Chapter 14: CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Savannah twiddled her thumbs as she waited for the doctor to come back in the room. She had a means to determine what type of news she would get. If the news came back in five minutes or less, it would be good news. If it took longer, then the news would be bad. It had been a week since she saw Dwight, although she had called him a few times when she felt close to a break down. Hearing him remind her of how beautiful she was and that he still loved her gave her the strength for another day. He had offered to come over, but she had refused. It would be more than she could stand.
Kim sat next to her; her lips pulled into a straight line. “I hope he grabs a mint while he’s out.” She said suddenly, breaking the perfect silence that had built between them.
Savannah laughed. “What?” She turned to face her sister who had her nose turned up.
“Every time he said something, a little bit of my eyebrows would fall off. And he used all H words.”
Savannah laughed so hard she could feel the pull at her sides. She slapped her sister’s leg and leaned into her. Savannah was not stupid. Whenever Kim was uncomfortable with something, she had to make a joke. It was something that Savannah had learned to appreciate over the years. Savannah was just about to make a joke of her own when the handle jiggled, and the doctor knocked on the door.
“It’s me again.” Dr. Sing called out as he came into the room and sat down. He was an Asian doctor, about 5’7”, and had the temperament of a kindly old grandfather. “Savannah, the biopsy revealed that those are cancerous cells in your left breast.”
The gasp she let out echoed around the room. She felt the weight of her sister’s arm on her shoulder and fought to hold back the tears. Dr. Sing continued. “I had you get a mammogram on both, just to be sure. Right now, your right breast is healthy. I’m sorry about all this. But I have a plan that I believe will help you to put up a good fight against it, if not beat it.”
Savannah only held her head in her hands and cried. Not deep, heavy sobs like she thought she would have, but soft, quiet ones. “Will this kill me?”
Dr. Sing sighed. “Everyone’s case is different. But trust that I am going to do everything in my power. Your cancer is in Stage 2. The best way to attack it is to treat it with multi-modality treatment which will include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy. Based on the size of your mass, we could perform a lumpectomy. We remove the cancer and the surrounding tissue.” He smiled softly.
“Are there any downsides?”
“Well to be honest, lumpectomies have a higher rate of recurrence than removing the whole breast. We would need to also treat you with radiation treatment, just to make sure that we get all of the cells out.”
“I um. don’t have any insurance anymore, I was just recently laid off.”
“I’ll bring the form for medical assistance. Someone usually gets back to you within one to two weeks. After you get approved for it, then you’ll come in and have the procedure. If not, we have a very affordable payment plan. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Can I beat this?” She squeezed Kim’s hand.
He sat on the stool and glanced from Kim to Savannah. “I know you are worried because of your mother. The difference is that her cancer was more advanced than yours. We have made so many advancements in the treatment of cancer that we could try. Besides, I’m sure Kim will come after me if I let anything happen to you.” He glanced over at Kim, who blinked rapidly before giving him a silent thumbs up.