In Love with the Prince (of Darkness, That Is)
Chapter Forty: Therapy
For the second time, Dreama found herself sitting on an airplane without having planned to go anywhere. Taylor, who surely hadn't slept all night, veritably passed out during the short flight and the two hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, while clinging to Dreama's hand. They spent the day hiding out in Mr. Gable's apartment, and then climbed back in the car after dusk.
The surgeon's office, in upscale NYC, was nothing like the clinical, white-washed building that Dreama had been expecting. She almost felt relaxed as the foursome settled into chairs in the conference room.
Dr. Barker, the surgeon, was younger than Dreama had expected--in his late thirties, she guessed--but the certificates on the wall behind him boasted his competence. He introduced his colleague, an oncologist named Dr. Melsandra, and then launched right in.
"I don't believe in sugar coating," he announced. "And you may hear some things you don't particularly like."
"I'm not a big fan of my current situation, either," Taylor said dryly.
"The surgery is risky. The tumour is almost too deep to operate on, and it's bordering a few rather important parts of your brain."
"But you can do it?"
"I feel confident that my team and I can do the surgery without any lasting complications. But you must keep in mind that there is always a possibility of things going wrong, and these, unfortunately, are rather important things."
"Like what?" Dreama wondered.
Dr. Barker showed them a copy of the CAT scan that Taylor had shown her earlier. "The tumour is touching the part of the brain that controls motor functions--walking and eating, for example. An accident could have devastating effects on your ability to do every-day tasks."
"How devastating?" Taylor asked.
"It could range anywhere from a unresponsive toe to full paralysis. There's really no way of predicting such a thing."
Taylor nodded. "What about the good news? I mean, there's always good news, right?"
"Absolutely. We measure tumours in grades depending on their size and level of development. The good news is that your tumour is only a grade one, meaning that we're almost positive that this surgery will get rid of every trace of it from your brain. We would put a couple biodegradable chemotherapy tabs into the spot left by the removal, and they would slowly release the medication over a short period of time, which should take care of any lingering malignant cells."
"We would also put you on intravenous and oral chemotherapy for several weeks, to get the cancerous cells out of your lymph nodes," Dr. Melsandra added. "It would be an intensive therapy session, but the success rate is high."
"Intensive...." Taylor frowned. "You mean that I'll be sick."
"It's possible. Hair and weight loss are very common, as is nausea and vomiting, as well as appetite loss."
"Sounds like a real cure," Dreama muttered, and Taylor nodded his agreement. "You're saying he could be paralysed," she accused the surgeon, "and you're saying he could be too sick to move."
"What happens if I don't go through with it?" Taylor wanted to know.
The two doctors exchanged glances. "Eventually the tumour would grow, and you would begin to lose motor function. There's a strong chance that it would metastize to your spinal cord or other parts of the brain."
"I see."
"What about life expectancy?" Mrs. Gable asked.
Dr. Melsandra shook her head. "We don't like to predict that. But, I can tell you that many patients with multiple tumours don't make it past two years."
"Your tumour is special, Taylor," Dr. Barker informed them. "Brain tumours that have metastized from melanomas are surprisingly resistant to radiation therapy, which is why the Gamma Knife surgery is your best option."
Taylor sighed. "How is this going to work then?"
"We'll give you some medication to reduce the swelling in your brain, which should help to alleviate the headaches, and will hopefully prevent any epileptic seizures. We'll do the surgery, insert the chemo tabs, and then send you over to Dr. Melsandra's clinic, where you'll undergo chemotherapy treatment. After that, we'll do an MRI and check where we're at, and then we send you home."
He chucked wryly. "You make it sound so simple."
"It's going to be hard on you, I won't lie. You won't like the medications or what they do to your body. But you may be one of the lucky few who have a very mild reaction."
Taylor smirked. "Not likely. Look, I need some time to think about this, okay?"
"Of course. We'll set up another meeting for tomorrow night, and you can let us know then."
