We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2016
October 10, 2010
Dr. Weisman's office was painted in calming tones, and Janet focused on a colorful work of abstract art hanging on the wall behind the doctor's desk.
“What do you think it means?” Janet asked, pointing to the picture. She and Michelle had been together for twenty years through good times and bad. Michelle loved art and Janet hoped the distraction might calm her.
Michelle looked carefully, “I'm not sure. It looks like … well, kind of like, music.”
A moment later Dr. Weisman appeared and walked around to his desk. “You have a heck of an eye,” Dr. Weisman said, looking at Michelle. “It's a reprint of a Kandinsky piece and some experts think it's an attempt to represent music on canvas.” Michelle smiled.
Dr. Weisman's tone became more serious. “I have good news and bad news. But the good news is pretty good. It's not stage III.”
Michelle and Janet sighed in relief. “So what is it?” Janet asked.
Dr. Weisman took a deep breath, “Michelle has stage II ovarian cancer.” Janet held Michelle's hand as Michelle began to cry. Michelle's heart raced and she started to hyperventilate. Janet put her arm around Michelle, trying to calm her even though Janet wanted to burst into tears herself.
Dr. Weisman gave them some time to recover. When he next spoke, his voice was soothing. “I know this is not what you wanted, but it can be treated and it has not spread outside of the ovaries and uterus.”
Michelle wiped her eyes. “Will I be okay?”
Dr. Weisman nodded, “The prognosis is good in most of these cases. We will need to operate, but since it hasn't spread very far we should be able to knock it out with surgery and several rounds of chemo. The chances of long-term survival are good, but we need to move as quickly as possible to make sure it doesn't spread farther.”
Michelle seemed more at ease. Janet was ecstatic that the prognosis was good. Michelle would be okay. Nothing else mattered. It had only been a week or two, but it seemed like an eternity since the irregular test came back and then the follow-up showed signs of cancer. Janet and Michelle were powerless to do anything while they waited, but now they knew it was treatable.
You have
Access
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
