click.
click click.
click.
click click click click.
"Hey lady, do you mind?"
Emily stopped clicking her pen and put it back in her purse. 'What was taking so long?' she wondered.
"Emily Lehman?" A short chubby nurse read her name off the clipboard.
"Its about time." She had been waiting for over an hour. It was just a follow up to her annual bloodwork. All they had to do was tell her everything looked great, like it always did, and send her on her way.
The only problem was it didn't look good.
"How have you been feeling Emily?" Doctor Jones asked, his words laced with concern.
"I feel fine. I mean I've had a slight headache for the past week, but I always get headaches. I have a stressful job." Emily was starting to get nervous now.
"hmmm." He glanced down at her chart studying something.
"Is everything ok Doc?" Emily gently bit her lip overwhelmed with anxiety.
"When you told me your mother died of breast cancer, I decided to start including a CA125 in your annual bloodwork. Basically its a cancer marker that let's us know when something is going on inside of the body, often before one starts having any symptoms."
"I don't understand. What are you saying?"
"I'm afraid your CA125 level was elevated. Now there are other conditions that can cause an abnormal level so of course we need to rules these out first. But with your family history..."
She was no longer listening to what the doctor had to say. The room was starting to spin. This couldn't be happening. Everything was finally coming together. Why her?
Emily started to feel nauseous. She hopped off the bed and lunged at the trash can emptying the contents of her stomach.
"Emily?" The doctor was speaking again.
"Emily, I know this is difficult news." The doctor rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Would you like me to call anybody?"
Matt. She wanted Matt.
"No. I'll be ok." She spit into the trash can once more before getting back on her feet. Theres no way she could call Matt. She'd have to explain everything and she wasn't quite ready for that.
"If you have any questions feel free to call the office. And if you start to feel ill I want to know about it right away. I'll have the nurse draw some more blood and I'll see you back here in a week." Finally he stopped talking. Emily just wanted to go home. Go home and release the tears that threatened to spill over.
"Ok. Thanks." she replied weakly.
It took the nurse 3 tries to get the needle in. Emily was about ready to back-hand her when the blood finally started to trickle through. 10 minutes later she was out the door.
Thank God she only lived 5 blocks from the doctor's office. Emily set her purse down on the table in the entry way. She was headed for her bed but stopped in the middle of the living room. Emily dropped to her knees sobbing, unable to go on anymore. She let herself be overcome by tears. Her worst fears were finally coming true. The doctor still had to rule some things out, but she already knew what the outcome would be. Cancer.