"Yes ma'am" John said going up to the front counter at the hospital "I'm here for my chemotherapy and radiation treatments". His doctor had contacted him a few days prior and told him to come in that day for the first round of treatments. He was taking them at different times though so he'd be there all day. Randy and Marc had come with him, to keep him company and help out where needed.
"Cena?" she asked John, looking it up on her computer. John nodded. "Ok follow me" he, Randy, and Marc followed the older woman to a vacated room. She got a gown out of a drawer in the side table and put it on the bed "put this on, your radio oncologist will be in, in about a half hour to hook you up". With that she left. John walked over to the bed, he picked up the gown and sighed. He started stripping and put it on. After it was on he heard a whistle, he turned around and saw Randy and Marc pointing at each other, making him laugh as he got into the bed.
"Going commando" Randy noted. John laughed and shrugged.
"I don't like restriction" he said "unless I'm in the ring then I have to have on undies". The guys laughed at him. John then took off his hat slowly. Once it was off he ran a hand over his bald head. He had gotten his head shaved by Marc the day before. He knew he would probably lose his hair from the chemo anyway so he went ahead and shaved it. To John it was like he had control over something, he couldn't have control over the cancer but he COULD have control over his hair and when he lost it.
"So" Marc said after a bit of silence "do you know what to expect from all this? I mean I know literally nothing about radiation, chemo all that".
"Well I don't know much" John told him "but from what I do know with the radiation its gonna pretty much knock me out. Its gonna make me really tired and drained. That's why they're doing it first so I can sleep most of the day away. With the chemo its everything you've probably heard, vomiting and all that. Plus its gonna make me really weak so if I have to puke one of you is gonna have to drag me to the toilet and most likely hold me up" Marc and Randy nodded, their expressions not changing from neutral 'man I can't get any better than these guys' John thought to himself. Suddenly the radio oncologist came in the room, after knocking on the door.
"Hi" she said, shaking John's hand "I'm here to start your radiation, are you ready?" John nodded "ok" she put in the I.V. and took out two bags of something from her pocket "ok this is the medication. When people hear radiation they automatically assume rays or something but that's far from the truth. Also you aren't a danger to anyone else with this either, it only effects you. Now I have to warn you, to have both these bags go into you is gonna take about 4 hours. We have to drip it in slowly so the effects won't be too bad. You'll probably be knocked out in like a 1/2 hour" she said as she hooked up the medicine "also you may experience nausea but mostly that will come later with the chemo, any questions?" John shook his head. She looked over at Randy and Marc to see if they had any questions, they both shook their heads also "ok then I'm gonna go, page the nurse if you need anything". With that she left the room.
"Feel it?" Marc couldn't help but ask. John laughed at him.
"Nope" he told him "not yet. I'm sure I will though. You two may have to entertain yourselves if I fall asleep though. Sorry I know I'm the life of the party" John joked. Things were a bit too tense for him and he wanted to lighten the mood.
"I'm sure we'll manage" Randy said dryly, smiling at John so he knew he was joking. The guys sat around joking for a bit. After a while John began to feel tired, totally drained.
"Damn" he said "I feel like I had a hardcore match with Show". He smiled but Randy and Marc knew the seriousness behind it.
"Get some sleep if you want, bro" Randy said to John "we'll manage. We may go get something to eat a bit later but we'll be here once you wake up". John nodded and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.
"God I hate seeing him like this" Marc said looking at John asleep in the hospital bed. "I mean I know he just started the treatments and all but its almost like he's changed already. He doesn't look the same".
"I know what you mean" Randy said "I think this has changed him. He seems more on edge about things. More worried about everything. With that bald head of his he looks differently too. Man when he had that done it took all I had not to cry when I saw him. It was like a big reality check that this is happening and it is real".
"Yeah I know" Marc replied "when I was shaving it I had to choke back tears with each stroke of the razor. I had to hold my hand steady so I wouldn't slice him".
"Let's get out of here for a bit" Randy said, standing up "let's go get something to eat, maybe catch a movie. He should be waking up by the time we get back". Randy was suddenly getting more emotional than he wanted to at the moment. He needed to keep his mind busy.
"Ok" Marc said, standing up also "hey Wolf Creek is playing. Those previews look wicked".
"Let's see it" Randy said "then if its any good we can take John to see it. You know how he is about horror movies".
"Yeah" Marc laughed "I remember when we were little kids, we watched The Exorcist. He was so freaked out so bad by it but every time I was like 'do you want me to turn it off?' he'd be like 'no man, no I'm good'. It was so funny just to watch him watch it". The guys laughed as they walked out of the room to go get food and go see Wolf Creek.
