More than Existing
Author's Note: I gave hints of stuff to come in the last chapter...did you catch them? I'm getting toward the end; I'm guessing about 3 more chapters counting this one. Enjoy
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything
Chapter 10 – "Percent Chance"
Kurt and Kitty sat in the meeting room. Kitty was reading a book, and Kurt was studying for a biology test on genetic diseases. His homework kept him thinking about Janine. She still hadn't found a donor. She'd told him that year was plenty of time to find a donor and she was already on the waiting list. She seemed so confident that she'd get through this. Janine always acted as if having cancer was simply a little bump in the road. Kurt had never asked her out right, but he secretly wondered if she could die. He had done a little research on-line about Leukemia, and it said that if the doctors caught the disease in the early stages there was a high survival rate. He wondered what stage Janine's cancer was. He tried to continue studying, but Janine kept breaking into his brain. "Kitty?" Kurt said, looking at her. "Yeah?" she replied.
"Do you zhink zhat Janine vill find a donor soon?" he asked.
Kitty shrugged her shoulders as she said, "I don't know." They sat in silence for a minute. Kurt studied the floor. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. His excitement grew, "Kitty, do you zhink ve could be donors?"
Kitty caught his excitement, "I don't know, like, maybe. We could ask the professor...or Hank. You want to ask them now?"
Kurt rolled his eyes, "Ja, duh! Anyzhing's better zhan studying."
Hank shook his head to their questions. "You can't donate marrow to her."
"But, like, why not?! I don't mind giving it to her." Kitty said.
"She can haf all she vants of mine. Vhy can't ve donate?" the elf asked, feeling his hopes being dashed.
"You can't donate because you're mutants. To donate bone marrow, blood types have to match down to the very last technicality. Even if she does find a normal marrow match, there's always the possibility that her body will reject the marrow and she'll die. If either of you donate marrow, you'd also be donating your mutations, not only are you running the risk that her body will reject the marrow, but there's also the risk of side effects of your mutations. Lets say Kurt donated marrow, and her body didn't reject it; there's always the chance that she could turn blue or something simply because of a side effect of your mutation. If her body doesn't reject the marrow, it's possible that her body will reject the mutation, killing her. No, its too dangerous and there's too much risk to Janine. You cannot be donors." Beast explained. Kurt and Kitty slumped out of the room.
"Janine! Hurry up, or you'll be late for your appointment with Dr. Boyce." Janine's mother called. They were heading off to talk to Janine's cancer doctor; he was going to give them an update on how the treatments were working.
"I'm coming!" Janine yelled down to her mother as she finished tying Kurt's scarf around her baldhead and rushed down stairs. It seemed as if Janine had just got into the car, but suddenly she was in front of the hospital. Her mother walked with her in, but Dr. Boyce said that he needed to talk to Janine alone.
"Janine, I've been looking over your charts." The doctor said with a troubled look in his eye.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Well you see, Janine, it's like this, you know that your cancer is very advanced, right?"
"Yeah, but you said that chemotherapy could stop it-"she started
"No, what I said was that chemotherapy may stop it. And then you would have to have a bone marrow transplant." Dr. Boyce said. "We didn't realized how advanced your cancer has become..."
"Please stop beating around the bush Dr. Boyce. Tell it to me straight, am I going to die?" Janine asked, her heart in her throat.
"It's a strong possibility."
Janine sighed heavily. 'This can't be happening...'
Dr. Boyce continued, "I've calculated your chances. To become cancer free, we've got to kill off the bone marrow, and then we have to give you the transplant...you only have about a 5% chance of surviving the chemotherapy." Janine's heart fell, she probably wouldn't make it through treatment, she swallowed hard, trying to keep calm. "What if I make it through the chemotherapy?"
"I'm sorry, but you've only got an 8% chance of surviving a transplant, even if you can find a donor. Your body seems to be rejecting the treatments."
"Isn't there anything else we could try?" she asked. The doctor shook his head. "Janine, you're the patient. You have a choice. You continue with the treatment, or you can stop. If you continue with treatment, you may last another year, maybe a little longer."
"And if I stop?"
"You probably won't make it another year."
Janine could hardly believe what she was hearing. She had been so sure she would beat this. She had done everything she was supposed to, but still it wasn't enough...
"Not all hope is lost...there are those few cases where people with worse odds than you have made it, and went on to lead long lives...You don't have to decide now. I just wanted to tell you before I broke the news to your mother..."Dr. Boyce said.
