AN: I'm back with another Frozen story. This one will be what happens when Anna gets cancer. This will be kind of a personal story here, folks. Frozen is owned by the Walt Disney Company.
Anna and Elsa were the typical couple: loving, affectionate, just the typical suburbanite type. Of course, they were also healthy as they made sure to watch what they ate and made sure to exercise regularly. However, just because you LOOKED healthy on the outside, doesn't mean you were healthy on the inside. It all started one night as we find our couple eating dinner, but while Elsa was chowing down, Anna merely took a bite of her carrot and all of a sudden, she felt full. She put her fork down, which confused Elsa. "Anna, are you all right?" she inquired.
"Yeah, Elsa, I'm fine. I'm just full is all", Anna said, getting up and putting her plate in the kitchen, almost as if she was in a trance. This sign surprised Elsa but she let it slide, hoping that this was temporary and it would go back to normal tomorrow, right? Wrong, because as the next couple days passed, Anna wasn't eating much and when she did, she felt full regardless of how much she ate. Despite her young age too, she started experiencing some bloating, which was rather unusual. Elsa put two and two together and needed to drop the bomb, fast before this progressed into something worse.
"Anna, you need to see a doctor", she said.
"Elsa, I keep telling you I'm fine!"
"Anna, you're not fine! You're not eating much and when you do eat, it's like you suddenly feel full", Elsa emphisized. To further prove her point, she grabbed the nearest phone and called the doctor's office. After a long chat, the doctor outright demanded that they see him tomorrow because there was something there that would be hurting Anna if it wasn't taken care of.
"I've made an appointment. The doctor insisted we see him tomorrow", Elsa said but Anna, naïve to the actual danger she was in, didn't really think so.
"Elsa, I'm telling you. I'm fine! You're overreacting. You're acting like I have some kind of cancer or something!" Anna said, although she didn't realize she had hit the nail right on the head when she said 'cancer'. But Elsa insisted and despite Anna's protests & insistance she was fine, which she wasn't, they found themselves at the doctor's office of Dr. Hans Westerguard next morning. The man was regarded as a genuis in the field of medicine, having saved numerous cancer patients by having this superhuman ability to predict what type of cancer it was and prepare the required treatment plan for said type of cancer.
"Anna Winters for Dr. Westerguard", Elsa told the receptionist.
"Go right in, he's expecting you", the receptionist said. Elsa thanked the receptionist and tried to escort Anna down but she just stood there.
"Anna, come on, Dr. Westerguard is waiting", Elsa said.
"Elsa, I keep telling you I'm fine!" Anna insisted but Elsa wouldn't hear none of it.
"Anna, why must you be so naïve? you're sick and if you don't get help, this cancer could potentially kill you!" Elsa said. That did it. Anna FINALLY understood the seriousness of the situation and therefore let Elsa escort her to Dr. Westerguard's office without further protest. Fortunately for Anna, the doctor was not there yet and the couple was told by one of his aides that he would be in shortly. At first, Elsa thought that Anna, who was now only slightly convinced that she was sick, would use this to try and convince Elsa to leave but she was also aware that Elsa would not hear of it so Anna conceded to Elsa's pleas to get it checked out. After a couple minutes, the door opened and Dr. Westerguard himself entered the room.
"Aw, Ms. Winters, I've been expecting you. Is that your sister?" Hans inquired about Elsa as he shook her hand.
"Wife, actually", Anna clarified.
"Right. Well, Elsa contacted me last night when you said you felt full. Would I be correct?" Hans asked.
"No, she wanted to wait to see if it would pass or not", Anna said. "It was only after I felt bloated that she called you despite my protests", she also elaborated, noticing that Hans was readying a device.
"I'm not surprised that you thought you were fine. You see, Overian Cancer is very subtle in its' signs and not eating and feeling full when you did regardless is one of them", Hans said.
"You think it's overian cancer?" Elsa asked.
"I think so. I'm gonna have to run some tests with Anna to see if that's indeed the case. If it is, she's gonna have to have surgery", Hans stated. He told Anna to pull up her shirt and he stuck the device on her stomach. He ran it across her stomach and the projector showed the innards of Anna's stomach and he did NOT like what he saw. There were tumors around near her reproductive system, among some other areas. He was aware that the best time they could get the cancer was now and he didn't need further tests to determine it was ovarian cancer. "Okay, stratch the tests. It's ovarian cancer", Hans diagnosed.
"That was quick", Elsa noted.
"Well, see, one look at that screen and I knew what I was dealing with here. Fortunately, it's still a stage 1 so we can get it early enough before it progresses. Once it progresses, we're screwed. We can't do anything", Hans said, while writing something down on his notepad which was a referral to the surgeon. He had sent Anna and Elsa to the best hospital in the city: Arendelle General Hospital for further treatment and surgery preperation. He was taking no chances here. The second they set foot in the door, Anna was whisked away from Elsa and taken to the nearest lab for testing and preparation. They spent the whole day at the hospital, Anna being shuttled from one testing lab to the other while Elsa had to wait in the waiting room. When she had asked if she was allowed to accompany Anna, the nurses refused.