A few hours later John woke up feeling really groggy. He opened his eyes and saw Randy sitting on the edge of the bed. He smirked a bit and slowly reached out his hand, lightly brushing Randy's arm. Seeing as he wasn't facing John, but Marc who he was talking to, Randy jumped a foot in the air and had to fight not to scream out loud. This sent both John and Marc into hysterics of laughter. "Oh very funny" Randy said, acting mad. He was given away by the corners of his mouth slightly twitching though, so John knew he wasn't really mad "so Joker how ya feel?"
"Like shit" John made a face at the sound of his voice, it was very hoarse and dry sounding. Randy got up and poured him a glass of water. He helped John sit up and held his hand steady for him to take a sip or two of it. Once he was through Randy gently helped him lay back down and sat the cup on the portable tray stand. "Hey" John said suddenly, looking down at himself "wasn't I wearing a blue gown before?"
"Yeah" Randy said "you had threw up on yourself when we came back so I got the nurse to go get me a new gown and changed you into it".
"Wow" John said, looking awed "thanks man". Randy shrugged, brushing it off.
"No big deal" he said to John "I mean it wasn't like I was just gonna leave you with puke all over you. It wouldn't have been good".
"So am I done with this radiation shit?" John asked "I wanna get to the chemo so I can go home".
"Almost" Randy said looking at the I.V. that only had a few drops left. After his radiation was done the little buzzer on the I.V. started going off. The same lady as before came into the room and unhooked the medicine from the I.V. then started unhooking the I.V. itself. John looked at her confusedly.
"Why are you unhooking the I.V." he asked, watching the lady take the needle out of his hand.
"Because we have to use another I.V. for the chemo" she told him "the radiation and chemo drugs can't mix in the I.V. so we put in a new one in the other hand so they don't mix". John nodded and the doctor changed the I.V. she took 2 more bags out of her pocket. She put the bags up on the I.V. stand and hooked them up to the tube. "Ok" she told John as she started the drip "this is going in as slowly as it can go. If you start feeling queasy call the nurse, she can give you something to take the edge off of it, also there's a trashcan by your bed if you feel the need to vomit or you can be helped to the bathroom, just make sure the I.V. pole isn't dragged behind you, someone will actually have to roll it behind you". John nodded and the woman stood up and left the room.
"Well" John remarked "let's see how this is gonna go".
"Well" Marc told him "you'll probably be awake this time, so anything you go through will be that much worse".
"Fun" John said dryly. After a few minutes John turned a bit green "I gotta puke" he said. Randy and Marc helped him up. Randy supported his body and Marc grabbed the I.V. pole. They didn't make it though, John threw up all over Randy. Randy and Marc took John back to the bed. John looked really embarassed and on the verge of tears "Randy I'm so--".
"Don't" Randy said holding up a hand to stop John from saying anymore "it's ok. You couldn't help it". He went over to a black bag he had brought with him and opened it up. He took out another shirt and a trash bag. He took off the soiled one and put it in the bag and put on the new one. "I came prepared. I learned to do this after the twins were born".
"Still" John said "I.."
"John" Randy said looking at him sternly "hush. It's ok, I'm not mad or whatever I promise. It was an accident that you couldn't help. Now get over it ok, I have. I mean not to sound rude or mean but dude if you're gonna make it through this you gotta have a bit of humility. You're gonna throw up on people and you're gonna have to have people carrying you to and from the toilet so you can puke there, if you can make it that is. That's just all there is to it. I mean no one minds it either, we all know what we've signed up for. You don't know this but one night after you had gone to bed Trish, Alexis, me, Marc, Sylvain and Jessie all stayed up and researched the type of cancer you have and the radiation and chemo treatments. That earlier comment Marc said was just so you wouldn't find out but I think you should. We know what we're getting into with this so don't be ashamed of anything. If getting puked on a couple of times leads to you getting better then I'll personally draw a target on my chest. John we are here for you. To puke on, to lean on, to yell at, to cry to. Whatever you need bro. Ok". John teared up at Randy's words. They really hit home for him. He couldn't find the words to speak so he just nodded to Randy. Randy came back over to him and hugged John to him. John hugged him back and Randy was startled at how weak his grip was. He knew that the treatments would make John weaker but the reality of it hadn't settled in. 'It's started' Randy thought silently to himself 'he's gonna get worse before he gets better'.