. And when cells don't divide, they don't grow. In such a scenario then, cancer cells wouldn't divide and therefore couldn't grow.

Think about this:

According to lab tests on mice, triggering senescence in certain cells hampers the growth of some tumors.

Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston are the ones behind the scenes on this project -- the study appears online in EMBO Reports, a publication of the European Molecular Biology Organization -- and all eyes are on the p53 gene.

The p53 gene lives within cells and works to nip cancer in the bud by springing to action in damaged cells that may be spinning themselves into a cancer frenzy.

Researchers say senescence ordered by the p53 gene is extremely important in suppressing tumor formation and is as important as apoptosis -- a type of programmed cell death. But in some cancers, senescence might not be enough to halt cancer, they found.

OK, so senescence is not a perfect approach to halting all cancers. But it seems to work for some -- so I say for now, let's take what we can get.

Gardening is good for the soul. I'm sure of it. It did wonders for my grandma, who planted and flowered and blossomed for most of her life and long after her rounded back and arthritic fingers told her to stop. She just couldn't help herself -- the fruits of the earth brought her such joy that the toll hard labor took on her body was somehow worth every trace of dirt that crumbled beneath her fingertips.

In my own small way, I can't resist either. I'm no lifelong gardener or anything. I'm more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of girl. And I haven't a green thumb on either of my hands. My flowers always seem to die. Because no matter how much I love them at the beginning of the warm season, I end up neglecting them.

I tell my husband every year, "Please remind me not to buy flowers this year." It just seems silly to spend so much money only to toss my dead blooms after they wither and shrivel. So my husband reminds me. And I go right back out and buy more. Like I did today.

I spent about an hour with my little boys shoveling dirt and arranging red and orange and yellow and white flowers in all sorts of pots. It was a priceless hour -- although really it cost me about 60 bucks. It was refreshing and rejuvenating and in a way, healing.

I know the effects of today's flower therapy will fade, just as the flowers themselves will fail to thrive. But I also know I will do it all again next year. Because it's good for my soul. And I just can't resist.

A few years ago -- I can't remember exactly when -- I cut bunches of red wavy locks from my friend's head. I tied Amber's thick hair into one big ponytail, and I cut away. It was an extreme haircut for sure. Amber's long hairstyle was transformed into a shoulder-length bob, and for good reason.

Amber sent her 10-inch ponytail to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that creates human hair wigs and hairpieces from donated hair and gives them to children under the age of 18 who have lost their hair due a medical condition. This was the first time I'd heard of Locks of Love, and I've since met many others who have purposely grown their hair in order to donate it. I have a neighbor who has done it three or four times now. I know two teenage brothers who have cut their long, dark hair for this great cause. And I've known toddlers whose parents have waited for that first haircut until 10 inches could be cut.

Ten inches is the magic number. Once tied into a ponytail, there must be 10 inches of hair hanging beneath the rubber band. The ponytail is cut off and what remains can be cut into a new style. Locks of Love provides the procedures for mailing the hair, and the details can be found on the Locks of Love website.

I was bald this time last year -- after receiving four rounds of toxic chemotherapy for breast cancer -- and I know how devastating hair loss can be. It affected my self-esteem, and I can only imagine how it affects children whose self-esteem is just forming.

You might consider donating your hair so that a child's confidence can be restored during a time that is so difficult and challenging. I will consider it too -- but I must say that for now, I am enjoying watching my new short, brown, curly hair grow and grow and grow.