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I ignored each co that if I responded in any way, it would fuel hiue didn’tabout what it was I was really hoping to accoht
Every other first date I’ve ever been on in et to know so that it would lead to so more, because as a woman, I wanted the roone out with anyone with the idea in ht about it once
But God helpabout this afternoon
All thanks to Stevie ya at me to seize life by the horns, all while the cancer ha me on a collision course with a destiny thatbut clutch weakly and in vain at my life
I don’t want to feel weak and powerless I want to oodness fro to view Garrett Saoodness"? Aood thing about being obsessed with ht with Garrett It helped y appoint I went in scared to death, almost sick to my stoe that helpedwith inforuess he is in his late fifties, with longish dark salt-and-pepper hair and a goatee He wore jeans, tennis shoes, and a Hawaiian-print shirt, and rather than put me off, his casual look and deave ently on the swollen lyht side of my neck It had been there for weeks,first it was soeneral fatigue He tried to treat it with various antibiotics, but when the symptoms wouldn’t subside, he ordered a biopsy on the lymph node
Boom Cancer!
Dr Yoffman explained tocancer, and had likely been intime He said many people never even exhibit symptoms and sometimes even a wait-and-see approach is feasible But because I had fevers, night sweats, fatigue, and even a ten-pound weight loss over the last few months, that could be an indication that my disease was more advanced Those words felt like a slahbreath with tears in ood news is that this is treatable It’s generally not curable, but we have a good chance of getting you into remission"
Those words sounded sweet to nore the part where he said "not curable" and focused instead on the words "treatable" and "re up, he started s first…we need to deter…how advanced the disease is I need to order some blood work; CT scan of your chest, abdomen, and pelvis; a PET scan; as well as a bone- again and Sutton reached out to grab my hand She turned to Dr Yoff my chart back down, Dr Yoffman walked over to me and peered into my eyes "Most of them are noninvasive, but the bone-ive you a local anesthetic down here" He reached one arht side of my lower back, almost over the top of my butt cheek "I’ll have to et down to the bone, I’ll nu it has as well I’ll use a needle to pull out an aspirate of bone marrow, then I’ll have to use another instrument to drill down into the bone You shouldn’t feel any pain, and once I get in, I’ll pull out a bit of bone Some patients say it feels like an electric shock when I aspirate the , but you won’t be in a lot of pain The procedure takes about five to tenwith nausea, and bile rose in my throat All of a sudden, my confidence that Sutton and Stevie had worked so hard to build up took a big, fat nosedive "I can’t," I blurted "I’m not ready for this"
Dr Yoff and he squeezed my shoulder "It’s okay, Olivia This is a lot to process and sounds very scary It will take so to help you relax and relieve the anxiety How about today we at least get your blood work done and the CT scan, as I have that equipment here in the clinic We’ll do the bone-oing to prescribe will help you relax And hopefully I’ll get your insurance approval for the PET scan soon Sound like a plan?"
I sed hard and nodded at hithe sound of hi for the anxiety, because I felt like my body was about ready to blow apart in aso badly
Before he left, Dr Yoffman asked if I had any other questions, and I felt foolish over what I was getting ready to ask I didn’t have any experience with cancer, other than what I had seen on the news or through friends on socialillness, and all I could think to ask was, "A the treatment?"