The surgeon's office, in upscale NYC, was nothing like the clinical, white-washed building that Dreama had been expecting. She almost felt relaxed as the foursome settled into chairs in the conference room.
Dr. Barker, the surgeon, was younger than Dreama had expected--in his late thirties, she guessed--but the certificates on the wall behind him boasted his competence. He introduced his colleague, an oncologist named Dr. Melsandra, and then launched right in.
"I don't believe in sugar coating," he announced. "And you may hear some things you don't particularly like."
"I'm not a big fan of my current situation, either," Taylor said dryly.
"The surgery is risky. The tumour is almost too deep to operate on, and it's bordering a few rather important parts of your brain."
"But you can do it?"
"I feel confident that my team and I can do the surgery without any lasting complications. But you must keep in mind that there is always a possibility of things going wrong, and these, unfortunately, are rather important things."
"Like what?" Dreama wondered.
Dr. Barker showed them a copy of the CAT scan that Taylor had shown her earlier. "The tumour is touching the part of the brain that controls motor functions--walking and eating, for example. An accident could have devastating effects on your ability to do every-day tasks."
"How devastating?" Taylor asked.
"It could range anywhere from a unresponsive toe to full paralysis. There's really no way of predicting such a thing."
Taylor nodded. "What about the good news? I mean, there's always good news, right?"
"Absolutely. We measure tumours in grades depending on their size and level of development. The good news is that your tumour is only a grade one, meaning that we're almost positive that this surgery will get rid of every trace of it from your brain. We would put a couple biodegradable chemotherapy tabs into the spot left by the removal, and they would slowly release the medication over a short period of time, which should take care of any lingering malignant cells."
"We would also put you on intravenous and oral chemotherapy for several weeks, to get the cancerous cells out of your lymph nodes," Dr. Melsandra added. "It would be an intensive therapy session, but the success rate is high."
"Intensive...." Taylor frowned. "You mean that I'll be sick."
"It's possible. Hair and weight loss are very common, as is nausea and vomiting, as well as appetite loss."
"Sounds like a real cure," Dreama muttered, and Taylor nodded his agreement. "You're saying he could be paralysed," she accused the surgeon, "and you're saying he could be too sick to move."
"What happens if I don't go through with it?" Taylor wanted to know.
The two doctors exchanged glances. "Eventually the tumour would grow, and you would begin to lose motor function. There's a strong chance that it would metastize to your spinal cord or other parts of the brain."
"I see."
"What about life expectancy?" Mrs. Gable asked.
Dr. Melsandra shook her head. "We don't like to predict that. But, I can tell you that many patients with multiple tumours don't make it past two years."
"Your tumour is special, Taylor," Dr. Barker informed them. "Brain tumours that have metastized from melanomas are surprisingly resistant to radiation therapy, which is why the Gamma Knife surgery is your best option."
Taylor sighed. "How is this going to work then?"
"We'll give you some medication to reduce the swelling in your brain, which should help to alleviate the headaches, and will hopefully prevent any epileptic seizures. We'll do the surgery, insert the chemo tabs, and then send you over to Dr. Melsandra's clinic, where you'll undergo chemotherapy treatment. After that, we'll do an MRI and check where we're at, and then we send you home."
He chucked wryly. "You make it sound so simple."
"It's going to be hard on you, I won't lie. You won't like the medications or what they do to your body. But you may be one of the lucky few who have a very mild reaction."
Taylor smirked. "Not likely. Look, I need some time to think about this, okay?"
"Of course. We'll set up another meeting for tomorrow night, and you can let us know then."
♠ ♠ ♠
Title credit goes to 6 Innocent X. Never heard the song, I must admit, but the lyrics are pretty cool.This is a lot of babble about pretty much nothing, but I thought it was important that you understand how totally unappealing the treatment is, so that the next chapter makes more sense to you.
I'll have that chapter up today, by the way, because I feel so bad for putting this off as long as I did. I believe the only word I need to use in explanation is "midterms". And who knows, if enough of my *24* (hells yeah!) subscribers comment, I may even put up a third by tonight. Just sayin'.