Author's Note: I gave hints of stuff to come in the last chapter...did you catch them? I'm getting toward the end; I'm guessing about 3 more chapters counting this one. Enjoy
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything
Chapter 10 – "Percent Chance"
Kurt and Kitty sat in the meeting room. Kitty was reading a book, and Kurt was studying for a biology test on genetic diseases. His homework kept him thinking about Janine. She still hadn't found a donor. She'd told him that year was plenty of time to find a donor and she was already on the waiting list. She seemed so confident that she'd get through this. Janine always acted as if having cancer was simply a little bump in the road. Kurt had never asked her out right, but he secretly wondered if she could die. He had done a little research on-line about Leukemia, and it said that if the doctors caught the disease in the early stages there was a high survival rate. He wondered what stage Janine's cancer was. He tried to continue studying, but Janine kept breaking into his brain. "Kitty?" Kurt said, looking at her. "Yeah?" she replied.
"Do you zhink zhat Janine vill find a donor soon?" he asked.
Kitty shrugged her shoulders as she said, "I don't know." They sat in silence for a minute. Kurt studied the floor. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. His excitement grew, "Kitty, do you zhink ve could be donors?"
Kitty caught his excitement, "I don't know, like, maybe. We could ask the professor...or Hank. You want to ask them now?"
Kurt rolled his eyes, "Ja, duh! Anyzhing's better zhan studying."
Hank shook his head to their questions. "You can't donate marrow to her."
"But, like, why not?! I don't mind giving it to her." Kitty said.
"She can haf all she vants of mine. Vhy can't ve donate?" the elf asked, feeling his hopes being dashed.
"You can't donate because you're mutants. To donate bone marrow, blood types have to match down to the very last technicality. Even if she does find a normal marrow match, there's always the possibility that her body will reject the marrow and she'll die. If either of you donate marrow, you'd also be donating your mutations, not only are you running the risk that her body will reject the marrow, but there's also the risk of side effects of your mutations. Lets say Kurt donated marrow, and her body didn't reject it; there's always the chance that she could turn blue or something simply because of a side effect of your mutation. If her body doesn't reject the marrow, it's possible that her body will reject the mutation, killing her. No, its too dangerous and there's too much risk to Janine. You cannot be donors." Beast explained. Kurt and Kitty slumped out of the room.
"Janine! Hurry up, or you'll be late for your appointment with Dr. Boyce." Janine's mother called. They were heading off to talk to Janine's cancer doctor; he was going to give them an update on how the treatments were working.
"I'm coming!" Janine yelled down to her mother as she finished tying Kurt's scarf around her baldhead and rushed down stairs. It seemed as if Janine had just got into the car, but suddenly she was in front of the hospital. Her mother walked with her in, but Dr. Boyce said that he needed to talk to Janine alone.
"Janine, I've been looking over your charts." The doctor said with a troubled look in his eye.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Well you see, Janine, it's like this, you know that your cancer is very advanced, right?"
"Yeah, but you said that chemotherapy could stop it-"she started
"No, what I said was that chemotherapy may stop it. And then you would have to have a bone marrow transplant." Dr. Boyce said. "We didn't realized how advanced your cancer has become..."
"Please stop beating around the bush Dr. Boyce. Tell it to me straight, am I going to die?" Janine asked, her heart in her throat.
"It's a strong possibility."
Janine sighed heavily. 'This can't be happening...'
Dr. Boyce continued, "I've calculated your chances. To become cancer free, we've got to kill off the bone marrow, and then we have to give you the transplant...you only have about a 5% chance of surviving the chemotherapy." Janine's heart fell, she probably wouldn't make it through treatment, she swallowed hard, trying to keep calm. "What if I make it through the chemotherapy?"
"I'm sorry, but you've only got an 8% chance of surviving a transplant, even if you can find a donor. Your body seems to be rejecting the treatments."
"Isn't there anything else we could try?" she asked. The doctor shook his head. "Janine, you're the patient. You have a choice. You continue with the treatment, or you can stop. If you continue with treatment, you may last another year, maybe a little longer."
"And if I stop?"
"You probably won't make it another year."
Janine could hardly believe what she was hearing. She had been so sure she would beat this. She had done everything she was supposed to, but still it wasn't enough...
"Not all hope is lost...there are those few cases where people with worse odds than you have made it, and went on to lead long lives...You don't have to decide now. I just wanted to tell you before I broke the news to your mother..."Dr. Boyce said.