Diagnosis Hatred-Ch 2
Sheila said, "would you like me to call Derek"?, she quickly said, "NO", Sheila said, "honey" and Penelope said, "he's out of town on a case, I'll tell him when he gets home", she nods her head in agreement. She the looked her friend in the eyes and said, "we need to do more testing", Penelope said, "like what"?, Sheila said, "I want to do a CBC, blood work to check your liver and kidneys just to make sure that they aren't affected, I'll try a MRI first and then a CT Scan, [possibly a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, chest x-rays, I want to do extensive testing because I want to see just what stage we're working with here".
Penelope said, "what stage, how many stages are their"?, Sheila said, "4 and once we find out what stage you have then we can start with treatment", Penelope was numb, how could this be happening to her, was this real". Sheila listened as Penelope said, "once you find out what stage I have what treatments are available"?, Sheila gently squeezed her friends hand and said, "depending on the type you could have chemo, radiation, immunotherapy and a high dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant".
Penelope sat there not saying anything, she was in shock because yesterday she was fine, she doesn't feel any different than she ever did, how could this be happening"?, she looked up when Sheila said, "I bet you're wondering how this happened"?, she nodded her head and said, "what causes Hodgkins"?, Sheila took a deep breath as she readied herself to explain the disease.
She said, "lymphomas are that start in your bloodcells the onces called lymphocytes, it affects your immune system, that's another reason we need to see what stage you're in because the sooner we get you started with treatment the better". She nodded her head and said, "when do you want this testing to start, I mean is it today or can I have a few days to let it sink in or what"?, Sheila said, "the sooner we do the testing the better", their conversation stopped when Penelpoes cell started ringing.
Penelope said, "I'm sorry" and pulled her cell from her purse, she weakly smiled when she saw, "HOTSTUFF" flashing on the ID, she said, "it's Derek", Sheila nodded her head and said, "I'll step outside and give you some time alone". When Penelope was alone she took a deep breath and said, "hey hotstuff, are you on your way home"?, he said, "we sure are baby and I can't wait till we get there".
Penelope said, "how long will it be before you get home"?, he said, "maybe 5 hours give or take", she sighed and said, "I'll meet you at home okay, their is something that we need to talk about". Derek said, "that doesn't sound good, I can tell by the sound of your voice that something's up", Penelope said, "we'll talk when you get home my love".
Derek said, "I love you sweetness", she wiped away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks and said, "I love you to", after the call ended she put her cell back in her purse and blew out a deep breath. Sheila walked back into the room and said, "is everything okay with Derek"?, Penelope said, "yeah, yeah, they're on their way home".
She looked at Sheila and said, "I want to talk to Derek and fill him in on what's going on and then tell my team and then come back and get started on that testing, if that's okay"?, Sheila nodded her head and said, "sure sweetie, sure". Penelope stood up and hugged her friend and said, "thank you for everything", Sheila said, "don't worry honey I'll do everything I can to help you with this".
Penelope hugged her again and said, "I know, I know" and then Sheila watched as her heartbroken friend walked from her office, Penelope was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Savannah smiling from the end of the hall.