Finally, after a wait time of almost 3 hours, a staff member of the hospital came out and told Elsa the news. Anna would need a specific type of surgery to remove the cancer. "How did she get ovarian cancer, though?" Elsa asked the nurse.
"The fact she had it too at such a young age was mind-boggling to us because generally, diagnosis for this is generally over age 50 although some have gotten it earlier, say like, late 40s. We asked her that ourselves and she said it was a family thing. Both her mother and grandmother had it", the nurse said. "However, the point is she'll need to stay the night in preparation for the surgery. Dr. Westerguard and his team of finest surgeons will be preforming it. After that, it's ICU and then a room", the nurse said, explaining the plan. Elsa figured that's what Hans had been writing down when they saw him that morning.
"Can I stay with her tonight?" Elsa asked again.
"No. Hospital protocol dictates that family members can't stay with patients before surgery is to commence. However, we'll see about after", the nurse said, assuring Elsa.
"Can I at least see her, though?"
"THAT we can allow", the nurse said and escorted her to the ward where Anna was at, pointing her in the direction of the room. Elsa took off like a rocket down the hall and into the room where Anna will be staying before the surgery. To say Anna was surprised when Elsa jumped onto her bed and kissed her like there was no tomorrow was an understatement.
"Elsa, you're acting like this will be your last kiss", Anna said.
"Today, it will be. They're not letting me stay the night before the surgery. Hospital rules", Elsa said sadly.
"Too bad, I could really use the company".
"That's the rule, sweetheart", Elsa said before picking up her purse to leave Anna's room and subsequently the hospital for the night, but not before pecking Anna's cheek. Visiting hours were just about up and the 3 hour wait period nearly exhausted what could have been used for visitation between them. The hospital talked about extending Elsa's time but she insisted she was fine with honoring the rules, but once she got to their car, she let her tears flow & didn't stop until once she got home. That night, their shared bed was cold without Anna's warmth so Elsa snuggled aganist the pillow Anna normally used. They both lost sleep that night due to Anna's impending surgery. That would be the hardest part for the both of them.
First thing in the morning, Elsa called both her & Anna's workplaces to explain the current situation. Both bosses were sympathic to their plights and said they understood. Once that was out of the way, Elsa drove to the hospital. Anna was already inside being prepped for the surgery and like before, she wasn't allowed to see Anna. Instead, she was escorted to the surgery waiting room where she would wait until Dr. Westerguard came out for a debriefing. Like the intial prep, it was an antagonizing wait for her. Sure, Hans and his team worked fast but then, there was also the recovery part as well. Elsa knew Anna was spunky and could bounce back from things easily but ovarian cancer was not something you could bounce back easily from. Finally, after an antagonizing wait (4 to 5 hours this time, not including a lunch break), Dr. Westerguard came out to conduct his debriefing.
"Elsa Winters for Anna Winters?" he asked. Elsa jumped up and followed him out. She never left her spot. "Elsa, did you even eat?" he asked first. When she shook her head, he said, "You need to eat first and then we'll do the debriefing". Elsa agreed and followed the doctor to the hospital coffee shop, where they had sandwiches and drinks before he began the debriefing. "So, what we had to do was remove her reproductive system as there were tumors in there. However, there were also some tumors in her bloodstream but we were able to get those out before they attached to anything", he said, explaining that it was actually less work than what they thought. "However, she's in recovery now. We'll put her in ICU after recovery and then a room. We don't know how long the recovery period will be however", he said.
"She's a spunky girl, she'll bounce back quickly", Elsa said. But then she had a thought. "What about her intestines?" she asked again.
"They're perfectly fine. Like I said, we were able to work quickly to get out the tumors in the bloodstream before they attached to anything like the intestines", Dr. Westerguard said. Elsa gave a sigh of relief. "However, we don't know how long she's gonna be in recovery. We generally don't allow visitors to recovery. So, go home and we'll call you when we moved her", he said. Elsa agreed, thanked the doctor for his kindness and left the hospital. At home, Elsa waited for the call and like most waitimes, it was antagonizing. Since Elsa wasn't officially registered with the hospital, yet Anna was, they had to pull up Anna's file first to get the home phone number so finally, after another long wait, she got the call.
"Hello?" she said.
"Mrs. Winters? This is Dr. Weselton. I was one of the surgeons who worked with Dr. Westerguard on the surgery of your sister", the doctor began but Elsa cut him off.
"Wife, actually", she specified.
"Wife, sorry", the doctor stated. "She's been moved out of recovery and into ICU. However, she's still drugged up so she won't be aware that she was even moved until tomorrow at least. Regardless, you can now come and see her", he said and hung up. Barely 5 seconds after that call, Elsa was in the car and shot down to the hospital lickity-split. Finally, after parking, she dashed up to the ICU, asked which room Anna was in and took off in that direction. When she finally reached the room, what she saw broke her heart instantly. Anna was hooked up to a dozen machines and had a tube sticking into her neck. She looked less like a person and more like a robot plugged into these machines. Like Weselton said, she was drugged and wasn't alert but Elsa didn't care. She took Anna's hand and almost subconcisiously, Anna's hand squeezed it right back. A nurse then came in to check Anna's vitals and determined they were fine. While the nurse was there, Elsa figured she could try and ask her if they would let her stay the night again.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Yes?" the nurse turned around to look at her.
