Okay, I was hit by sudden inspiration while working on the Drilovsky family with shuthesmurfup! So yeah, I just wanted to write this really bad!
Because Of You
Chapter 4: I Will Not Break
(Third Person POV)
The Recovery Room
Shaylee's eyes shot open and a sob was caught in her throat, which her hands flew up to.
Two nurses hurried over to Shaylee's side.
"I want you to shake your head slowly yes or no. Are you Shaylee?" One nurse, Maggie, asked.
Shaylee nodded.
"Does your throat hurt, sweetie pie?" Karen, a nurse with a country accent, asked.
Shaylee nodded again.
"I'm going to bring you some tylenol, I need you to swalllow when I bring it, Karen will stay here with you and keep asking you questions," Maggie told Shaylee, walking across the room.
Karen smiled, "Shaylee, can you hold up how many fingers old you are?"
Shaylee held up six fingers.
"Shaylee, do you want to sit up?" Karen asked.
Shaylee shook her head no.
"Do you want to know where your mommy is?" Karen whispered, taking one of Shaylee's little hands.
Shaylee nodded, a tear slipping out of one of her small eyes.
"It's okay, honey. We're going to make sure you're okay before we bring mommy in. But we'll take very good care of you. Do you understand?" Karen said soothingly.
Shaylee nodded and Karen wiped a tears from Shaylee's cheek.
At this point, Maggie came in with a little cup of pink liquid. "Okay Shaylee, we need to you drink this."
Shaylee did as she was told.
"Does your tummy hurt?" Maggie asked.
Shaylee nodded.
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad. 1 is not very bad and 10 is really bad," Karen informed her.
Shaylee held up 4 fingers.
"What else hurts sweetie?" Maggie asked.
Shaylee pointed to her throat and held up 6 fingers.
"What else?" Karen asked.
Shaylee pointed to her hip and held up 7 fingers.
"Is that all?" Maggie made sure.
Shaylee shook her head and pointed to where her heart was and held up 10 fingers.
Maggie and Karen exchanged pity looks but then turned their attention to Shaylee.
"Does your heart hurt because you sad?" Karen whispered.
Shaylee nodded and gave a small frown.
In Shaylee's Hospital Room
An hour after Shaylee's surgery was done, the nurses wheeled her into the room in her hospital bed, her little wrist was hooked up to the IV.
"Mommy! Daddy!" She exclaimed hoarsley and both of her parents hurried over to hug her and Shaylee began to cry.
April brushed the hair away from her daughter's face, "It's okay honey, it'll be okay."
Late night, Shaylee's Hospital Room
Dr. Everhard, Shaylee's cancer doctor, knocked once on the door and opened it up to a sleeping Shaylee and two distressed parents.
"The bone marrow test results have been examined, Mr. and Mrs. Drilovsky, I'm sorry to say that your daughter has stage II acute myeloid leukemia, we want to start chemotherapy as soon as possible," Dr. Everhard informed them.
"What does it mean, acute myeloid leukemia? Stage II?" April asked, grabbing Fernando's hand.
"Acute myeloid leukemia, abbriviated as AML, is a quickly progressive malignant disease in which there are too many immature blood-forming cells in the blood and bone marrow, the cells being specifically those destined to give rise to the granulocytes or monocytes, both types of white blood cells that fight infections. In AML, these blasts do not mature and so become too numerous. In cancer, there are different levels, which we call stages. Stage II is the third of five stages, being 0, I, II, III and IV. Shaylee has stage II, meaning it is early locally advanced and since it her cancer spreads quickly, she could be stage III within the rest of the year," Dr. Everhard replied.
"How did you know? How can you be sure? How-" April stopped as a sob was caught in her throat and Fernando wrapped her in his strong arms.
Dr. Everhard looked over at Shaylee's sleeping form, "Shaylee's white blood cell level and platelet levels were low and there were leukemia cells found in her blood stream. There were also leukemia cells found in Shaylee's bone marrow, we'll want to have a bone marrow transplant soon but she will have to go through a couple days of her chemotherapy before we do the procedure. Tomorrow we'll also want to do what we like to call a spinal tap before to see if the leukemia cells are cerebrospinal fluid."
"What a spinal tap?" Fernando asked, holding his wife close.
"It's a very basic procedure. What we'll do is this: We'll give her a small shot of anesthetic so she can't feel the procedure. It will numb her, but she'll stay awake. We'll be having Shaylee sitting on the table with her neck flexed down and her knees pulled up to her chest, much like a fetal position and she'll bend her head and shoulder forward. Her lower back will be preparedusing aspetic technique. Then we'll insert a spinal needle between lumbar vertebraes and push it in until there is a 'give' which indicates that the needle is past her dura mater. The needle will again be pushed in agian until another 'give' which inidcates that the needle is past the arachnoid mater. The dura mater and the arachnoid mater are both membrae's that cover her brain and spinal chord. After this the stylet of the needle is withdrawn and we'll collect drops of cerebrospinal fluid. The procedure is ended with the needle being withdrawn and pressure being placed on the puncture. We'll place a bandage over her back and Shaylee will be free to return to her hospital room. We'll analyze the cerebrospinal fluid to see if the cancer cells have spread to her spinal chord. That would be bad, becuause they could have a direct entry way to her brain, but using the spinal tap, we can see if the cells are there or not and be able to catch them quickly," Dr. Everhard explained.
April took a deep breath, "Tomorrow morning."
VOTE ON OUR POLL! WE MUST KNOW IF SHAYLEE WILL LIVE OR DIE!