"Can I stay with her tonight?" Elsa asked, abiet hesitantly, remembering the frosty answer she got last time she asked that.
"Of course. You can stay with her as long as you want", the nurse said and left the room, adding that she will be moving Anna to another room tomorrow since her vitals were tremendously well. Elsa set up camp in one of the chairs that folded out into a bed and fell asleep. She wanted to be the first person Anna saw when she came to. Not a nurse, her.
"Anna?" the namesake struggled awake, hearing her name and the voice saying it. It was morning and Anna was coming to after her drugging.
"Anna!" the voice was excitable this time around and Anna herself opened her eyes fully. As she was still slightly doped up, her eyes were struggling to focus on the person. At first, Elsa fully expected Anna to acknowledge her but the first words Anna said seemed to dash her hopes.
"Are you a nurse?" she asked.
"No", Elsa said, tears forming.
"I'm KIDDING, Elsa!" Anna said.
"Thank god for that!" Elsa said and pounced onto her.
"Am I still in recovery?" she asked. Elsa explained that she wasn't and that she was in the ICU and will be moved to her room today. Speaking of the devil himself, a nurse came in with a new bed for Anna. It took 2 nurses and Elsa to move Anna from the current bed to the new one. They had told Anna she would be staying at the topmost floor of the hospital, the 4th floor. Transferring her was an easy task and soon enough, Anna was in her new hospital room.
The surgeons told Anna she would have to fart to rid herself of the gas that had accumulated as a result of the surgery and have a bowel movement before she could be considered recovered. That way, they could see if her bowels were working and weren't damaged during the surgery. Anna understood. As the days passed, Anna saw herself lose the tube which made her voice raspy whenever she talked, put on a liquid diet which was good because it hydrated her throat to aliveate the dryness of it. Also, on day 4, she farted and passel a bowel, which proved to the attending nurses that her bowels weren't damaged during the surgery. She also lost the caphiter they had inserted in on the intial surgery day. Elsa stayed by her side all those times. She never left the hospital. Dr. Westerguard came in on day 5 to debrief Anna and tell her what was removed and what wasn't. He explained that he didn't have to remove actual organs aside from the ones the tumors were attached to, mainly her inner organs but explained that there were some tumors in her bloodstream that he and his team were able to remove before they could attach to anything and thus spread the cancer. From the looks of it, Anna would have a speedy recovery, that is, until day 7, when they inserted a new pickline to replace the old one, which was taken out. Having received it along with a breather machine to keep her lungs at work, Anna, who had been out for a walk, suddenly started complaining about not feeling well. This surprised Elsa. "Sweetheart, should we call the nurse?" she inquired.
"I think we should", Anna said but Elsa was utlimately too slow in calling the nurse in as Anna grabbed the nearest bag and threw up red. Fortunately, a nurse had showed up.
"What happened?" asked the nurse.
"She threw up red", Elsa said. However, the nurse didn't seem concerned about the fact that Anna threw up red. She was more concerned about the pickline and the fact it seemed dislodged.
"There's your problem. The line had been compromised", the nurse said, explaining that the line had been compromised when Anna might have been taking a walk or something around those lines. She also implied that the line might have punctured an organ to cause it. Fortunately, the nurse removed the pickline and added a new one in, giving Anna explict instructions not to move her arm too much, further implying it was the act of moving her arm too quick that compromised the line. The two thanked the nurse and she left to continue her beat.
Despite that little setback, everything seemed to be on the up & up for Anna, except Elsa was now feeling the effects of staying at the hospital 24/7. Sure, she left to get food from the cafe but she never left to go home to shower or get a fresh pair of clothes. She had worn the same pair of clothes since she arrived when Anna was in ICU and spray-on deodorant could only do so much. Anna had suggested more than once that Elsa go home to get some clothes, shower and replinish but Elsa refused every time, giving the honest justification of what if something bad happened while she was gone? Anna saw the point and didn't bring up the issue again. Dr. Westerguard came in to visit and to figure out a discharge date for Anna as a couple days passed since the setback and she was better since. Only one problem: The red on the incision that he made wasn't clearing up. He then decided that if the red wasn't cleared up in five days, he was going to assume it was infected.
Luckily for them, by the end of three days, the red in Anna's incision was cleared away, singling that she was fully cured. Dr. Westerguard removed the staples in Anna's stomach and gave her some pain medicine to take if she needed it. He also wanted her on chemotherapy which would start when she got home. The women thanked the hospital staff for their help and Dr. Westerguard for catching the cancer so quickly. Anna and Elsa left the hospital and returned to their normal lives, the scare of Anna's overian cancer behind them.
AN: That's It! That's It! This story is personal because one of my family members got the cancer over the summer and essentially went through the same thing Anna went through here. That was the inspiration for this story, abiet in a more simplified form (ie: she did more tests to determine it). R&R!